Is it the Orion nebula?

[Camalajs525]

Since I am very new to this, I struggle a lot. Especially when observing planets and also recently deep sky objects. My telescope is an amateur telescope and its almost 11 years old (The telescope was re used a year ago). During summer of last year I took photos of Saturn,Jupiter and a month ago took photos of Venus and Mars. About 2 days ago I stumbled upon a new thing in the sky, (Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture). It definitely was in the Orion constellation  as I had observed Betelgeuse and the 3 stars that were close to each other. After a couple of minutes later I saw 2 stars next to each other and another two which were on top of the other star, surrounding these set of stars were a blue-ish and grey-ish colour at the same time. I had done some research and many people told me it was the trapezium cluster found in Orion. I honestly don't know. Any ideas? Thanks. 

[Dr Strange]

I like your avatar! I am a Manchester United fan myself. Likely it was M42 the Orion Nebula. 

[John]

The Orion Nebula (Messier 42) is located in what is often called the "sword" of Orion, that is a line of stars that come down below the 3 "belt" stars. I've arrowed the nebula in red in this photo and Betelgeuse is indicated by the green arrow:

 

 

[Jiggy 67]

As much as I hate to reply to a Utd fan  😀 It certainly sounds like the nebula, it’s unmistakable when you see it, unlike anything else you’ll see visually 

[Camalajs525]

Just now, Jiggy 67 said:

As much as I hate to reply to a Utd fan  😀 It certainly sounds like the nebula, it’s unmistakable when you see it, unlike anything else you’ll see visually 

Haha. Thanks for the info. MANCHESTER IS RED!

[Camalajs525]

12 minutes ago, John said:

The Orion Nebula (Messier 42) is located in what is often called the "sword" of Orion, that is a line of stars that come down below the 3 "belt" stars. I've arrowed the nebula in red in this photo and Betelgeuse is indicated by the green arrow:

 

 

Thanks. 

[fozzybear]

Here is a bit of red from the past slightly off topic but had to as an ex Manc. Sorry

[BlueStinger]

When I first looked at the nebula with Binoculas a month or so ago I saw exactly pretty much how you described OP, multiple stars surrounded by a haze of briliant blue and white light. Stunning. It wasn't 'til I took a picture with my phone attached to the binoculars that I could see more colours. Sadly Orion is too low in the nightsky now to observe properly but I'm going to be taking lots of snaps again later in the year. Seems the best time for viewing will be late November here.

Edited April 16, 2020 by BlueStinger

[RT65CB-SWL]

If you use a filter... either of these --->https://www.firstlightoptics.com/explore-scientific-filters.html (other brands are also available), they will enhance some of the finer detail and your viewing. 

[Camalajs525]

22 hours ago, Philip R said:

If you use a filter... either of these --->https://www.firstlightoptics.com/explore-scientific-filters.html (other brands are also available), they will enhance some of the finer detail and your viewing. 

Are they applicable to all telescopes?

[John]

23 minutes ago, Camalajs525 said:

Are they applicable to all telescopes?

The UHC type work better with smaller scopes than the O-III type. The CLS type barely have any effect in my experience. These things only work with nebulae (ie: not galaxies or clusters) and the improvements are subtle rather than startling but the contrast in the nebulosity is improved to some extent.

 

[Macavity]

On 15/04/2020 at 15:49, Camalajs525 said:

 About 2 days ago I stumbled upon a new thing in the sky...

Not unusual to "discover" things? lol. I remember, as a kid, being on holiday in N.Wales
(better seeing) and seeing this "little cloud" in the same place on successive nights... 🤔

Binoculars showed it to be the Pleiades! My eyesight (acuity)
was/is never THAT great - Even with prescription glasses! 🤓

Edited April 17, 2020 by Macavity

[RT65CB-SWL]

1 hour ago, John said:

The UHC type work better with smaller scopes than the O-III type. The CLS type barely have any effect in my experience. These things only work with nebulae (ie: not galaxies or clusters) and the improvements are subtle rather than startling but the contrast in the nebulosity is improved to some extent.

 

Thank you @John. 

I would like to say; that I find the Explore Scientific CLS filter to be a tad better than the Baader Planetarium Contrast Booster filter. Maybe it's just me! Others may tend to agree or disagree as @John has said.

[John]

50 minutes ago, Philip R said:

Thank you @John. 

I would like to say; that I find the Explore Scientific CLS filter to be a tad better than the Baader Planetarium Contrast Booster filter. Maybe it's just me! Others may tend to agree or disagree as @John has said.

The Contrast Booster and CLS filter are quite different to the UHC and O-III filters.

The CB and CLS are broadband filters. The UHC is a narrowband and the O-III is a line filter. More on these classes of filters here:

https://www.prairieastronomyclub.org/useful-filters-for-viewing-deep-sky-objects/