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Coming soon to skies near you: The Orion Nebula !!!


John

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As we approach the time of year when the wonderful constellation Orion is on show together with it's showpiece deep sky object Messier 42, the Orion Nebula, I thought that I would share a couple of information sources that I have found very interesting and that have stimulated me to look a little bit more carefully and curiously into this amazing target when observing it.

The first is an excellent Sky & Telescope article by Bob King from 2014 which gives some good insights into the structure of the nebula and how what we can see visually links with that:

https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/see-orion-nebula-3d12172014/

So now we can look out for "The Fishes Mouth, "The Sword", "The Sail" and "The Cliff" as well as the well known Trapezium Cluster, Theta 1 Orionis :smiley:

The second link is an amazing "fly through" sequence that NASA put together in 2018 of the Orion Nebula using visible and infrared imaging from the Hubble and Spritzer space telescopes:

I hope those "whet the appetite" for just one of the treats that the Autumn and Winter skies have in store :icon_biggrin:

Edited by John
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6 hours ago, John said:

As we approach the time of year when the wonderful constellation Orion is on show together with it's showpiece deep sky object Messier 42, the Orion Nebula, I thought that I would share a couple of information sources that I have found very interesting and that have stimulated me to look a little bit more carefully and curiously into this amazing target when observing it.

Very informative article and inspiring video John, thanks for posting. This object deserves more time and study when I observe so this will really help to get something new from it. 

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Great links John, thanks for sharing!

Orion has been my favourite constellation since I was 15 and used to just gaze for ages at M42 through my little Prinz 550 60mm F15 Refractor (Circle T optics and rather good actually).

Even now, 50 years later, I get inwardly excited at the prospect of cold, clear nights wondering if I will see both e and f stars of the Trap! 😊👍

Dave

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On 02/11/2020 at 10:29, johninderby said:

Think I could do with an Astronomik UHC filter for this? 🤔

Not a bad idea :smiley:

When I get a dark night and Orion is well placed, I'm going to try observing M42 through UHC, O-III and H-Beta filters and sketch the difference these filters make vs no filter, to the principle features within the nebula. I've noted them in the past but I've not been very systematic in comparing the impact of these filters.

 

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Fantastic video John. Thanks for posting.
Think we’d feel very different about astronomy in the Northern Hemisphere if we didn’t have M42/43 to look forward to each year, knowing that it will reward multiple revisits through the winter - whether observing with a dob from a dark site or a small refractor from the city. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

This might sound stupid but I just looked out of the window and saw orion and I thought to myself.. Why not.

 

So I grabbed my 150PDS and slapped in the 28mm standard EP and I held the telescope under my arm and tried to find my way to orion.(my EQ6-R Pro arrives next week and my EQ3-2 is in parts atm.)  Well,  it was shaking like crazy, but I found it. Even from the middle of the city it was so clear. Even though it was nothing like the pictures(duh) it was one of the most amazing things I've seen.  I was looking at it with my own eyes! I got so happy I actually cried a little. I still have a smile on my face! 

 

That was my first time observing M42 and I doubt I'll ever forget it! 

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