First time- Orion 😳👌

[markse68]

To recap I’m spending a few days camping in Bortle 4 Kent coast and it’s been an amazing few days seeing things as never before! I had planned to set alarm for 4am one morning but a large family group arrived yesterday and kinda surrounded me so I abandoned that plan not wanting to wake them all at that ungodly hour.

So I waited and waited till about 2am last night for my first ever look at Orion and boy was it worth it! Pretty spectacular despite the closeness of the half moon and the low altitude at that time but even with those limitations it’s the most incredible nebula I’ve seen yet- so vivid and 3-dimensional. Wow!

I do have a question though. It’s going to get better and better with darkening skies, higher altitude  and with a lack of moon, but will something like an oiii filter be the icing on the cake or is that just for things you can’t really see without?

[mdstuart]

I find the Orion nebula best without filters such as the OIII.

The OIII helps with some nebula such as the veil in Cygnus but not with the majority of nebulas.

Mark

[markse68]

Thanks Mark. Looks like tonight is going to be the last good weather of my holiday so I’ll most likely be out again in the wee hours. I don’t know if it was my imagination and I couldn’t make out any structure but I got a  distinct impression of a redness to the area the NAN should be last night without filters 

[John]

I agree with Mark - it's interesting to use an O-III filter on M42 but I feel that its best without a filter.

It is probably the most striking nebula that we can see in the northern skies. With an O-III filter however, the Veil Nebula complex rivals it for intricacy though and there is more of it to explore

[Carbon Brush]

At home I have enjoyed pointing out the nebula (unaided) to visitors from areas with more polluted skies.

Just going into that part of Orion with binos or a low power eyepiece gets you lost among the stars.

I always look forward to Orion showing over trees as winter approaches.

 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

Congrats markse68. I'm sharing your joy and wonderment right now, as I've just ticked off M42!

Setting the alarm for midnight to grab some clear sky before night shifts this weekend, I slept until 3.30! Looking outside the skies looked good, with some wisps of cloud rolling in from the west.

On goes the hat, fleece and coat, then the Startravel 120 is popped out, inc. the first outing of a 2" semi-apo filter fitted to the diagonal. BST 8mm/15mm and X-Cel 25mm stuffed in pockets.

It took only a second or two to locate M42 through the 25mm, as the Sword of Orion was just visible in my Bortle 7/8 sky.

Wow is all I can say. Just wow! Great wisps of nebulosity, with the Trapezium quadruple just split in the 15mm and easy in the 8mm.

I managed 30 minutes before the cloud cover arrived, but it was worth the very early rise.

Fantastic!

Edited October 2, 2019 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[markse68]

That’s awesome man- glad you saw it too

😊 It is spectacular isn’t it! And to think it should get better and better as the winter months progress- if only we get a few clear nights 😉

what surprised me about the Trapezium was that the stars seemed to have dimension! I don’t know if that’s diffusion from the nebulosity or perhaps my mirrors had dewed  up but I couldn’t focus them to pin points- it’s was like they were smeared a  little bit 🤷‍♂️ 

Anyway, looking forward to many more views in the coming months 😊

[JOC]

I've actually got some fairly decent filters and I've tried them on M42 and taken them off again!  I agree with the comments above I always think its better without.  

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

3 hours ago, markse68 said:

That’s awesome man- glad you saw it too

😊 It is spectacular isn’t it! And to think it should get better and better as the winter months progress- if only we get a few clear nights 😉

what surprised me about the Trapezium was that the stars seemed to have dimension! I don’t know if that’s diffusion from the nebulosity or perhaps my mirrors had dewed  up but I couldn’t focus them to pin points- it’s was like they were smeared a  little bit 🤷‍♂️ 

Anyway, looking forward to many more views in the coming months 😊

I agree about the depth the stars seemed to have, but I definitely had pinpoints through the refractor. It was probably dew on your mirrors? I'm looking forward to trying the 8" Dob next time. What scope did you use?

[MarsG76]

Yes, M42 is a AWESOME object to observe.. and yes it does get better with a darker sky and I find that using a Lumicon and Astronomik UHC filters really make it pop... the amount of detail is staggering and really makes a massive difference.

[joe aguiar]

orion is nice its probally the best nebula to look at northern to mid mortherns skies, where you can see detail and maybe some colour. Even in white zone city skys its still amazing.

joejaguar