These are our observations in Orion

• A Bit of Fun with M42

  I suspect the Orion Nebula, M42, is the most popular target in the beginner astro-imager's sky. So it is not a target I would normally share; I'm sure you've seen many versions. However, here are a couple of images with a bit of a story of me continuing to learn and change.

  I'm a member of a small team of astronomers doing online outreach for the Cambridge Institute of Astronomy (IOA). Since lockdown, each clear Wednesday evening during the winter months, we will attempt to observe and present online, objects of particular interest in the night sky, often related to the subject of a talk. This activity certainly tests the mettle of my ability to find and present images of objects quickly and demands the best performance from my equipment.

  Last year, therefore, I purchased a ZWO ASI 294 MC Pro camera and Sharpcap to provide colour images quickly with Sharpcap providing imaging stacking in real-time. I've found it to be an excellent electronically assisted astronomy (EAA) tool and it has transformed my enjoyment of observing to one with a more real-time appreciation of objects, as opposed to extended sessions of imaging a single object with my QSI CCD camera.

  M42, of course, has been one of our Wednesday evening targets and I've been astonished at the deep contrast between the brightness of the Trapezium core and the much fainter outer reaches of the nebula.

  Once our online session had ended, I set about exploring what the ZWO camera could do with the subject. I gathered a range of exposures ranging between 100 x four seconds and 10 x five minutes and then blended the images together in Photoshop. I have two images to share.

  The first is of the Trapezium region using exposures ranging from four seconds to two minutes and blending the images to provide a high dynamic range view. Many of the fainter stars in the Trapezium region are well shown but my telescope is not big enough to separate stars e, f and g in the Trapezium.

  

  The second image also blends the five minutes exposures of the outer regions of the nebula and shows well the convoluted gas clouds of emission and reflection that are sculpted by the newly born stars at the core.

  

  Image Details

  RGB exposures: 4 secs, 30 secs, 120 secs and 300 secs.

  • Telescope: 200mm Ritchey-Chretien plus a 0.7x reducer to give 1160mm focal length at F/5.8
  • Camera: ASI ZWO 294 MC Pro
  • Mount: Skywatcher EQ8
  • Software: Sharpcap, Deep Sky Stacker, Pixinsight, Photoshop, Capture One, Topaz Studio 2, Topaz Denoise AI

  David Davies - (20 January 2022).

• Observations from Orion… at last

  Last night I had my planetary head on mainly because Mike Wood had shown me his stacked video image of Abell 12 which was rather impressive and evidentially had impressed Owen Brazell too! After Mike showed me his image I went through my files expecting to find a drawing from some time or other but nothing!

  I need to put that right so I went straight after Mu Orionis as I knew that Abell 12 lurked in the glare of this magnitude 4.1 star. I had the exposure of my Watec video camera turned down to 5 seconds and bang the ghostly round orb of Abell 12 aka PK 198-6.1 was obvious and striking next to the dazzling star with its large diffraction spikes.

  

  So to were Mu orionis Ab & Ba as this star is a 4 star multiple. I'm not sure if I could see the fourth member Bb as I had no idea where to look and as the faintest member it was most susceptible to Mu A's glare. Anyhow if I kept exposure relatively short then the other two were framed nicely between Mu A and Abell 12 adding to the spectacle considerably in my humble opinion.

  Lengthening the exposure right up to 20 sec did nothing to enhance the detail seen in Abell 12 but it simply lost the multiple members in the glare and bloat of the primary. No central star was seen, mottling across the whole of the round and sharp edged planetary remained unaltered. The attraction of this PN is its ethereal appearance and contrast with its bright neighbour. A delight no less.

  Next I went onto nearby Abell 14 another planetary with the PK designation of PK 197-3.1 This was to be a failure! This isn't the first time that I have tried and failed on this PN. It is very small 40"x27" and faint at magnitude 14. Tonight I had the location absolutely spot on but my camera could not pull it out even with a 25 sec exposure. It is obviously strong in the blue spectrum emission where my camera is less sensitive.

  I dug out an old visual Lumicon 1.25 UHC filter and screwed this to the camera nose piece. I had to refocus and then I tuned the exposure up to 15sec then 20 sec with my fingers literally crossed but I could see not hide nor hair of this nebula! FAIL big style!

  I then thought well I will leave the filter on and try the old favourite, NGC 2022, another planetary nebula in Orion and one I have been observing both visually and with video for 20 years or more. When the scope drive stopped NGC 2022 was bang in the centre of the field and strikingly obvious at 5 sec exposure. At 20 seconds it was incredibly detailed.

  

  I dug out my file and looked at 3 previous sketches, better view tonight for sure 😀 I agonised over the sketch trying to show all the detail available. My new digital monitor is such that I can use a magnifying glass to study small objects and see yet more detail! I love it 😁

  So that was 2hrs gone and time to get indoors and ready for bed, not that I slept! No,no way too excited.

  Dale Holt - (11 February 2021).

• One from Orion

  Here we have an observation from last night of NGC 1924, a galaxy that I observed and sketched several times before. Perhaps last night I grabbed a little more detail it the spiral layout than previous session had yielded.

  

  A face on barred spiral in Orion, magnitude 13.2 and 1.6'x1.2'. My sketch shows some breaks or disturbance in the spiral structure. Discovered by W Herschel in October 1785. Distance 108 mly and diameter 53,000 ly.

  Dale Holt - (24 January 2021).

• Planetaries in Orion

  Andrew Robertson challenged me with Abell 10 (PK 197-14.1) a couple of weeks back so that was my first object for last night.

  Easily seen, increasing exposure time didn't make it much clearer but it did pull out more field stars. Disc distinctly mottled and 'fluffy' edged. Two stars to note on right-hand side of the disc, the upper slightly detached from the disc, the lower one was brighter and was superimposed on the disc.

  There was I believe a very faint galaxy just in the upper left of the field-of-view, I didn't identify it or draw it in as it was so tenuous.

  Abell 10, lovely object thanks to Andrew for bringing it to my attention 😊

  

  Close by was PK 193.9.1 so I thought I would take a look, one catalogue stated it as being in Orion another as in Taurus.

  Another nice planetary nebula, smaller than Abell 10 and dominated by its bright central star, it looked to be a tight almost perfect round shell, wonder what colour this appears to the eye?

  Just outside of the upper field-of-view was a nice edge on galaxy, distinct but I didn't identify.

  

  Very enjoyable observing.

  Dale Holt - (18 January 2020).

• S503 and S502 in Orion

  January 14^th saw a cold and crisp window of observing before the moon would interfere. I had previously looked at S503 and decided the best view for this wide double would be at low power using my refractor.

  At x64 the surrounding star field provides a lovely context for this double of the month. Also the view is further enhanced by the presence of the double S502 to the west.

  

  Having enjoyed the view and sketched it I then wandered over to see Rigel and its close companion. Always a superb sight.

  Mike Wood - 15 January 2017

• Observing at Teggs Nose with Binoculars

  I was lucky enough to see a clear sky during Friday evening. After the rain had cleared off. The skies were clear although. There was a lot of moisture around. This moisture eventually froze out. Leaving a sharp hoar frost at dawn.

  Tegg's Nose country park was my destination. I travelled up there from my home in Macclesfield. Although this site is not far from the centre of the town. The skies can be quite dark. Normally we can see magnitude 4.6 stars, and on those rare occasions, magnitude 5.

  The Moon was visible during the early evening. But she wasn't a problem. It was a thin crescent hanging majestically in the western sky.

  I was with members from my local astronomical society's observing group. And we had a good time.

  I was up there to take pictures of Orion and the famous nebulae. But I also wanted to use my 20 x 70 observation binoculars.

  M42 was a magnificent sight through my tripod mounted binoculars. I counted all four stars of the trapezium, and I was able see Sigma Orionis and see the companion stars.

  Lepus the Hare was very clear last night. The Alpha and Beta stars were crystal clear. I thought I might see M79. But I failed. I will try again on the next clear, Moonless night we have.

  Messier 41 was very clear, together with Sirius.

  NGC 2237, the open cluster at the centre of the Rosette nebula. Was another easy target. And comet Catalina was a large fuzzy blob just North of Alkaid.

  M42 and the nebula NGC 1973-75-77 are shown in this picture. I used a Canon 1000D with a 200mm Pentacon telephoto lens. This was attached to my Skywatcher Star Adventurer.

  

  Paul Brierley - (16 January 2016).

• A Haul of Deep-Sky Sketches

  This is the best haul of deep sky sketches that I have had for quite some while!

  The two planetary nebulae NGC 2022 and NGC 22371/2372 are 're-visits' I have sketched both of these before but years ago with my old 350mm Newtonian and Watec camera, the level of detail is significantly higher in these new sketches.

  

  

  ARP 186 was a challenge, especially seeing the slender trunk like projection/arm there are also another 3 small faint galaxies in the field, these I have not identified.

  

  Some nice detail can be seen in NGC 1924 a rare Orion galaxy and a first observation for me, note also a faint unidentified galaxy to the upper right of my sketch and what appeared to be another spiral directly below the main galaxy, again unidentified.

  

  NGC 1964 in Lepus was disappointing until I went out into the observatory and saw just how low the scope was pointing into the murky glow in London's direction!

  

  Finally a first visit for me to a lovely galaxy trio in Gemini, another constellation not normally associated with galaxy hauls.The largest spiral which I believe is NGC 2389? shows some great detail.

  

  Dale Holt - (8 January 2016).