Interesting Session

[Epick Crom]

Hi my fellow stargazers! Despite far from ideal conditions ( high humidity and some LP making the sky glow) I decided to lug out my 10" dob and logged a 1hr session. 

Gamma Leporis: Lovely double star seen for the first time. Nice yellow/ golden combination.

IC 2944: Wide open cluster in Centaurus, also observed the nebula IC 2948 surrounding Lambda Centauri. Nice blue glow.

Alpha Crucis : Beautiful double star in the Southern Cross (Crux) Twin blue beacons!

Carina Nebula: Looked stunning despite the LP, the Homunculus nebula around Eta Carina looked outstanding, glowing a deep orange.

Tegmine: Stunning triple star in Cancer, looked lovely at 240x

M78 in Orion is my current nemesis, still can't find it! Also unsuccessful in locating the globular cluster NGC 1851. Was an interesting session despite the conditions! Clear skies to you all ☺️

Joe

[Jiggy 67]

The Carina nebula sounds amazing!!

As for M78, if you get Alnitak in a low power eyepiece, it should be in your fov. I find it to be very faint and difficult to see, a thin cloud of nebulosity around two stars. If I remember correctly the two stars are basically at the centre of the nebula, that’s what I’ve written in my notes. A UHC filter will assist I think. Keep at it, it’s just being damned awkward!!

[Waddensky]

Wonderful objects visible over there from the sourthern hemisphere! Lovely report, thanks for sharing. M78 is quite obvious for a reflection nebula but it's small and poor transparency or light pollution will make it difficult to find. The two central stars @Jiggy 67 mentions are a great 'landmark' to locate it, it always reminds me of a miniature Orion Nebula for some reason.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Waddensky

[Epick Crom]

1 hour ago, Jiggy 67 said:

The Carina nebula sounds amazing!!

As for M78, if you get Alnitak in a low power eyepiece, it should be in your fov. I find it to be very faint and difficult to see, a thin cloud of nebulosity around two stars. If I remember correctly the two stars are basically at the centre of the nebula, that’s what I’ve written in my notes. A UHC filter will assist I think. Keep at it, it’s just being damned awkward!!

Thanks for the tip Jiggy! M78 is sure being awkward, I've got the field of view from Sky Safari buy alas still no luck. I will keep trying until I find it! 

[Epick Crom]

1 hour ago, Waddensky said:

Wonderful objects visible over there from the sourthern hemisphere! Lovely report, thanks for sharing. M78 is quite obvious for a reflection nebula but it's small and poor transparency or light pollution will make it difficult to find. The two central stars @Jiggy 67 mentions are a great 'landmark' to locate it, it always reminds me of a miniature Orion Nebula for some reason.

Thanks Waddensky. I'm having trouble locating the two stars yourself and Jiggy have mentioned, but I will keep at it nonetheless. Thanks for your advice 👍

[John]

I use this "star hop" to locate M78. Other way up for southern hemisphere observers of course !:

I look for the pair of stars like two "eyes" peering out of a faint surrounding halo of nebulosity. Not a distinctive target really. It's a reflection nebula so filters don't really help.

M78 is about 3 degrees from Alnitak so you would need a very wide field of view to see them both at the same time. 

[Epick Crom]

1 minute ago, John said:

I use this "star hop" to locate M78. Other way up for southern hemisphere observers of course !:

I look for the pair of stars like two "eyes" peering out of a faint surrounding halo of nebulosity. Not a distinctive target really. It's a reflection nebula so filters don't really help.

M78 is about 3 degrees from Alnitak so you would need a very wide field of view to see them both at the same time. 

Thank you John, I will try your method first chance I get! Yes it's upside down for me here Down Under but all good🙃. I will try my low power 68 degree eyepiece. Thanks

[John]

7 minutes ago, Epick Crom said:

Thank you John, I will try your method first chance I get! Yes it's upside down for me here Down Under but all good🙃. I will try my low power 68 degree eyepiece. Thanks

We were in Australia for a month in 2018 and it was odd for us to see Orion rising "on his head". Soon got used to it though !

 

[Epick Crom]

6 minutes ago, John said:

We were in Australia for a month in 2018 and it was odd for us to see Orion rising "on his head". Soon got used to it though !

 

I'm sure it must have seemed strange to you! That's why we are the land down under😁

[Kon]

Another excellent report Joe! A lot of nice targets again. M78 alluded me as well for a while but after a few attempts with different star hoping i managed it (it was also during new moon so quite dark sky). 

[John]

9 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

I'm sure it must have seemed strange to you! That's why we are the land down under😁

Viewing the Magellanic Clouds and the globular cluster 47 Tucanae with 8x56 binoculars was a superb experience. Hope to be able to repeat it when things get back to some sort of normality

 

[Epick Crom]

1 hour ago, Kon said:

Another excellent report Joe! A lot of nice targets again. M78 alluded me as well for a while but after a few attempts with different star hoping i managed it (it was also during new moon so quite dark sky). 

Thanks Kon👍 I will attempt finding M 78 on the next new moon night, my skies aren't the best as I'm 8km from the city centre. Cheers

[Epick Crom]

27 minutes ago, John said:

Viewing the Magellanic Clouds and the globular cluster 47 Tucanae with 8x56 binoculars was a superb experience. Hope to be able to repeat it when things get back to some sort of normality

 

The Magellanic Clouds and 47 Tucanae are great objects to observe! I hope you get the opportunity to do it again once things settle down 🤞