Is this the Orion Nebula?

[gold123456th]

I just figured out how to locate things in the sky, but I am not sure if I found the right thing. Are the stars in my pictures the Orion Nebula? And What is the red thing in the pictures? My telescope is right-left reversed.

[Psychobilly]

The red thing looks like a cloud reflecting back Light pollution...

[Astro_Baby]

Its hard to be sure but I'd say yes. The red thing is probably cloud.

[Tim]

If you go to www.stellarium.org you will find a great free program which shows you the position of things in the sky, as they look from your location, in real time petty pictures, thats how I learnt my way around the sky.

[Dave Smith]

I have very much over stretched your picture in photoshop and as the others have said, the red blob is probably cloud. However it would appear that you have imaged the correct region and the Orion Nebula is the small fuzzy region in the middle.

[ringz]

Well done astrosnaps. I had my doubts but there it is, large as life

--

Martyn

[gold123456th]

Thanks! But when I looked into the eyepiece with my naked eyes, the two stars at the center were only fuzzy, like stars covered in cotton or fungus. I didn't see the umbrella shape that other people saw with the same kind of telescope. I saw the nebula with my Meade ETX 80 telescope, which has an apecture of 80mm and focal length of 400mm. I only used the 26mm Super Possiel eyepiece though, and no barlow was used. What can I do to improve the image created by the telescope and its eyepiece? (I do not mean how to improve the imagine taken by the camera, but I mean how do I improve the imagine produced by the telescope and eyepiece that I will see with my naked eyes.) Thanks!

[Dave Smith]

That cotton wool/fungus IS the Orion Nebula. To see it better you could do with some extra power i.e. shorter focal length eyepiece and ensure that you are well dark adapted by being in the dark for 15mins + and away from any lights. I first saw this nebula through an 80mm birding scope and was WOWed by the view. Of course it gets better with a wider aperture scope - which leads to the beginning of aperture fever

Dave

Thanks! But when I looked into the eyepiece with my naked eyes, the two stars at the center were only fuzzy, like stars covered in cotton or fungus. I didn't see the umbrella shape that other people saw with the same kind of telescope. I saw the nebula with my Meade ETX 80 telescope, which has an apecture of 80mm and focal length of 400mm. I only used the 26mm Super Possiel eyepiece though, and no barlow was used. What can I do to improve the image created by the telescope and its eyepiece? (I do not mean how to improve the imagine taken by the camera, but I mean how do I improve the imagine produced by the telescope and eyepiece that I will see with my naked eyes.) Thanks!

[John]

....how do I improve the imagine produced by the telescope and eyepiece that I will see with my naked eyes.) Thanks!

Your equipment is fine but the small aperture of the scope will limit what you can see. You could try a technique called averted vision where you look to one side of the object (sort of like looking at it out of the corner of your eye) - the eye is a bit more sensitive to lighe at the edges. Otherwise just try and observe under dark skies (ie: no moon in the sky and as little light pollution as possible).

And keep doing it - the more you look, the more you will see (within reason) as your eye gets used to picking out subtle details.

[gold123456th]

That actually makes sense, because the lights in my garage was on and my telescope was just outside the garage door. I was also walking into and out of the house frequently so my eyes weren't adjusted. There are also some street lights nearby. Therefore, I only saw a fuzziness for the Orion Nebula. But do these factors create such significant impacts? If I did adjust my eyes to the dark and turn off all the lights. Would I be able to see the umbrella shape? Thanks Thanks!

[Dave Smith]

You should be able to. Following the advice given will make a BIG difference.

Dave

[Dave Smith]

Another thought. If you keep the scope in the house, you need to put it out to cool down for about 30 minutes. That can also make a difference.

Dave

[gold123456th]

but my telescope is a refractor. It needs cool down time as well?

[Dave Smith]

You are probably right there, I don't think they are as sensitive.

Dave

[Astro_Baby]

Getting your eyeballs dark adapted will make a huge difference. The other issue might well have been the moon being up and stray light from the garage.

Get somewhere dark, avoid white lights, let the eyeballs adjust fully which takes about 20 mins and try again.

[Budding Star Gazer]

If you go to www.stellarium.org you will find a great free program which shows you the position of things in the sky, as they look from your location, in real time petty pictures, thats how I learnt my way around the sky.

Hi TJ Thanks for the link to the stellarium pretty cool program