Three Messiers and a Barnard (Obs.)

I've not seen an observing report here in a while (Where's Opus?).

Last night started out pretty good. The sky was clear. The
temperature was less than 10 degrees below freezing. Prior to sunset
I set up the 30cm Newtonian.

The crescent Moon was so thin that I decided to check my NELM: It was
6.5. So I decided not to wait for moonset. Unfortunately the seeing
was 'bad'; but if I insisted on waiting for only perfect nights I
wouldn't get much observing accomplished.

I quickly decided on M79 as my first serious target. This globular
was near my meridian and low in the sky. If I didn't go for it now I
might have a long wait, so . . .

A careful sketch was made at 155x showing all field stars as well as
all the semi-easily visible cluster members. Then I filled in the
unresolved portion of the globular. (One of my many projects is to
complete a set of paintings of the Messier objects based primarily on
observations with the 30cm scope.)

Only the outermost region of M79 was resolved. I recorded 17 stars in
that region. The rest of the cluster was mottled. As is typical with
globulars, the central region was brightest. With averted vision I
could occasionally see many more faint stars; but they were not
visible consistently enough to individually record.

I capped the eyepiece, covered the scope, and went inside for a break
before my 'attack' on M42/43.

B33, the Horsehead Nebula: The sky looked pretty transparent in the
region of Orion's belt. The seeing changed from 'bad' to 'poor' upon
moving up higher in the sky. I took a quick look at NGC 2024. I
shifted the scope to place Zeta outside the FOV. I noticed NGC 2023.
Of course, by now I was looking for IC 434 and the Horsehead. (The
scope was at 61x -- in preparation for my M42/43 observation.)

IC 434 and the Horsehead were faintly visible. The 'bright' nebula
looked barely brighter than the background sky. I decided to try the
1.25" UltraBlock filter that's been sleeping soundly for a long while
in my eyepiece case. Wow! The filter actually made a noticeable
difference! (This was my first B33 observation with a filter.)

M42/43: I swung the scope back down to the Great Orion Nebula,
leaving the filter in place. Preferring the unfiltered view, I
removed the filter. I upped the magnification to check out the
Trapezium. The 'e' star, while not exactly easy, could be held
solidly. The 'f' star was much more difficult on this night. It was
suspected at times; but the brightness and proximity of the 'c' star
made 'f' quite a challenge in the poor seeing conditions. (An after
thought: I should have tried filters!)

I dropped back down to 61x and went to work observing and sketching
M42/43. M43 had its characteristic 'comma' appearance. M42 was of
course quite awesome -- as it always is! The brightest portion of the
nebula had a weak, greenish tint to it. Some weak reds were suspected
in other areas. It's possible that thin clouds were hampering my view
a little. An sketch I had made nine years earlier using a 25cm scope
showed more nebulosity. The Horsehead was better on that night as
well.

I took a quick look at Saturn before ending the session; but I was
tired. At the end, clouds had become more evident, growing thicker
and covering more of the sky.
--
Bill
Celestial Journeys
http://cejour.blogspot.com

W. H. Greer wrote:
I've not seen an observing report here in a while (Where's Opus?).

His owner has been under the weather (first figuratively, then
literally).

--
Brian Tung
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