Eastern- and western Veil - 4" refractor and OIII filter

[Victor Boesen]

On Thursday night I joined a couple of others at a Bortle 5 location just outside city where the Milky Way in Cygnus and at zenith is visible. I had brought my new TecnoSky 102mm F/7 APO refractor and was lend a 2" diagonal by one of the others in which I placed my 82 degree, 24mm Explorer Scientific eyepiece with an OIII filter screwed into the diagonal. I decided to do some sketching, which I haven't done for a long time, and I chose the Veil because it's something I rarely get the time to study and even observe. Sweeping around the area the western and Eastern Veil were both quite obvious, but it was fun teasing detail out of them!

Eastern Veil

I started with the Eastern Veil and the curved shape was the most obvious thing I started sketching. It seemed like the northern and southern parts of it were slightly brighter than the middle, and after studying the object for some time I noticed that the southern tail split into two "legs". The northern tail also seemed to be slightly brighter on the western side of it, and it seemed wider than the middle part.

Western Veil

The Western Veil looked, at first, like a sharp edge right through 52Cyg, although studying the object for a little longer it extended further and further from the star. It was obvious that the western "edge" of the nebulosity was the brightest. I also noticed that the nebula curved in the northern part, but this was very faint, and so was the tail in the southern part, which looked like it spread out more in width the further south it stretched.

I am surprised with what only 102mm of aperture can do at a Bortle 5 location, and I'm hoping to try out the scope at even darker locations and compare the view to these sketches.
I am very happy with these sketches, and I think they turned out great, capturing, what is very close to, the same view I had through the eyepiece.

Victor

[markse68]

Fantastic sketches Victor! Did you invert them afterwards or did you draw white on black? I only managed to catch the veil once quite well and once very faintly- since then it’s returned to invisibility unfortunately. 

[Victor Boesen]

Just now, markse68 said:

Fantastic sketches Victor! Did you invert them afterwards or did you draw white on black? I only managed to catch the veil once quite well and once very faintly- since then it’s returned to invisibility unfortunately. 

Thanks a lot Yes, I forgot to mention that I took an image of each sketch on paper and inverted them afterwards. I think it adds a lot to it!

I think Bortle 5 is actually the brightest location I've seen the veil. I've seen it before through my Helios Apollo 15X70 with a UHC and OIII filter at my grandparent's Bortle 4 location;) That looked great!

[globular]

Fantastic sketches 
I'm making the most of my very infrequent clear skies to study Mars mostly at the moment - but you've inspired me to try sketching the veil next. 
I've had some good(ish) views of the eastern veil - helped by a DGM NPB filter - but not anything decent of the western.  I think I might need an OIII to tease them out ...?  I'm bortle 4/5 so I should get some good views on the right nights.

[Victor Boesen]

22 minutes ago, globular said:

Fantastic sketches 
I'm making the most of my very infrequent clear skies to study Mars mostly at the moment - but you've inspired me to try sketching the veil next. 
I've had some good(ish) views of the eastern veil - helped by a DGM NPB filter - but not anything decent of the western.  I think I might need an OIII to tease them out ...?  I'm bortle 4/5 so I should get some good views on the right nights.

Thank you!! I've been very lucky with the weather lately, so I've had plenty of time to observe Mars;)

I've found that an OIII filter can really bring out the veil nebula from its background, especially at a semi-dark place, eg. bortle 4 and 5. It's true when I, and many others, say that the Veil was invisible without it! For fun I tried a couple of times to spot if without the filter and I just couldn't! Screwed the filter back in... and there it was. An OIII filter is the best filter I have (I also have a UHC, polarizing and a CLS filter), and it's amazing for the veil, dumbbell, ring and even rosette nebula, which I've spotted through my 15X70 binoculars with the OIII and UHC screwed into the eyepieces.

I'm glad I could inspire you

[Dantooine]

Most importantly you got your 2” eyepiece to focus now. 

[JeremyS]

Great work Victor!

[John]

Excellent report and sketches Victor. I observe the Veil under bortle 5 skies and it is amazing how much a 102mm aperture can pick out once it is armed with a good O-III filter.

There is another section of the nebula called Pickering's Triangle which though a little fainter, should also be visible with this sort of setup. It lies between the east and west segments:

[Victor Boesen]

2 hours ago, Dantooine said:

Most importantly you got your 2” eyepiece to focus now. 

Yes! I borrowed a 2" skywatcher diagonal from a friend of mine while on a small "meetup". Luckily that fixed all the focus issues!

[Victor Boesen]

2 hours ago, John said:

Excellent report and sketches Victor. I observe the Veil under bortle 5 skies and it is amazing how much a 102mm aperture can pick out once it is armed with a good O-III filter.

There is another section of the nebula called Pickering's Triangle which though a little fainter, should also be visible with this sort of setup. It lies between the east and west segments:

Thanks John!! I've seen Pickering's triangle with my 15X70 binoculars with my UHC and OIII filters, but I didn't look for it that night unfortunately... Will definitely try next time, it doesn't sound impossible;)

[mikeDnight]

Top class observation Victor. It seems your 102mm apo is really proving its worth. Terrific sketches!

[Stu]

7 hours ago, Victor Boesen said:

I think Bortle 5 is actually the brightest location I've seen the veil.

Excellent sketches Victor, glad the scope is performing well. Under those skies on a very good night, but definitely under Bortle 4, you should be able to see the separation in the tail of the Broomstick (Western Veil). There are also the two ‘hooks’ on the Eastern Veil which I enjoy viewing. I’ve seen these in both my Tak FC100DC and Genesis under decent skies (around Mag 21 if I recall correctly). I use a Lumicon OIII filter which is very effective.

I used to think the Veil was all but invisible from home, Bortle 7, but I reckon the skies have improved considerably since lockdown and the reduction in flights and I had good views of it from home in my Heritage 150p recently.

With repeated viewings you will likely see more and more detail. Excellent transparency really helps the detail pop out.

Looking forward to more reports with your lovely refractor!

[Dantooine]

2 hours ago, Victor Boesen said:

Yes! I borrowed a 2" skywatcher diagonal from a friend of mine while on a small "meetup". Luckily that fixed all the focus issues!

I’m very happy for you that it’s ok. You sounded a little disappointed. The 24mm sounds like it’s one of your favourites. 

[Victor Boesen]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

Top class observation Victor. It seems your 102mm apo is really proving its worth. Terrific sketches!

Thanks Mike!! I take that as a huge compliment, having seen many of your beautiful sketches during the years I've been on here

28 minutes ago, Stu said:

Excellent sketches Victor, glad the scope is performing well. Under those skies on a very good night, but definitely under Bortle 4, you should be able to see the separation in the tail of the Broomstick (Western Veil). There are also the two ‘hooks’ on the Eastern Veil which I enjoy viewing. I’ve seen these in both my Tak FC100DC and Genesis under decent skies (around Mag 21 if I recall correctly). I use a Lumicon OIII filter which is very effective.

I used to think the Veil was all but invisible from home, Bortle 7, but I reckon the skies have improved considerably since lockdown and the reduction in flights and I had good views of it from home in my Heritage 150p recently.

With repeated viewings you will likely see more and more detail. Excellent transparency really helps the detail pop out.

Looking forward to more reports with your lovely refractor!

Thank you Stu, I'm really enjoying the scope!!
I believe I couldn't quite see the separation in the Western Veil, but it definitely looked like it spread out wider. The two hooks on the Eastern veil were difficult to spot, but they were fun to observe

It's interesting how you mention that the sky quality has improved the views from your home, I've had the exact same experience! For the first time in a little more than 5 years I was able to glimpse M31 from home as it passed zenith. Living at Bortle 7 myself (SQM of 18.66 according to lightpollutionmap) I've previously felt I'd never see it naked eye, and I was surprised when I glimpsed it first time! It makes me want to try observing the veil from home sometime, if I can get the opportunity to.

You'll definitely see some more posts around involving the refractor;)

[Victor Boesen]

13 minutes ago, Dantooine said:

I’m very happy for you that it’s ok. You sounded a little disappointed. The 24mm sounds like it’s one of your favourites. 

Yes, I was a little disappointed! But to be honest, I was planning to get a 2" diagonal nonetheless, but it's really good to know I'll be able to use all my eyepieces with it! Perhaps I could even try using my 24mm eyepiece in my small Evostar 72ED, which would give me an FOV of a whopping 4.7deg I wonder how that'd compare to my Helios Apollo 15X70 with an FOV of 4 degrees

[Fraunhoffer]

Lovely sketches. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Victor Boesen]

7 hours ago, Fraunhoffer said:

Lovely sketches. Thanks for sharing.

 

Thank you very much! Much appreciated.