First proper night of star gazing

[Seoras]

So last night was a crisp clear night so I dragged out the new Nexstar 8SE and got myself organised for a couple of hours astronomizing. I managed to get the go to mount aligned (sort of) and was able to try out the new Stellalyra Finder Scope which made a huge difference, really nice piece of kit. So once my eyes were better adjusted I had a look at Mars with the 25mm plossl; it looked yellow to me 😳. Jupiter was a bit low in the sky so not good for viewing so I thought why not try a look at the Orion Nebula because I have a rough idea of where it is. I chose it on the Nexstar menu and away it went to the right place (almost, needed slight adjustment and the Finder helped immensely). I was amazed, I could make out the cloudy bit (which looked blue to me?!) so I stuck my iPhone on the eyepiece and took a couple of photos, you can see a faint smudge and two or three stars but it was better than I had hoped, not good enough to let anyone else see though. The upshot is, I had a really enjoyable couple of hours, the only downside for me  was setting up and packing up. Because I use a wheelchair I had to make several trips in and out of the house because I would forget something and that meant my eyes took longer to adjust. The really frustrating part was my wheelchair casters kept getting tangled with the dew ring and telescope power cables, couldn’t see them in the dark. All in all I think it was a good start and learning experience,  I’m looking forward to the next clear night, probably in a couple of months 😂,

regards, Geo

[josefk]

Orion is fabulous isn't it?  So much to look at there and in an 8" scope you should get loads of variation and interest in the various patches of nebulosity. 

[Seoras]

Ok, this is embarrassing but I’ve been thinking about my feeble effort to take a photo with my iPhone of what I assumed was the Orion Nebula and now that I’ve looked at some of the forum members photos I’m not so sure. Through the eyepiece the Object looked like a blue cloud and the scope was definitely pointed at Orion’s Belt but every photo I seen the nebula looks more purple. Was I mistaken or is this a terrible photo of the Orion Nebula. The photo looks nothing like what I saw in the eyepiece but I expected that; here’s what I was looking at and please forgive my newbieness,

 

regards, Geo

[Franklin]

1 hour ago, Seoras said:

I’m not so sure

I think your image is M42 because even though it is only a quick snap with a camera phone you can see the Trapezium (Theta Orionis, a multiple star at the centre of the nebula). It's very difficult to see colour when looking through a telescope at nebula, I see a hint of green with M42 but the blues and reds you see in long exposure images come from the differing sensitivity of the camera sensor. Our eyes are more sensitive to green wavelength of light.

[Franklin]

1 hour ago, Seoras said:

the scope was definitely pointed at Orion’s Belt

M42, the Orion nebula, is in the "Sword of Orion" which is about 4 degrees below the middle star in the "Belt of Orion".

[Seoras]

4 minutes ago, Franklin said:

M42, the Orion nebula, is in the "Sword of Orion" which is about 4 degrees below the middle star in the "Belt of Orion".

Sorry, I meant to say sword 🤭

[Franklin]

Have you got or tried a UHC filter yet? They are amazing and really help with contrast, making the nebula "Pop".

[josefk]

As @Franklin points out - this is where your picture of the bright heart of M42 is @Seoras - the trapezium stars (the blurry tight group in your picture) and three bright stars  in a line below them in the sky but to the left in your star diagonal view (themselves all just below another Messier - Messier 43).

 

which in the bigger picture is here below Orion's belt:

 

Absolutely loads to see in this area :-). As Franklin says UHC and O-III filters all help bring something out with Orion but then so to does good dark adaptation and a clear sky - it's so bright filters are the "the cherry on top" but its lovely and rewarding without.

[Seoras]

21 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Have you got or tried a UHC filter yet? They are amazing and really help with contrast, making the nebula "Pop".

I'll have a look at them thanks very much!

[Seoras]

12 minutes ago, josefk said:

As @Franklin points out - this is where your picture of the bright heart of M42 is @Seoras - the trapezium stars (the blurry tight group in your picture) and three bright stars  in a line below them in the sky but to the left in your star diagonal view (themselves all just below another Messier - Messier 43).

 

which in the bigger picture is here below Orion's belt:

 

Absolutely loads to see in this area :-). As Franklin says UHC and O-III filters all help bring something out with Orion but then so to does good dark adaptation and a clear sky - it's so bright filters are the "the cherry on top" but its lovely and rewarding without.

It's good that there's lots to see because my garden is well placed for viewing Orion and it's one of the few targets I can recognise easily. I'm off now to price some filters...

[Franklin]

16 minutes ago, Seoras said:

It's good that there's lots to see because my garden is well placed for viewing Orion

Your garden must be facing due south then and that's really good because objects reach their highest in the sky when crossing the meridian in the south, (Nothern hemisphere observers).

[Seoras]

6 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Your garden must be facing due south then and that's really good because objects reach their highest in the sky when crossing the meridian in the south, (Nothern hemisphere observers).

Yes, and I asked the council if they could do something with the street light that’s adjacent to my garden and they came and changed the light fitting so I have reasonably dark skies👍

[Stu]

53 minutes ago, Seoras said:

Yes, and I asked the council if they could do something with the street light that’s adjacent to my garden and they came and changed the light fitting so I have reasonably dark skies👍

That’s great! I’ve found councils to be very helpful with shielding lights if asked nicely 👍

[wongataa]

22 hours ago, Seoras said:

Ok, this is embarrassing but I’ve been thinking about my feeble effort to take a photo with my iPhone of what I assumed was the Orion Nebula and now that I’ve looked at some of the forum members photos I’m not so sure. Through the eyepiece the Object looked like a blue cloud and the scope was definitely pointed at Orion’s Belt but every photo I seen the nebula looks more purple. Was I mistaken or is this a terrible photo of the Orion Nebula.

 

The Orion Nebula is partly pinky red from H Alpha emissions and partly turquoise/cyan from O III emissions.  The blue you saw will be from the O III parts.

 

[SmokeyJoe]

On 21/11/2022 at 12:21, Seoras said:

 The really frustrating part was my wheelchair casters kept getting tangled with the dew ring and telescope power cables, couldn’t see them in the dark.

Don't know if it would help but I put a rubber mat over the power cable running from my house to the mount, stops me tripping over them in the dark. 

[Seoras]

1 hour ago, SmokeyJoe said:

Don't know if it would help but I put a rubber mat over the power cable running from my house to the mount, stops me tripping over them in the dark. 

Why didn’t I think of that Joe 🥴? Thanks for the advice 

[bemak187]

Cable management is always a good shout.  Tripped over or pulled out too many cables myself.