OCTOBER 25TH - A STAR-HOP IN THE HEART OF ORION (Courtesy of Alan M MacRobert)

[paulastro]

Awoke at 4.30 am, and from the landing stairs I could see Orion showing well just past the meridian. Quickly dressed and was outside setup with the Celestron Starsense Explorer 10 inch Dob by 4.55am. I was keen as I hadn't had a good view of M42 yet this Autumn.  This usually happens at Kelling but I hadn't been able to go this year because of medical issues.

I spent most of the time looking at the Orion Neb, and other objects in the vicinity.  The views were stunning.  In the 10 inch the complexity and extent of the nebulosity were wonderful .  Also the many background stars including variables I used to observe regularly going back over fifty years, mostly with a six inch reflector.

I used 17.5 and 12.5 Morpheus eyepieces, a Baader zoom and x2 barlow giving mags from to x50 to x250.  This enabled a wide range of different field sizes.  The 17 .5 and barlow probably showed the best detail, providing a mag of x136 and a field of close to half a degree.

 I also looked at some other objects briefly including M37, M36, M38, M35, M1 and M41. Venus was irresistible, showing a small gibbous phase, just over 50%.

When I came indoors around 6.30am, I checked what I had seen in an article (same as this posts title) by Alan MacRobert which I had kept  from the January 1998 issue of Sky & Telescope.  It is a wonderful guide to the many objects in the vicinity of M42 and I'd recommend  it to anyone interested.  I've only included one page of the article below as I haven't  asked  permission to reproduce it in full. Its five pages in total.

 

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by paulastro

[Stu1smartcookie]

Nice report , mate ... the winter constellations do not disapoint . 

[josefk]

nice one Paul - i do like those Sky & Telescope articles that compile short lists of things in a concentrated area. 

[paulastro]

3 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Nice report , mate ... the winter constellations do not disapoint . 

Many thanks Stu.  Yes it's always a special time every year when I have my first good look at the winter constellations in the early hours off a late September or October morning. My first look at M42 is always a magic moment for me.

[paulastro]

2 hours ago, josefk said:

nice one Paul - i do like those Sky & Telescope articles that compile short lists of things in a concentrated area. 

Many thanks Josef.  I agree, and over the years S&T seem to be better than most.  Alas, I can't buy S&T locally any more and the subscription is rather a lot to pay in one go.  

[josefk]

It's expensive on subscription for us in the UK (relative to its US cost) and expensive as an individual copy even when you can buy it locally being an import! Still a good read though. 

[John_D]

5 hours ago, josefk said:

It's expensive on subscription for us in the UK (relative to its US cost) and expensive as an individual copy even when you can buy it locally being an import! Still a good read though. 

You could try your local library online magazines. They may have electronic copies that you can browse ( and print pages ). In Wales you get access via the Libby app but I think that they only have "Astronomy" magazine. However your area may be different.

[John_D]

Just to follow up on this. I've checked the Libby app for my local library and it has the BBC "Sky at Night" and "Astronomy" magazines. Strangely it also has "Australian Sky & Telescope" which I suspect may be of limited use in the northern hemisphere 😁

Anyway there's plenty of reading there until the weather perks up a bit.

[josefk]

That libby is a good resource @John_D. i don't particularly like that kind of reading on a screen but it does bring a huge range of titles for free so i'm not complaining. I've noticed the AUS S&T and US S&T share a lot of main articles so its still an interesting read even here in the North. Cheers