Horse head nebula

[Tim]

21 hours ago, John said:

I think you need to be able to see the Flame Nebula reasonably well to have a chance of seeing the Horsehead. To be more precise you need to give yourself the chance of seeing the faint elongated glow of the emission nebula IC 434 which is a target that the H-Beta filter will enhance. Once you feel you are seeing that (and it's a very ellusive target itself even with the filter) Barnard 33 (The Horsehead Nebula) might be seen as a subtle dark shape or soft edged notch laying across IC 434. It's not going to look much like a horses head though !

Jeremy Perez's sketches and description are very good I think although I have to say that my sightings with my 12 inch dobsonian have not been as distinct as his sketches made under dark Arizona skies show with his 6 inch scope !

http://www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus/archives/000379.html

I think this sketch by Michael Vlasov is close to the view that I got. He was using an 8 inch newtonian in the Negev Desert so I'm pleased that I managed to get where I did with my 12 inch from North Somerset just 12 miles SW of Bristol !

 

Yes, I'd say that is a fair representation of what you might see with enough aperture, although the darker area has never stood out to me like that and with Alnitak in the eyepiece view I find it is difficult to get enough contrast in the rest of the view to determine the notch that is the Horsey.