orion nebular not appering

[Andromeda]

Hi i don't know if i am doing somthig wrong but the orion nebular is not appring in my skywatcher all i can see is shading in it's shape around the trampeseium is that how it meat to look throght a scope or is it meat to be in more detaill.

thanks

[Kai]

Genrally you can make out "shape" around the trapesium with some whisps of nebulosity.

[Andromeda]

thats what im getting like the nebular is in a black and white movie. are all nebular's like that?

[Kai]

Visually ,yes .You may be able to make out a Green Tinge in Orion but you will not be able to make out the colour you see in images

[brendant]

Andromda you don't say what size your scope is but I would guess what you are seing is correct, It's unlikely you will see colour in Nebula or Galaxies with your scope, even in large scopes colour is not really evident, most objects appear as gray or brown smudges depending on your local conditions (light pollution etc..).

Your eyes are not sensitive to colour in the extremely low levels present in astronomical objects, the images you see are posted up from cameras and CCD's which much more sensitive than the human eye and are capable of adding up the light recieved over a long period to form a colour image.

THe central portion of your eye is least sensitive to dim light, this is why astronomers use a technique called averted vision, whereby essentially you look off slightly to the side of the object you wish to see then it becomes evident (if you look directly at it, it will disapperar), it takes practice to get used to it but it works, give it a try.

There is always a misconception of what is visible through a telescope, there are some websites which show what is visible in your average telescope and what to expect, I cannot find the link at the moment but someone else might be able to post.

HTH

Brendan

[Doc]

The larger your scope the more detail and colour will be evident. In my 16" dob orion nebula is awash in green and even a little blue.

As they say aperture rules.

[Andromeda]

thanks for the tips i will try that technique if it is clear tonight

[Talitha]

There's a lot of lunar interference right now, Andromeda.. you might want to wait till the end of next week when Luna's past Full and rising later each night.

[John]

Hi Andromeda,

You are seeing M42 (the Orion Nebula) as it is visually through many scopes, especially if there is any moonlight in the sky.

I don't know what scope you are using but if you keep observing these objects you do gradually see more details - not like the photos but subtle details that don't at 1st grab you attention.

When I 1st looked at the Orion Nebula it was with a 60mm refractor with a poor quality, narrow field of view eyepiece at about 50x. All I saw was the central portion with a few stars in it.

I then made myself a wider field of view and lower power eyepiece from an old binocular and kept observing. Gradually, and using the averted vision technique, I discerned more and more details - I've got some drawings I did back then and it's suprising the details I could eventually see, even with just a 60mm scope.

Astronomy is not a hobby of "quick wins" I'm afraid - you have to keep at it - then the rewards start to gradually come ..... the more you look, the more you see.

John

[Andromeda]

i got out with he scope (8" reflector) and had a go with the averted vision technique. I got a lot more detail and saw the whole nebular in a greenish grayish color a big improvement even thought the moon was up in full lukaly on the other side of the sky.

[Doc]

Your description tells me that you have seen pretty much what a 8" should see, but you shouldn't need averted vision to see this detail in M42 with your scope.

Don't expect magazine quality images, these just do not appear unless photographed.

A darker site might help and maybe some filters.

[Andromeda]

from Doc A darker site might help and maybe some filters

ive got about 5 streat lights to the weast of my garden. i can still see all the major stars in the consterlations and saturn is light and a littel blurded as i go up the eyepices. do i need any fillters to improve my veiwing

[Doc]

You shouldn't need filters on Saturn.

What time are you viewing Saturn if it's early it's still pretty low done so you are viewing through our atmosphere hence the blurred image.

In a well collimated 8" Dob you should see at least 2 bands and 2 moons.

Another thing to consider is collimation.

[Talitha]

ive got about 5 streat lights to the weast of my garden. i can still see all the major stars in the consterlations and saturn is light and a littel blurded as i go up the eyepices. do i need any fillters to improve my veiwing

You might want to look into getting a light pollution filter. Someone correct me if I'm explaining this incorrectly, but from what I recall they're specifically designed to block out the particular wavelengths of streetlights.. mercury vapor and sodium in particular.

The filters do tend to make the stars dimmer but they make nebulae 'pop' quite nicely.

[athornett]

I agree with all the above.

I have a 12" Lightbridge Dobsonian - through that I can see a lot of detail but it is all in black and white.

Recently I purchased a 16" Lightbridge - and the Orion nebula turned green in it! BUT I needed to go up above 12" to get the colour.

Andy

NB I live in quite a light polluted area so that will also paly a part in what I have seen.