Orion's up, if you're late up!

[starguest]

Or you're up early perhaps and thus viewable certainly a bit earlier in the month.

It's still lowish as my tube was near horizontal and with the moon providing some glare the background was a touch 'muddy'. Actually, earlier, before it appeared from round the house corner, the sky had been totally clear and I'd say the seeing was pretty good apart from that slight muddy b/g look the moonglare gives. I could see more fainter stars in other constellation areas than earlier in the month when moonless.

And then as I was waiting for it to get a bit higher some light clouds that were to its right began to move in on it, more so on the lower part with M42 and Rigel. So I concentrated on the upper bits.

I mentioned in another post that I like to find close pairs, usually just by giving the scope a burst of RA or DEC away from a known object and seeing what's around. I found a fascinating little group not far from Alnitak. There's a pair at one end and at the other is a tightish triple with one bright, a very close dimmer and a close less bright. There was a hint of colour from the 2 dimmers and I'd say imagine Almach with a very close companion. I'm not that experienced about estimating magnitude but perhaps the 3 are 4, 5 and 6. If anyone is interested the RA/DEC is 05.39.6 / -02.35

Once the cloud moved on I shunted S to look at M42. Still has a wow factor. Although lowish and with sky conditions I could easily see the 4 centre stars. I'm sure that the first time I saw it under better conditions I could detect some colour. Which leads onto...

I've followed some online threads about red/crimson "carbon" stars and made notes from some tables lists. People mention being wowed by the red colour of most of them. You often see this about Aldebaran and Betelgeuse. The thing is, I don't detect a "red" colour at all. If anything it's a hint of orange, or even spending a couple of minutes looking at one and/or using averted vision I perceive that the particular star has a tint "toward the red" end than others in the field. I'm sure I shouldn't expect a traffic light extreme but I'm not getting the red that others describe. For comparison, stars like Albireo and Almach I definitely see a distinct gold and blue. And then when Rigel became clear it displayed its usual sparkle and I had a definite burst of visible red/blue/green/white.

What do others see from those "red" stars?

Finally, I was doing a burst of just guiding onto any naked visible star that had appeared above the roofline and using "Identify" on the GOTO, then keeping eye to EP and hitting RA or DEC. And I came across a right twinkly spiderweb almost filling the field. This was M37 Very nice and a lot of close pairs.

By now at 3.30 I was a bit cold and tired so after a 2nd great night, back inside.

[Pete Presland]

save it for the winter

[Chris H]

My 2 year old was up at 5am the other night, popped my head out the window and there was Orion. I wasn't about to get the scope out though I will be saving that for winter.

[Hypernova]

I was out and about in Wales over the weekend and managed to see the top half of Orion. At 1:30am it was just peeking over the top of a nearby sand dune. Roll on December!!!

[bombassa]

Went out with the dog at 6 this morning and there it was (all of it) due south. Very pretty.

[russ]

Clear tomorrow morning, will be up early for a peak at Orion in the 12".

[zedds]

I was out a couple of weeks ago sorting out a burst water main. Feeling cold and miserable wishing i was back home asleep at 5am, i looked up and a nice smile crossed my face as i saw orion up in the south. Cheered me up no end.

[LukeSkywatcher]

What time is Orion rising these days?.

I could check myself but this damn head cold wont allow me to focus on anything for more then a minute.

Still cloudy here MOST nights so little chance of seeing anything. This year has to be the worst in my memory for cloud.

[Meneldil]

I noticed Orion well up at 0530 today. A bit like stepping into December to see him and Gemini on display.

[starguest]

Aarrgghh!, had a BT line fault since sunday and it's just been restored.

To LukeS, I see from software that Orion should be rising about 11.30 but don't know if that means just the top part becomes visible.

I managed a brief view early today about 0200-ish before the clouds rolled in, when the M42 section was a few degrees above my hills horizon.

[russ]

I was up at 5am this morning for my view of Orion......sadly there was a pea soup obscuring my view

[Bigwings]

What time is Orion rising these days?.

I could check myself but this damn head cold wont allow me to focus on anything for more then a minute.

Still cloudy here MOST nights so little chance of seeing anything. This year has to be the worst in my memory for cloud.

In SE at 1.30 am but higher and all visible by 2.20am. Sky brightening about 5 when Orion will be SSE so thats the best slot.

All you need is clear skies:D