Heritage 130 Adventures

[jetstream]

California Nebula

Today was crystal clear so I figured tonight would be too... well, it was good but not that good. The SQM-L showed 21.4 mag but the MW was weak and NELM was down so transparency was below avg. In a way this was a good thing because it shows what the H130 can do under less than great conditions.

As I was sky cruising the other nights I wandered by Perseus and thought to myself that I must target the California nebula and report.

3 eyepieces were on deck, the 32mm TV plossl 24ES 68 and the 16T5 Nagler. The Nagler was used to warm up on M42 which showed nicely with the lower loop just visible- not stark like the other night but there. The Flame showed ok , not great.

In goes the 24mm with the DGM NPB hanging off the end and the finders dot on Menkib for a try. Nudging up and over a bit a delicate shade edge appeared, very faint actually. I was able go go through it and catch the edge on the other side. I must say again it was very faint and no doubt having observed it many times with the preferred Hb under much better skies helped catch it.

I figured I'd try something- open up the exit pupil to 6mm+ to see what happens using a favourite EP, the 32mm TV plossl.Doing so brightened the view and made catching the nebula easier. Over to Barnards Loop with the 32mm and I found it no problem so this strategy worked. Increasing the exit pupil can be especially important using an Hb filter, which does show the California much better.

I always have a large exit pupil eyepiece ready to go when going for faint nebula ie the 42mm LVW in the 90mm Raptor. Always worth a try thats for sure. So the H130, under less than perfect conditions, using a cheap UHC type filter will show many faint objects ( espc larger nebs).

Btw, I snuck the stock Super 25 in the focuser before packing up... and yes it showed the California too👍

 

Clear Skies, Gerry

 

 

 

[Littleguy80]

Great report, Gerry. I remember using a 40mm Aero eyepiece and Hb filter in my 10“ dob looking at Barnard’s loop. It worked really well even though it’s well over 8mm exit pupil. Not an eyepiece that would work effectively in that scope without a narrowband filter of some sort.

The stock 25mm eyepiece isn’t bad at all. I used mine with my first scope happily for several months before eventually getting an ES68 24mm to maximise my FOV. 

[jetstream]

What a different set of conditions tonight, 21.5 bouncing to 21.6 mag and above avg transparency.

I grabbed the Astronomik Hb to see how it would show the California neb using the 24 ES 68- much better than the UHC, but it looked pretty dark . In with the 32mm TV plossl and the California lit right up! The thin end just above Menkib showed very well, the whole thing visible, a dramatic improvement over the 24mm and espc over last night under sub par conditions.

The 32mm/Hb followed Barnards Loop top to bottom, again much better than the 24mm.

The 18mm BCO excelled on M42, better than the 16T5 Nagler and also showed the Flame nicely. M81/M82 showed brightly in it as well, orthos can be hard to beat and the coatings on the BCO are top notch IMHO.

The Televue Plossls are no slouch either.

Before I forget- the Merope nebula was good in the 24mm ES 68 but very good in the 18mm BCO, this nebula can respond nicely to a bit higher mag at times.The whole of the Pleaides was superb in the 24mm.

Pretty cold tonight, -24c so the evening was finished off in the hot tub looking up at the stars.

Gerry

[Stu]

Sounds amazing as always Gerry. Presumably the exit pupil increase that was helping the views? Out of interest does the Hb show anything around M42/43? I understood there were some features that do show up around there but have never tried/had the skies to try.

Hot tub sounds wonderful 👍

One more question….. I’m fairly sure I’ve seen the nebulosity in M45, but can never quite rid myself of the thought that it is caused by very slight misting of the eyepiece (even though I check the eyepiece is clean and run a few heater if needed). What’s your best tip to be able to confirm you are seeing the nebula, and not slight misting of the eyepiece? I guess panning to another similar brightness star outside M45 is a good starter?

[Nyctimene]

May I give an answer ( perhaps Gerry is still asleep in Canada 😉)

If you think, you've spotted the nebula, you can confirm your finding by comparing both sides of "Ally's braid" - that's the pretty star chain, extending from Alcyone to the S. The eastern side of the star chain is completely clear and dark, without a trace of nebulosity, whereas the W side will be filled with the roughly trapezoidal shaped/irregular Merope nebula.

(quoting from a post in October, concerning the observation of the Merope nebula)

Hth.

Stephan

Edited February 17, 2023 by Nyctimene

[Captain Scarlet]

When the nights are good here, I _always_ think to myself “am I dewing up now?” when observing M45. Some of those times certainly will have been dew, but not all. The problem is trying to tell one from the other on the night. The Ally’s Braid trick and going immediately to another cluster I’ll try next opportunity.

Gerry, are your other scopes not getting a little bit jealous by now? You should be worried they’ll start a revolt. I wouldn’t want to stand in the way of an angry 24” dob!

[jetstream]

4 hours ago, Nyctimene said:

May I give an answer ( perhaps Gerry is still asleep in Canada 😉)

If you think, you've spotted the nebula, you can confirm your finding by comparing both sides of "Ally's braid" - that's the pretty star chain, extending from Alcyone to the S. The eastern side of the star chain is completely clear and dark, without a trace of nebulosity, whereas the W side will be filled with the roughly trapezoidal shaped/irregular Merope nebula.

(quoting from a post in October, concerning the observation of the Merope nebula)

Hth.

Stephan

👍

And I slept like a baby till 8am I'm getting soft in my old age lol 🤣  That tub puts a big relax into the whole body thats for sure lol.

[Stu]

4 hours ago, Nyctimene said:

May I give an answer ( perhaps Gerry is still asleep in Canada 😉)

If you think, you've spotted the nebula, you can confirm your finding by comparing both sides of "Ally's braid" - that's the pretty star chain, extending from Alcyone to the S. The eastern side of the star chain is completely clear and dark, without a trace of nebulosity, whereas the W side will be filled with the roughly trapezoidal shaped/irregular Merope nebula.

(quoting from a post in October, concerning the observation of the Merope nebula)

Hth.

Stephan

Thank you Stephane. So is this correctly identifying Ally’s Braid? I know the feature very well, didn’t know the name. Should be dark to the East side.

Will certainly give that a go, thanks all.

[jetstream]

6 hours ago, Stu said:

Presumably the exit pupil increase that was helping the views?

Morning Stu!

Yes the exit pupil increase was responsible IMHO, but a minor influence might be the excellent TV plossl transmission. Mind you I'm biased- the TV 25mm Plossl first showed me the HH in the 10" years ago, after trying for a long time. These plossls have a special place in my heart lol the pair of 32's reside in the Binotron case and give wicked views of the moon in them.

6 hours ago, Stu said:

Out of interest does the Hb show anything around M42/43?

If I recall it shows M42 but to my eyes nothing spectacular or I would be using the Hb there all the time.

6 hours ago, Stu said:

What’s your best tip to be able to confirm you are seeing the nebula, and not slight misting of the eyepiece? I guess panning to another similar brightness star outside M45 is a good starter?

Because you have repeatedly see the misting I suspect you have seen hints of the nebulosity in the Pleaides stars. The Merope itself shows fan like and as @Nyctimene describes. It is surrounded by the sea of bright stars in the area, which can give the eyes fits.

I love orthos and good plossls and the low scatter they provide can be an asset. It is a myth that a widefield scope is needed in the area IMHO, as I view the Merope with the 15" extremely well. The Narrow TFOV the 15" f4.8 will give with a 25mm plossl can help out immensely, but try an EP like the 24 ES 68, 24 Pan etc. Play with the mags and TFOV a bit and I'll bet money it appears for you. And I dont gamble ....

Try everything though, your great fracs, H130 and in particular your 16" dob.

 

[jetstream]

2 hours ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Gerry, are your other scopes not getting a little bit jealous by now? You should be worried they’ll start a revolt. I wouldn’t want to stand in the way of an angry 24” dob!

Yes they are very angry- I had a fight with them after shovelling out the seacan door enough to get the Hb and 18BCO!!  I swear the 15" hit me!

As I burst through the partly open door it hit me on the head with the 20mm APM 100 in the focuser!

When jamming my way thru the door and into the dark can I hit the 20mm in the focuser

Yes its time to get them out and I'm going to flail away on the Eridanus Loop again with the 24" if I can get hold of the "new secret weapon" lol Man are things expensive now...

[jetstream]

4 hours ago, Nyctimene said:

"Ally's braid" - that's the pretty star chain, extending from Alcyone to the S. The eastern side of the star chain is completely clear and dark, without a trace of nebulosity,

Excellent Stephan!

This is the first key in seeing the other dark lanes in the Pleaides that are surrounded by the dancing dazzling glow that makes this object so special. Glad theres a name to that chain of stars now as it makes things so much easier to describe.

[Nyctimene]

4 hours ago, Stu said:

Thank you Stephane. So is this correctly identifying Ally’s Braid? I know the feature very well, didn’t know the name. Should be dark to the East side.

Will certainly give that a go, thanks all.

Spot on. The E region you marked seems to be the only area without nebulosity in the whole central Pleiades.

As I learned today, (from Ph. Harrington's "Binocular Universe" Nov. 2013), the term "Ally's Braid", the "flowing locks of Lady Alcyone" was coined by amateur astronomer Stephen Saber (never heard of him before). Looking at his website, he seems to be a very avid amateur, running Messier marathons without charts, just out of memorized positions and sequences - incredible! Have a look:

https://saberdoesthestars.wordpress.com/

Stephan

[jetstream]

2 hours ago, Nyctimene said:

Spot on. The E region you marked seems to be the only area without nebulosity in the whole central Pleiades.

I think what happens when I view the whole object is that parts of the inner nebula dance in and out of averted vision, giving the appearance of a highly dynamic, mesmerizing object.Adding some IFN to the mix and the view is surreal. I talked to an astronomer that knows Mel Bartels, years ago and he said " congratulations, you have seen the Pleiades Bubble!" This after describing my view.

Bartels take on the Pleiades - btw we will all see it a bit different...