A NEW NEB.....to me anyway!

[Lowstar]

The sky is looking awesome tonight. It`s -9 degrees C and dropping but i`ve came across a nice little nebula i haven`t saw before. As i`m not into my degrees of declination etc. i`ll try and describe the location in layman`s terms. Find Orion`s belt. Set up on the top star of the three. Bear left, past the belt, and keep going left and you should see the neb. There`s two quite faintish stars in the neb and the stars in the immediate vicinity are faint too. I checked on Starrynight and can`t see it on there which is quite nice as they have other nebs listed like firework displays i can`t see!! ( Horse Head )

I`m sure someone will post the neb`s proper name. Funny how a couple of stars and a blur can make your day:hello2:

[Beulah]

M78?

My son found M81 & M82 (Bodes Nebulae in Ursa Major) purely by exploring the other night...he was more than stoked, I tell you.

Well done for sticking out the cold - I feel the cold terribly and don't have the proper gear to be standing outside in those temps for a long time (30 mins is my limit at -9!)... -1 centigrade is my 2 hour-limit...

[Capricorn]

M78 would be about the right place, assuming that left and right are by eye and not through a scope.:D:D

If I recall if you go to wikipedia and enter "Messier list" as a search you get a good list of all the objects with pictures. You could check the picture out and see if it the same.

[Talitha]

Hi Lowstar, i agree that M78 seems to be the likely object but am wondering why it's not listed in Starrynight. Was your description of where the nebula is located described in relation to the horizon (alt-az), or where it would be located on a chart (EQ)?

[Doc]

The two stars embedded within the nebula gives it away as M78, well done in finding this.

[Lowstar]

Thanks Doc and the other posters who kindly helped.Looking at the Nightskyinfo. sky map i think M78 is it. I`ll have another look tonight as it`s quite balmy out...-3

Talitha, i can only put the Starrynight omission down to the cd that came with the scope. It`s an Orion Special Edition version and the date on the disc is 2005. I checked again earlier and the galaxy M77 is listed but no M78. Automatic Starrynight updates i get are usually satellite & asteroid only so at some point i may have to upgrade.

Hope you are all enjoying the clear skies.