The Great Orion Nebula

[Richard Hather]

Observing Information

DSO - M42/M43

Date - 15/03/17

Time - 20:15

Lunar Phase - 89%

Seeing - Good

Equipment - Celestron Nexstar 6SE

Eyepieces - ES 24mm 68 degree

Additional info - Wow is all I can say with this one before last night my favourite Nebula  was the eagle  Nebula now I'm not so sure.

First thing that struck me when I started observing was the beautiful pattern of stars the 4 close together in the middle with the bottom right one being the brightest and the 3 star at the bottom.

The longer I observed the more detail jumped out at me the swirl of gas almost like an arc was simply breath taking not since I first observed M13 my first ever DSO have I been so overwhelmed.

M43 was a bit strange though I could make out the star but no gas cloud or shape to it it's at mag 7 so shouldn't have been to much of a problem maybe next time I will use one of my Nebula filters but my O lll stayed in its case as I didn't feel the need.

I also spent some time observing Jupiter, I could make out 4 of the moons 2 of which were very close in proximity these turned out to be Euopa and Lo. 
The other 2 being Ganymede and Callisto in that order.
I could also make out the 2 main bands of Jupiter the north and south equatorial belts but no luck with the Great Red Spot still beautiful to observe though here's an image of stellarium.
The moon unfortunately was up a bit late but got about 15 mins observation time beautiful crisp craters and lovely shadows again along the terminator.

So a very good session and one of my favourite sketches to date ?

Clear skies ✨??☄️

Richard

[laudropb]

Nice sketch and report. I always find it difficult to sketch nebula.

[Richard Hather]

Thank you laudropb I try to stay as true to what I see through the EP as I can.

Getting the right amount of detail without adding is the biggest challenge for me.

Blending stumps are the best tools I use for getting the right amount of graphite for those gas clouds.

Richard

[BXRO]

Cracking bit of work, thanks for sharing it with us

[Richard Hather]

Thank you BXRO, i do my best to sketch a good likeness of what I observe ?

Richard

[Size9Hex]

Nice sketch! If you can catch it from a dark site and when the moon is out of the way, it'll really knock your socks off!

[mikeDnight]

There's one thing for certain Richard. You're a very good observer!

That's a very nice sketch of M42. 

Mike

 

[des anderson]

WOW there good....And can I say the report was outstanding.Thanks for sharing. Des

[Richard Hather]

12 hours ago, Size9Hex said:

Nice sketch! If you can catch it from a dark site and when the moon is out of the way, it'll really knock your socks off!

Thank you ? I will definitely have to observe this Nebula at a dark site as I did feel it had more to give.

I was lucky though there was no moon to contend with until about an hour after my sketch so I timed it well ?

Richard

[Richard Hather]

10 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

There's one thing for certain Richard. You're a very good observer!

That's a very nice sketch of M42. 

Mike

 

Thank you Mike, it's one of the reasons I sketch to see more and become a better observer and I do feel like this past year I've got a lot better ☺

Richard

[Richard Hather]

5 hours ago, des anderson said:

WOW there good....And can I say the report was outstanding.Thanks for sharing. Des

Thank you Des, I sometimes do find it hard to put into words the feelings and emotions I feel when observing something spectacular but I do my best ?

Richard

[mariosi]

Nice sketch of Great Orion Nebula! 

 

Marios 

[Richard Hather]

3 hours ago, mariosi said:

Nice sketch of Great Orion Nebula! 

 

Marios 

Cheers Marios, I try my best to capture what I see through the EP ?

Richard

[N3ptune]

Yep, the Orion nebula is truly a beautiful place. Great sketches Richard!

[johnfosteruk]

Lovely sketch. Love the detailed report too.

[Richard Hather]

1 hour ago, N3ptune said:

Yep, the Orion nebula is truly a beautiful place. Great sketches Richard!

Thank you Neptune, it literally blew me away I will definitely be visiting that beautiful place again very soon ?

Richard

[Richard Hather]

51 minutes ago, johnfosteruk said:

Lovely sketch. Love the detailed report too.

Thank you John, I try my best to create a sketch as if your looking through the EP yourself nothing exaggerated.

As for my report I try and get the emotions across as well as the facts but I still feel I fail to put in to words that overwhelming feeling when you observe something so wonderous.

Richard

[N3ptune]

3 minutes ago, Richard Hather said:

Thank you Neptune, it literally blew me away I will definitely be visiting that beautiful place again very soon ?

Richard

Totally it's a must at each observations for the time we can see it, Orion is slowly hiding ):

I looked at it last night from my best spot and it was stunning with my 25mm eyepiece, no filters. Each time it's a wonder to look at.. (;