SWANning around the Veil

[philipok]

A crisp clear night in a (relatively) dark patch of light polluted Bucks.. I did a speed-assembly of the scope (thanks to the Scopebuggy) at 8.30 and decided to try out the new 33mm WO SWAN I bought from FLO.. after a few initial targets (ngc 7331, double cluster etc), I decided to focus on the Veil, screwing in a 2" OIII. x75 in my 10".

This was total magic - the best view I've had of it.. started on the Western end around 52 Cygni and just toured the whole thing using a slow slew rate.. ambling along the lanes of dark and light gas, seeing filaments, and then off into the dark spaces inbetween the two major loops and kind of winging it up to the Eastern arc.. not sure initially whether I'd overshoot, and then - there is was, a bank of foggy nebula, leading East to a kind of fork. Truly awe inspiring, and it gave me vertigo! There was too much to see - I'm going to have to try to sketch this before Cygnus sets for the year.

The Astronomik OIII, although somewhat maligned for reducing light, in my view earned it's £100+ price, and the SWAN performed very well. The Veil is now in my top ten must see sights.

Finished off with a great M76, again through the OIII - nice, tightly defined lobes..

all this done in 40 mins - my wife returned to find dinner on the table and the only trace of my Monday night session, her hairdryer mysteriously having moved from the bedroom to be requisitioned for more important purposes...

Philip

[MarkR]

Hi Phil,

I found NGC6992 (the brighter loop) for the first time in a 4" refractor last night using a UHC filter (without the filter it was practically invisible). From what you are saying, the OIII makes a significant difference as well? I guess 6x more aperture must also help as well!

Interesting report, and concur with your views on the nebulosity - like a view of the milky way.

Regards,

Mark

[philipok]

Hi Mark, I read your thread as well, glad to see another Veil fan!

For my money, this was a epiphany with my OIII.. I bought it at Astrofest .. I had bought a 2" diagonal (the guy had sworn I'd get more light!) and then he said - "ah, now you've got a 2" and widefield eyepieces, the filters get more expensive"...

So I'm a convert, although maybe will look into something milder for counter light pollution measures. Also I've seen Nik Szymanek uses an OIII for lunar pics - maybe cuts down on bad seeing?

Philip

[philipok]

I'm losing it.. my filter is Lumicon, not Astronomik.. I've been confused reading so many filter posts..

[PhilM]

The Veil in OIII is a truly awesome sight and I've enjoyed sketching it using scopes from 3.5 to 20"s - would be good to see your results if you get a chance.

A good challenge is Pickerings triangular wisp in between the western and eastern segments - there's a sketch of it along with some of my other veil sketches on this site somewhere.

Phil.

[stefski]

Hi guys,

Can also testifyn to the wonders of the OIII, especially for the Veil.

PhilM, i've tried to spot Pickerings Triangle. haven't seen it yet....Is it visible in an 11", especially under LP skies of South Beds!?

Stef

BTW also have the WO 33mm SWAN - great ep!!!

[PhilM]

Hi Stef.

I've seen Pickerings triangular wisp in a 4" (with an OIII of course) but it really needs a lot more aperture to bring it alive - in a 20" from very dark skies it was easy, but to really get the detail out took some work and a lot of time - it's nowhere near as bright as the eastern and western segments, it doesn't even have an ngc number.

A lot will depend on your skies but your UWAN will be the way to go - large field and low mag is the key due to the low surface brightness. Oh, and an OIII

Let me know how you get on,

Phil.

[Doc]

I must get one of these.

I have the scope but not the filter :crybaby: