Wow! what a session!

[Sunshine]

Last night I wandered outside shortly after my wife fell asleep on the couch while watching tv, a typical weekend thing for us. Looking up I noticed the sky was crystal clear, and from my new home where the skies are now a bortle 4 compared to a 6 at my last location it was a wonderful sight. Even though I was tired I couldn't help but to take my 8" Starsense dob out even though I knew I would have to give it an hour to cool. It was well worth the effort, my first target was Jupiter and just as I looked through the eyepiece I noticed Io just perched on the limb and on a course for the GRS. Io was a bright, tiny dot as it transitioned from Jupiters edge to over the disc, soon after it's shadow appeared on the limp as an inky black dot. Both Io and it's shadow so close to each other right beside the GRS was a sight to see, Jupiter was awash with belts and fine features, it was a spectacle!.

Moving on to Auriga where three of my fav clusters live, M38 the Starfish and M36 the Pinwheel, and M37. All three were just beautiful open clusters displaying crystalline stars against a dark backdrop, I particularly like open clusters as the tend to fill eyepieces and give a sense of falling into space like no other object, for me. M38 in particular (the starfish) is rich with blue stars laid out in strings, just a beautiful sight to see. M37 is AMAZING! another fantastic open cluster which is a bit more tightly packed than the Starfish and Pinwheel, i would call it a happy midpoint between a globular and a full on open cluster. Continuing my way around the sky for the next couple of hours while sipping coffee i observed several other clusters and doubles which were all wonderful but I really cannot wait for the highlight of the night so i'll skip the details.

Sometime around 1am I ducked inside to warm up a bit and quietly have a peek at my wife snoozing peacefully in front of the tv, I quietly surfed the channels for a while and then went back outside to a spectacular sight. ORION the hunter! standing like a godlike figure from Olympus, his sword at his side and in pursuit of the seven sisters, this looks so much better from B4 skies. M42 was not a dot anymore, I could see a fuzzy spot naked eye, by this time the scope had a couple of hours to really cool down. With my scope begging to be pointed at M42 I simply stood there, glaring for several minutes at Orion in all it's majesty, there is simply something so majestic about Orion that no other constellation can come close to. Sitting at the scope I put in my 9mm Morpheus and focussed on the great nebula 😲 I was floored!! I could see faint color and structure like I can't ever remember seeing, outstretched wings and a core which looked three dimensional with dark and faint blue zones, a liquid like appearance like sinuous shapes within a lava lamp. Directly in the middle was the trapezium with both E&F stars visible, easily visible and seemingly floating in an ocean of nebulous pale blue ether. It just so happens that every time in the past where I have owned a larger than 6" scope it was from a heavily light polluted area or it was for a short period during which Orion was not visible, M42 was always just a white-ish smear. My old 6" Skymax was the best I have seen M42 and that scope is not tailored for DSO's and I was under bortle 6 with streetlight around me in my last home. This presentation of M42 was a real treat! not only are the skies a fair bit darker from my new home, but all my neighbours turn off their back garden light after dark, save for the odd one of two weak solar powered lights which are more of a soft glow than anything, it is black in my back garden. 

One would think I was just starting out in the hobby when reading my description of an object which is observed and photographed more than any other, but sometimes it takes just the right timing, gear, conditions, and surroundings to provide a fresh view on an object which I was convinced would always appear the same unless I were to really jump up in aperture to something like a 16" inch. It seems I won't need a 16", well not right away 😆 as the view from here with a mere 8" was enough to blow my mind.🤩

Edited November 13, 2023 by Sunshine

[RobertI]

Fantastic, the joys of a really dark sky. Sounds like you’ve got lots of great observing ahead of you. 🙂

[IB20]

Wonderful. I had a look at M42 on Friday night through my 8” and was blown away by how it looked. Must’ve been the transparency of my skies because it appeared a lot brighter and greener than I can recall in the past. I do love Orion and Sirius season. 😁

[Stu]

Fab report @Sunshine. How good to have dark skies at home! I’ve yet to make the most of mine, but hopefully will this autumn/winter. No worries about such enthusiasm for an old favourite; I’ve only seen it a couple of times from a decent dark site and it is incredible, I agree! Probably best was through a C925 at the Peak Star Party years back 👍

[Epick Crom]

A very enjoyable report Sunshine! It must be a pleasure moving to a darker location, your observing sessions will be greatly enhanced now 😊