Horse head

[Robert Watson]

Hi out there,

I've been trying for a few nights now to see the horse head neb i know where it is but i just can't see it. M43 no prob's.

I've got a 10" skywatcher skyliner 250px auto dob 6-9-12-25mm +barlow len's i've mixed and matched but on luck.

Is my scope just not big enough. I live in N Ire we've had some great sky's this week , can anyone help please.

Mant thank's robert:icon_scratch:

[John]

It's an incredibly difficult object to see I believe (I've not managed to se it either as yet). It needs very dark, transparent skies, good aperture (I think 10" might be on the small side) and a Hydrogen Beta filter I believe. I know folks with 16" scopes that have also not been able to see this object.

So you are not alone !

[Robert Watson]

Thanks John tried again tonight buit with no joy. Got some other good images though. Gonna have another go with a TD-35 electronic eye-piece. But it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who is having trouble!

Thanks,

Robert

[John]

Is the TD-35 image intensified Robert ? - if it is that might help move the odds of seeing the horsehead visually a bit in the observers favour !

[Robert Watson]

Hi John ,Yes it is intensified ,my only prob its linked upto my etx 70 beside the computer in a bedroom so untill i can pinch my son's laptop and get it outside to the dob i'll just have to look for other neb's.

mybe you can help me with this one , I was looking at Pleiades tonight in the middle their are 4 star's 3 in a triangle and one large and much brighter ,it had like a gas cloud around it but it looked more like a Galaxy, Have you ever seen this.

Thanks robert

[Doc]

What scope was you looking at M45 with.

In a large dob you might see some nebulosity surrounding the stars. There is no galaxy within M45 I'm afraid.

You can also mistake dewed or steamed up optics for nebulosity.

[John]

I've seen traces of nebulosity surrounding some of the Pleiades stars when using a UHC filter and an 8" scope.

[Robert Watson]

Hi mick,

I was using a 10"Skywatcher it has a fan at the mirror so it won't mist up plus i was out with the scope for around an hour very clear sky's tonight temp droping a little, but a very good viewing night

Thank,s robert

[Robert Watson]

PS Thank's to you all for the input

Robert

[TopHouse]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades_(star_cluster) more on the pleides nebulosity here, pleides is one of my faves.

[David Pavlich]

It's all but impossible unless you've got big aperture, very dark skies and the proper filter. And even then, all you'd see is a kind of notch in the nebulosity behing it.

However, I saw it with a simple orange tubed Celestron C8...equipped with a Mallincam. And that was during a first quarter Moon and a plaza parking lot about 1000 yards away.

David

[Doc]

Hi mick,

I was using a 10"Skywatcher it has a fan at the mirror so it won't mist up plus i was out with the scope for around an hour very clear sky's tonight temp droping a little, but a very good viewing night

Thank,s robert

I mean on the eyepiece it self, similar to if you breathe on it. I have mistaken nebulosity as this a few times they look very similar.

[david's dob]

yeah iv'e tried to look for the horse head nebula, and that was without a filter, i definately think that you would need a really dark sky, a UHC filter, and a bigger adparture size.

[Robert Watson]

hI all, That was another great night's viewing ,the star's are jumping out of the sky and the quarter moon was somthing else, we've got a bit of a frost coming down in N Ireland

Mick you might have been right about the eyepiece, i give it a clean before using it i still could see nebulosity around the brighter star's in Pleiades but not the same as lastnight.

Jumping with joy seen my first cluster M35