Horsehead at Last! Barnard 33 and the Flame. Fri 4th March 2022

[Captain Scarlet]

The forecast was for 3 clear nights in a row from 3rd March. The first night, Thursday, I was too tired to get a proper scope out and gambled on the next few nights staying clear. So far, so good. This spell is the last chance this year getting a good look at and around Orion before the Moon spoils things, and next lunar cycle Orion will be too low and too close over Baltimore harbour.

I was goaded into action by @Ships and Stars’ recent account of seeing Barnard 33, the Horsehead Nebula through his SW 300 flextube. His dark sky site is not dissimilar to mine.

I only had about an hour to play with, properly dark from 8:30 until harbour and tree-obscuration around 9:30. I had my 300mm Helmerichs newt. After a nightmare 5 goes at trying to align the mount I was almost ready to give up when it finally started behaving. Nexus DSC and AZ-EQ6 going berserk slewing to the 2nd alignment star for some reason. I’ve a feeling my jack-in power connection to my battery might be loose and the mount is receiving millisecond power outages. Placing the battery on the ground rather than the tripod tray seemed to sort it.

Anyway, I first went to M42 and immediately noticed Trapezium E and F just sitting there plain as day at 141x with the Ethos 13, so the seeing was obviously good. I quickly nipped to Sirius just to see if the Pup was available, and while Sirius wasn’t wobbling around too much I didn’t want to waste too much more time, and eventually didn’t get it. No bother, the point of the session was Barnard 33.

I’d previously noted the local neighbourhood so I could be sure of looking in the right place and also fine-tuned the alignment with nearby objects. With the E13 I stared and stared but nothing. I put in the Nagler 31 to give a much bigger field (1.6 degrees) and immediately noticed the Flame Nebula next to Alnitak much, much better than I’ve ever seen it before. So the omens (transparency) were good, at least. I moved Alnitak out of the way and stared and stared again just where HH ought to be. Nothing.

Then, in a head-smacking moment I realized I had an H-b filter, specifically for this purpose, and I wasn’t using it! Duh! It’s a 1.25” filter so I had to move up to my Panoptic 24mm (66x 1.0 degrees), and, YES, there was an indistinct curtain-edge of nebulosity with a definite “bite” out of it! I tried lots of tricks to persuade myself it was my imagination. I tried to imagine the darker patch was elsewhere, slewing away and back, but it was definitely there every time, just where it was supposed to be. It was most evident during the actual slewing, and scope-tapping worked nearly as well to get it noticed.

I have to say, it was pretty indistinct and certainly not horsehead-shaped with the view I got, just a patch of nothing in a larger patch of almost nothing, to paraphrase a description @Stu quoted. And definitely there exactly where it was supposed to be. And I agree with @jetstream that as a visual object it's underwhelming, in my 12" at least. Obviously it'll be better in a big scope. But a real challenge. Funnily enough, when I put the Ethos 13 back in, with the filter, I could not see it at all. Back with the Pan24, there it was again.

I’d needed all the advantages: 12” aperture, nice transparent night (mag 21.7 measured), H-b filter, no prior alcohol, movement in the field of view (slewing, tapping), 40 minutes to adapt.

Extremely happy, I’ve ticked off both the Pup and HH this Orion-season. Flame was a very nice view too.

Cheers, Magnus

 

Edited March 5, 2022 by Captain Scarlet

[PeterW]

Great to hear, I first saw the HH at a starparty with nearly as dark skies in a 20” and it was a faint broad gap in an equally  faint broad band of nebulosity. 
 

Peter

[Kon]

Good job Magnus! Your description is how I saw it in my 8" with an Hb a couple of months ago. I agree,  it is rather underwhelming considering the effort and conditions it takes to see it.

[Stardaze]

Super achievement Magnus, well done. Must add an Hb filter to the arsenal for next season. 

[faulksy]

great catch magnus. it isnt very good visual or shall i say is that it. but its great to bag it

[Stu]

Nice one Magnus! A good read and a great catch. You wonder whether a 2” filter is worth investing in, to get a large exit pupil with the 31 nag?

[Captain Scarlet]

13 minutes ago, Stu said:

Nice one Magnus! A good read and a great catch. You wonder whether a 2” filter is worth investing in, to get a large exit pupil with the 31 nag?

You took the words out of my mouth … next on my shopping list!

[bomberbaz]

Well done in bagging the illusive and not impressive HH, it really is pretty naff in smaller apertures. 

Your approach and processes are spot on and description matches my own findings. 

For anyone else reading this you need the following to get it. Very dark skies, a decent sized exit pupil of 5mm+ and a HB filter. An observing hood is also very handy to have. 

[scarp15]

Great, all the ingredients just bonded to together then. That the Flame as you'd described was a 'nice view' could probably be deemed as the primary gain, the Horse Head is a relatable project, testing your observers skills to the full. 

[jetstream]

Congrats Magnus!!

3 hours ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Obviously it'll be better in a big scope.

Not really, just easier to see IMHO. It is no challenge at all in my 24" under good conditions with and without a filter but it still appears as a thumbprint to my eyes, just bigger. The big challenge is getting conditions good enough to see it. The HH is more of a "rite of passage' than anything else IMHO.

Now if I can just get you guys to show me how to see the Eridanus Loop...

Edited March 5, 2022 by jetstream

[niallk]

Fantastic!!

[GavStar]

14 hours ago, jetstream said:

Congrats Magnus!!

Not really, just easier to see IMHO. It is no challenge at all in my 24" under good conditions with and without a filter but it still appears as a thumbprint to my eyes, just bigger. The big challenge is getting conditions good enough to see it. The HH is more of a "rite of passage' than anything else IMHO.

Now if I can just get you guys to show me how to see the Eridanus Loop...

I’ve seen the Eridanus Loop with you know what a couple of times, but boy it’s faint, makes barnard’s loop look like m42 in comparison 🤣 With my equipment using both eyes is a big help but I don’t think that’s useful for Dob observing.

Edited March 6, 2022 by GavStar

[Ships and Stars]

Nice one! It's not the most overwhelming visual spectacle, but as @jetstream says, a rite of passage and a good yardstick to measure sky quality. It also gets easier to see once you have observed it a few times. You know things are firing on all cylinders when you can see it.

I saw it through the 20" two nights ago (tonight will be third night on the trot, large report forthcoming!) still not a clear horse head shape, but a darker fingerprint with more contrast set against an equally brighter IC434. 

Again, great job, if 21.7 is from your home, that's remarkable! Would love to live someplace like that where I could actually leave the scope set up and not rush. 

[Epick Crom]

Well done Magnus in seeing the Horsehead! This is such a notoriously difficult object. I am yet to see it, one day🤞. Congratulations! 🎉

[PeterW]

Don’t envy Magnus too much, he’s usually cocooned under cloud… note the shock of having more than one clear night in a row 😉 !

Peter

[Whistlin Bob]

Very good  👍👍👍. As others have noted, it's the achievement more than the spectacle that makes it cool. Another point I would agree with is that it gets easier to see when you know what you're looking for. I'm just coming up to my 4 year anniversary of owning my 14" dob. For the first Orion season I failed every time. For the second I had one success from a Bortle 3 site in Cumbria, but otherwise nada, despite many attempts. Last year I had one session where I just about had it at home (Bortle 5, and verified by a friend who was observing with me) using an Aero 30mm eyepiece with a UHC filter. This year I've had it 3 times with the same equipment, I also tried an Hb filter- this provided a similar level of visibility. 

[jetstream]

5 hours ago, GavStar said:

I’ve seen the Eridanus Loop with you know what a couple of times, but boy it’s faint,

Hi Gavin!

I'm still thinking of buying "you know what" myself   When I first tried the Eridanus Loop, after many successes, I figured I'd march right in there and plant the flag of victory over it in short time that was 3 years ago, or more, and I'm still waiting to see it. Ditto Einstein Cross apparitions.

Congrats for the excellent observation Gavin!

Edited March 6, 2022 by jetstream

[Deadlake]

7 hours ago, jetstream said:

"you know what"

Gerry, I’d take the plunge. Given the way of the world might not have the current availability….