Cygnus

[Stardaze]

I've been getting to know this constellation this last couple of months between long spells of cloudy evenings but there's lots of nebulae that I still remains elusive. Most notable is the North American Neb that is still hiding from my gaze. Armed with just an O-III filter at the moment, I'm adept at finding The Veil and the dumbbell pops with the O-III, but the Pelican, NA neb, Crescent and all of the nebula around Sadr is proving a tough nut to crack. Are some of these better suited to a certain filter or do I need to study longer? 

Edited July 31, 2020 by Stardaze

[RobertI]

Well done on the nebs you have seen so far! From memory I can't say I have clearly seen the whole outline of the NA Nebula through a scope, but the area of the nebula is clearly brighter than the surrounds and the area around 'the wall' is clearly defined especially with a UHC filter. I have seen entire nebula clearly defined through binoculars though, with a UHCE filter held accross the eyepiece and at a very dark site! I have never successully seen the crescent - I tried to see it recently (with my 150PL I think) , and know I was in the right region from the field stars on a finder chart, but I could only glimpse a faint wisp. The summer skies were too bright unfortunately so I am going to have another go when the skies are darker. It responds well to a OIII filter I believe.  

Edited July 31, 2020 by RobertI

[John]

NA neb is very large. I find that I can only see bits of it with my scopes. The "Gulf of Mexico" part seems to be the best defined. Big binoculars under a really dark sky are probably more effective.

The Pelican is next door to the NA neb and also large with low surface brightness.

The Crescent I do find an O-III helps with and it's not quite as challenging as the above.

I think keeping at it and looking for the darkest, most transparent skies to observe under is the best approach.

 

[Stardaze]

31 minutes ago, RobertI said:

Well done on the nebs you have seen so far! From memory I can't say I have clearly seen the whole outline of the NA Nebula through a scope, but the area of the nebula is clearly brighter than the surrounds and the area around 'the wall' is clearly defined especially with a UHC filter. I have seen entire nebula clearly defined through binoculars though, with a UHCE filter held accross the eyepiece and at a very dark site! I have never successully seen the crescent - I tried to see it recently (with my 150PL I think) , and know I was in the right region from the field stars on a finder chart, but I could only glimpse a faint wisp. The summer skies were too bright unfortunately so I am going to have another go when the skies are darker. It responds well to a OIII filter I believe.  

 

27 minutes ago, John said:

NA neb is very large. I find that I can only see bits of it with my scopes. The "Gulf of Mexico" part seems to be the best defined. Big binoculars under a really dark sky are probably more effective.

The Pelican is next door to the NA neb and also large with low surface brightness.

The Crescent I do find an O-III helps with and it's not quite as challenging as the above.

I think keeping at it and looking for the darkest, most transparent skies to observe under is the best approach.

 

Thanks gents. I guess it is rather large. The widest FOV I have is 1.58 so I'll need to try and determine the edges and do a little more reading around them. I'll try around the Gulf of Mexico bit then John - thanks for the pointer. Probably won't add the UHC until the back-end of the year, still have an EP and the dew kit to buy before that. 

[Kyle Allen]

If you’ve got an optical finder scope, you could try holding your O-III filter against the eyepiece. Having a larger field of view would probably help with a large diffuse object like the North America Nebula as it might be easier to detect if you’ve got dark sky all around it. 

I’ve only got a 1.25 inch O-III filter. I’ve managed to see the Veil Nebula with it through my 8 inch Dobsonian by holding it against my 2 inch 30mm eyepiece. I should probably buy a 2 inch version but not sure if I can justify the cost. Does anyone know if it affects the quality of the view by holding the filter against the eyepiece as opposed to screwing it into the end of the barrel? If I’m likely to get an improved image by buying a 2 inch O-III filter, I’d be happier getting one! 😀

[Nyctimene]

1 hour ago, Stardaze said:

I'll try around the Gulf of Mexico bit

The asterism Leiter 9, "Little Orion", is a good pointer to the Gulf region, and easy to spot in small scopes and medium-sized binos; have a look:

Stephan

[Stardaze]

8 minutes ago, Nyctimene said:

The asterism Leiter 9, "Little Orion", is a good pointer to the Gulf region, and easy to spot in small scopes and medium-sized binos; have a look:

Stephan

That's really helpful, thanks. I can see that in my atlas, so shall make a note for next time.

[John]

The North American Nebula is around 2 degrees x 2 degrees in size. It took me ages (years) to get a decent view of it. Turns out I was looking right through it all that time !

The Veil Nebula is a bit over 3 degrees overall.

These are large targets

[Stardaze]

18 hours ago, John said:

The North American Nebula is around 2 degrees x 2 degrees in size. It took me ages (years) to get a decent view of it. Turns out I was looking right through it all that time !

The Veil Nebula is a bit over 3 degrees overall.

These are large targets

Thanks John. I guess I can see where this is going to end up sometime in the future... my dob could have a long ball and short ball companion.

A mak for the planets and an 80ED for this kind of thing?

[John]

5 hours ago, Stardaze said:

Thanks John. I guess I can see where this is going to end up sometime in the future... my dob could have a long ball and short ball companion.

A mak for the planets and an 80ED for this kind of thing?

I find my Vixen ED102SS refractor excellent for these large objects. It's F/6.5 so getting a 3 or 4 degree field of view is not too difficult.

 

[Stardaze]

32 minutes ago, John said:

I find my Vixen ED102SS refractor excellent for these large objects. It's F/6.5 so getting a 3 or 4 degree field of view is not too difficult.

 

I bet that’s perfect. Something around 600mm sounds ideal 👍