A Supernova, a Ghost, and a Horsehead

[Talitha]

January was absolutely miserable. It was clear a few times, but the temperature was dangerously cold and the month flew by without a single chance to roll Seymour (16" LightBridge) out of the shed. Then finally, conditions were good on 2 Feb... it was clear, and the temperature was a tolerable -15C with a slight breeze. The H-Beta filter had arrived the day before, and i was anxious to see B33 (the Horsehead). I'd had glimpses of the famous dark nebula in late December while using a UHC, and those fleeting moments encouraged me to finally get the H-Beta i'd been putting off for so long.

B33 was still in the trees when i went out at 7pm, so my first target was SN2011B... a supernova in NGC2655. My charts showed the host galaxy to be due east of the pole star, almost 1/2 way between Polaris and 23 Ursae Majoris. I needed a stellar springboard for the starhop and found it in HR3751, a magnitude 4.3 star about 3/4 of the way between Polaris and NGC2655. Within a few minutes i had the galaxy in view, and at high magnification it appeared to be slightly oval in shape with a diffuse, but bright core. The supernova (my first) was on the outer regions of the galaxy's glow, and was definitely stellar in appearance. How odd to see a bright beacon sitting on the edge of a galaxy! Hopefully it will last for a while... i'd like to check it out a few more times if possible.

With B33 still climbing the Aspens, i went to Andromeda for another look at Mirach's Ghost. I'd sketched it in late December but forgot to post because of the busy holiday season. Just as before, it was easy to see even with Mirach in the fov. That's one of the benefits of sketching, our eyes don't store light like photos do... although bright, Mirach didn't oversaturate the field.

Next, i swung over to Perseus and used the H-Beta to view the California Nebula. It's absolutely HUGE and would have taken a triple-fov composite to sketch, so i decided to postpone that till a warmer night. The nebula showed definite borders, and also showed random areas of internal structure. After exploring for a while, i looked towards Orion and saw that B33 was clear... it was showtime.

TBH, because of my 'average' transparency, i didn't know what to expect from the Horsehead but was pleasantly surprised. As suspected, i wasn't able to detect the nose or any details, but i could easily see B33 as a diffuse-edged 'bite' missing from IC434's faint nebulosity. The outer regions of IC434 were the faintest, and the brightest area was the part surrounding the Horsehead. The size of B33 is 4'. By way of comparison, M57 (Ring) is 1', and M97 (Owl) is 3'. So i guess if you shook them both up in a bottle, their combined size would match it.

As others have reported, the Horsehead isn't a spectacular visual target... it's more of a goal that's finally been met. So after waiting for over 10 years, i can finally say that i had a 'good' look at the famed Horsehead Nebula. Maybe some night when the transparency's better, more detail will be detected. But for now, i'm a happy camper.

Thanks for reading!

[msinclairinork]

Congrats on on seeing your first SN and the horse head!

Great wright up as always Carol, and fantastic sketchs...as always!

Thanks for sharing,

Michael

[Doc]

Great work Carol, I'm wishing I could see B33, must save up for a Hb Filter.

[carastro]

Carol your sketches are absolutely amazing, one could almost mistake them for images. Plus you ability to find all these objects with a manual lightbridge also amazes me.

I've forgotten where you are, I think it's somewhere in north North America, somwhere near the great lakes.

Carole

[Talitha]

Thanks, it certainly felt good to get out again.

You've a good memory Carole, i'm in northcentral Wisconsin...

this time of year i'd rather be a bit further south, though.

[Glen]

hehe can just see you jumping up'n'down geting ready to roll out Seymour.. great going on b33 an sn2011, 2 big ones to check off

thanks for the report and the scetches.

Glen

[DarkerSky]

Magic! Excellent observations and sketches, Carol. The Horsehead is one of those top visual trophies in my book.

I am thinking of investing in a H-Beta filter. Which do you use, and would you recommend it?

I've looked long and hard for the Californian Neb, but without a H-beta I simply can't make it out from my sky. Would be great to see this one, and the Horsehead with the aid of some filter trickery.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Magic!

I am thinking of investing in a H-Beta filter. Which do you use, and would you recommend it?

Carol great sketches again. I have a Thousand Oaks H-Beta filter and so far I have not been able to detect the Horsehead in my 10" Dob. I would be interested whether you can detect it with one of your smaller scopes.

With the same H-Beta I detected the Cocoon and I certainly viewed something in the Flaming Star Neb and California Neb regions.

Mark

[Talitha]

Thanks!

Glen, you bet i was jumping up and down. Considering my forecast and the lunar cycle, i knew it might be the only chance i'd get for a while.

Seb, i have the Lumicon filter and would definitely recommend it. That being said though, i have no idea how it would compare to another brand, so take my recommendation with a grain of salt.

The California Nebula could be seen without the filter. It appeared as a 'brightening' of the sky, but took on a definite shape when the filter was used.

Mark, how was your transparency? I've heard that it can make or break a sighting of the HH. Yes, it would be interesting to see if one of my other scopes could pull in the HH. If the chance presents itself, i'll be sure to post the results.