The Hunter and the Unicorn

[Bugdozer]

I managed to get out under clear skies for the first time this month last night. Due to a combination of the lateness of the hour and having the tree surgeon visit this week, I had a nice view of Orion and its surroundings from my garden, which had previously been hidden behind my birch tree. 

I concentrated on just the region around Orion and Monoceros, which I hadn't been able to get much of a look at this year. Appropriately for the season, I started with the Christmas Tree cluster, which was a beautiful glittering sight. Panning around a little from there, my attention was caught by something that looked a bit like a tiny comet. I was pretty sure it wasn't and figured it might be a nebula of some kind. It looked too asymmetrical to be a galaxy. With the facility of "reverse goto" on my telescope, it informed me I was looking at NGC2261, a variable reflection nebula. I don't recall having seen any reflection nebulae before (even the Pleiades nebula has never shown up for me visually) so that was a treat. 

I then put my UHC filter on and had a look at the Orion Nebula and its surroundings. It's always impressive and the filter showed up some lovely detail. The sky from my garden is OK, but there's significantly more sky glow than at the darker site I often travel to, so the filter is really beneficial. 

I tried to have a look at the Rosette nebula, another object I have never seen, but I think the combination of a slightly brighter sky and the long focal length of my scope with this large object made it difficult to see any signs of nebulosity. The cluster at the centre was much brighter than I had expected and at least indicated I was in the right place. 

For me, no observing session is complete without crossing a new Messier object off my list! Tonight's target, just a short hop from the Rosette, was M78, thus bagging me two reflection nebulae in one night. I could have happily stayed out for hours longer but I had to get up reasonably early this morning, so packed away and went to bed. 

[lunator]

Hi bugdozer,  very nice report glad you got out for a bit. 

Cheers

Ian