Advice on viewing orion nebula/M42

[Martin-Devon]

This is my first year with a telescope, and therefore first experience to propoerly view the Orion nebula which rises in the east at about 10pm at the moment. I got out for the first time in weeks (non-stop clouds/rain in Devon) last night and got my first glimpse of M42 when it had just come above the horizon. Conditions were not great so I really could not do it justice and using my 21mm Ethos (giving 100x mag) could only see a few bright point starts with some faint haze around.

So my question is - what magnification and what filters are best to view M42? Are there any other tips to beyond using filters (UHC-S?) get the best out of viewing M42?

Thanks

[ronin]

Hate to say it but viewing at about 4:00 am will help.

At 10:00 pm it will be low and so too much atmospheric disturbance. Which is basically what you have said or described.

Not sure if more magnification would help, it depends on what you want to see, the whole thing or a part of it. Notice you don't have a 15mm listed and I wonder if a 10mm is too much.

Presume that the skies are pretty good where you are, used to live in Tavistock and the skies were good then, especially if I travelled out a little. Plymouth and Exeter won't be good.

Filters take something out, so unless you want to remove part of the spectrum I cannot help.

[John]

I don't find filters add anything to M42 to be honest. Your Ethos 21mm should be superb but allow the constellation to rise well above the horizon (as ronin says) and observe when there is no moonlight or light pollution in the sky for the best views. I viewed M42 with my 4" refractor a couple of nights ago (at 3:30 am actually !) and with my Ethos 13mm it was superb - sprawling all over the FoV.

With your 8" and a bit more power (ie: 120x or so) you should be able to pick out the E & F components of the Trapezium in M42. They are a real challenge but a good test of scope collimation and seeing conditions. The smallest aperture I've managed to see all 6 components with is a 5" refractor.

So you have the right equipment now - just let it rise a bit more to see it better.

[Chris H]

I like to view M42 with my 10" Dob using my 17mm Ethos, it gives me x70 or there abouts and the wide field of view really helps to fit in as much nebulosity as possible. I have a UHC filter but it dims the image too much and I loose the fine detail so never use it on Orion. Best thing is get your scope to as dark a skies as possible.