The Veil - it's there, after all

[iPeace]

Management Summary:

My first ever sighting. TV-85, 24mm Panoptic, 1.25" Lumicon O-III (likely to be one of the last good ones). Very slight trace of the Western Veil off 52 Cygni; faint but very clear view of the Eastern Veil.

I have done this often. Deploy the scope, point it at the Swan's lower wing, and slowly trawl around the area where everyone else insists the mythical Veil Nebula is to be found. I've had lunch with the Yeti - and his aunt  - and been water skiing with Nessy up in Caledonia, but the Veil has always eluded me. Aperture, aptitude, light pollution, whatever; it just never happened. Until last night.

Before dusk, Jupiter, as always, was first to appear and so out with the scope. I know seeing is bad if Jove insists on wearing a colored edge out of focus, and a bit later even Luna was hardly worth any serious gazing. Saturn tends not to be especially bothered by the conditions and is always worth a peek, but on the whole, this was not going to be a great planetary session - it would have to be found outside the Solar System, this night. I packed up the short Naglers and the Vixen HR, loaded up the 24mm Panoptic with its top cap on and sat down in a garden chair to wait for what would have to pass for true darkness.

I dozed awkwardly, waking a few times to check the time and the sky until finally at 01:30 the show was on. Clear sky, Milky Way. All I need, really, and it always makes me forget about faint fuzzy stuff. Or wispy remnants.

Traveling through Cygnus with the Panoptic was very satisfying and as fatigue set in, I was contemplating chasing out the bed bugs. But it was in my mind to try for the Veil again.

So I ligned up 52 Cygni, inserted the O-III, and approached the eyepiece, expecting nothing, for that had been my tally so far. At first, I needed some focusing - strange, I was sure that I had been in focus before applying the filter. Oh, well... HEY!

A very slight wisp had appeared, extending upwards from the star. I kept checking, averting my eye, even switching eyes, and it was most definitely there. Nothing close to what SkySafari suggests, but so much more than ever.

As I very carefully scrolled around looking for other bits, it seemed that I had seen all I would, until Stanley, my all-seeing, long-suffering TV-85, lost all patience and roared at me: IT'S RIGHT THERE.

And it was. Slowly emerging into my pitiful vision, faint but very, very clear. The Eastern Veil. Finally. I gazed for the best part of an hour, experimenting with averted vision and comparing eyes until the clouds finally rolled in to salvage the remnants of my night's sleep.

A good night.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Congrats on finding it. It is a very tricky object, especially because it is so extended, and is embedded in a rich star field

[Victor Boesen]

Very nice report! sometimes it really is worth it to get out of bed in the middle of the night!

[Pondus]

Well done you ! . Certainly many Wonders in the sky  I`ve yet to see.

 

Rune

[laudropb]

Congratulations. Lovely report of a good session topped off with your fist view of the elusive Veil.

[cotterless45]

Wonderful target , especially from dark skies , 

Nick.

[Stu]

Great stuff Mike. I love the Veil, one of my favourite objects, great to get the whole lot in view together with say a 31mm Nag in Stanley if you have one?

[iPeace]

14 minutes ago, Stu said:

Great stuff Mike. I love the Veil, one of my favourite objects, great to get the whole lot in view together with say a 31mm Nag in Stanley if you have one?

Ironically, it never happened for me with the 31mm Nagler, a big, beautiful eyepiece which I have since passed on to a more deserving home. No fault of the eyepiece, I'm sure.

[Paul73]

Haha. Great read about a great target!! I feel much the same way about the Pelican jobbie that allegedly lurks somewhere around the invisible North America nebula.

Don't be afraid to up the mag on the Western Veil (one further wing tip). There is a surprising amount of detail to be had; once you know where it is!

Paul

[Stu]

1 hour ago, iPeace said:

Ironically, it never happened for me with the 31mm Nagler, a big, beautiful eyepiece which I have since passed on to a more deserving home. No fault of the eyepiece, I'm sure.

Interesting. I guess if it wasn't a matter of sky conditions then it can only be exit pupil size causing the difference. The 24mm Pan is a lovely eyepiece and my most used low power from home, it's just not worth going any lower as everything is washed out.

[PeterW]

I feel your pain, there are areas of the sky I have spent ages on sweeping about, hoping to catch something.... The veil is easy but quite small. Have you tried the North America and gamma Cygni regions. Pelican jobbie, there's more than that about those parts like ic5068 and sharpless 119. Exit pupil?? you need to eat more carrots!

 

 

Cheers

 

Peter

[iPeace]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Interesting. I guess if it wasn't a matter of sky conditions then it can only be exit pupil size causing the difference.

I rather suspect that I just wasn't ready for it. Tried 41mm Panoptic, 31mm and 26mm Type 5 Naglers, and all the Ethos. But then again, how many actual attempts - in viable conditions - would that make? In any case, I'm not saying I moved from the heavy ordnance down to the 24mm Panoptic and Type 6 Naglers for this reason - I just wanted to go lighter and smaller.

40 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Exit pupil?? you need to eat more carrots!

That's probably closer to the mark.

[PeterW]

... wrong kind of green eyepiece... easily done ;-)

 

peter

[Alan White]

That's a wonderful report, brought a smile to my grumpy old face for you.
One day I will find some of the faint targets I hope and be able to see the same as you.
Now if only the sky had arrows pointing at things with a I am here label, it would so much easier 

[Stu]

1 hour ago, iPeace said:

I rather suspect that I just wasn't ready for it. Tried 41mm Panoptic, 31mm and 26mm Type 5 Naglers, and all the Ethos. But then again, how many actual attempts - in viable conditions - would that make? In any case, I'm not saying I moved from the heavy ordnance down to the 24mm Panoptic and Type 6 Naglers for this reason - I just wanted to go lighter and smaller.

That's probably closer to the mark.

I've seen it quite a few times with a 31nag in a TV85 and 76, I guess it is just down to having the right conditions and knowing what to look for.

[Piero]

Very nice report!

A bit too bright here for a serious attempt, but my plan is to get a session in the countryside at some point in the end of July. That will be Veil time .

[Natty Bumpo]

That was a lovely, well written narrative of your quest. A great pleasure to read! Thank you.

[John]

Well done Mike !

I shared a lovely view of the E & W segments of the Veil with my society buddies the Saturday before last. I was using my ED120, 24 Panoptic and the Lumicon O-III filter. Most of them hed never seen the object before. I managed to pick out Pickerings Wisp as well but that was a bit too faint for my colleagues to catch.

Great fun seeing this in smaller scopes - the Vixen 102 + 31 Nag shows the whole shebang. Main thing I keep the N31 for really.