A lava flow in Orion

[fwm891]

An explosive looking flame sending hot lava down past a spectator....

IC434 10x 120s, RASA8 f2, IDAS NB-1

[JOC]

Is that what they call the 'Horses head' nebula?

[fwm891]

4 hours ago, JOC said:

Is that what they call the 'Horses head' nebula?

@JOC Yes. That's the Horse Head nebula. Sits just below the lefthand star (Alnitak) in Orion's belt

[JOC]

43 minutes ago, fwm891 said:

@JOC Yes. That's the Horse Head nebula. Sits just below the lefthand star (Alnitak) in Orion's belt

Ah, then there is a good chance I've looked at it without even realising.  It's no doubt like many of these DSO vastly enhanced in magnification and visibility by astrophotography.  I tend to only see the trapezium nebula area in Orion and don't really have much idea of all the other interesting things around it.

[tooth_dr]

12 minutes ago, JOC said:

Ah, then there is a good chance I've looked at it without even realising.  It's no doubt like many of these DSO vastly enhanced in magnification and visibility by astrophotography.  I tend to only see the trapezium nebula area in Orion and don't really have much idea of all the other interesting things around it.

It’s a tricky one to see. Have a read here to confirm your sightings 👍🏻

 

[Ciaran Meier]

Wow, what a shot,  really caught my attention.  Wonderful to see Alnitak and sigma Ori in context with the HorseHead.  That photo would be a suitable addition to a star atlas.  Is the HorseHead achievable visually in an 8 inch newt ?  I've explored that area a few times but haven't spotted any obvious nebulosity. 

(Have read above thread,  no, it's not)

Edited January 22, 2020 by Ciaran Meier
Update.

[BiggarDigger]

3 hours ago, Ciaran Meier said:

Wow, what a shot,  really caught my attention.  Wonderful to see Alnitak and sigma Ori in context with the HorseHead.  That photo would be a suitable addition to a star atlas.  Is the HorseHead achievable visually in an 8 inch newt ?  I've explored that area a few times but haven't spotted any obvious nebulosity. 

(Have read above thread,  no, it's not)

It is possible with an 8inch Newt.  But, you have to have extremely dark skies, no light pollution, near perfect conditions including seeing, sky, time and patience.

I observed it last Saturday 18th January from my garden under Bortle 3 skies with an 200p Dob.  The seeing was as near perfect as I've experienced  it.  I've studied that part of the sky many times and had familiarized with what to look for.  I'm afraid it's not an object that one can just turn up, point the scope and have any hope of seeing.  The nebulosity that defines the HH was right on the limit of visibility and it took over an hour or more of dark adaption, preparation and exclusion of any external light sources. 

Line up on Alnitak.  Check if you can see The Flame.  If not, there's no chance of spotting the HH.  If the Flame is bright, clear and you can see branches sticking out from the trunk of the Flame, follow its main trunk out to IC435, the bright star surrounded by nebulosity to the south east of Alnitak.  Make sure Alnitak is out of the field of view else it will destroy your ability to see.  From there look northwest to see if you can spot any very marginally lighter patch of sky.  That will be IC434 and be very, very marginal.  It should fill about half of the field of view and have a more or less straight line edge heading back towards Alnitak.  Don't expect to see any fluctuations across the body of IC434, just a slight decrease in darkness compare to the background sky.  If you can see that, breath deep, cover any sources of light and wait.  After some time, you may be lucky enough to see a dark thumb appear in the vaguely lighter patch of sky adjacent to two mag 9 stars.  Then again, you may not...I've tried many times and can say I've only observed it twice.

I can't stress enough that you need no other light sources, very well adapted night vision, perfect seeing and transparency.  Anything other than perfect conditions will result in a no-show.  And prepare to be underwhelmed - it won't look anything like that you see above - just a dark patch in a dark-ish sky.

With no moon around for a little while, if clouds clear in the next week, you might have a chance.

Richard

[saac]

On 31/10/2019 at 20:40, fwm891 said:

An explosive looking flame sending hot lava down past a spectator....

IC434 10x 120s, RASA8 f2, IDAS NB-1

 

Francis that is an absolutely stunning piece of work.  I love the colour pallet; your interpretation of a lava flow is really fitting.  This is going into my collection of favourite images.  

Jim