Hi all.
I only had a short session tonight. Wasn't even ment to be a "true" session. I had bought an adaptor to use 1.25" eyepieces in my nearly 30 year old
Tasco 2" refractor, with the hope of making it into a finder, I finally got to try it out. What I wasn't expecting was the image I got of M42! Even the eyepiece I was using was a modest Super Plossl 25mm.
Way-back-when, all I could "see" of M42 was the bright, tight fan shaped region around the Trapesium. Tonight, with all the extra light pollution here in my home in Sydney, but with 30 years experience, Bugger Me I could now make out soft, faint extensions radiating out from this brighter core!!!
These were no mistake. Two distinct filaments radiated out from the base of the nebula, slowly expanding out and reducing in brightness as the moved out, but also there was a distinct dark demarkation cutting a boundary to the lower portion. The rest of the internal area of M42 was also filled with detailed, soft markings, though not as distinct, yet with a definite darker eastern half.
I also saw three stars that form the Trapesium. And the Fish Mouth, dark and prominent. I never imagined I'd see a dark pillar through a 2" scope!
Also seeable was the small 'ball-like' nebula immediately below the Trapesium.
Even a soft glow of nebulosity was seen around where the Running Man nebula is! Freaking unreal!!
I managed to find a sketch of M42 done by Charles Messier. Mine is not dissimilar to his.
I did use an OIII filter to bring out the details.
Never, ever did I imagine all this was 'seeable' with a 2" refractor, and from Sydney!
This sketch is also the first I've done next to the eyepiece since my meeting with the fantastic astro sketcher Scott Mellish, whose many sketches grace the gallery of the ASOD (Astronomy Sketch Of the Day) web site.
Scott, your technique has totally changed the way I approach DSO with a pencil & paper, and a dry paint brush,
.
Am I excited, or what!
Sketch summary:
Gear: 2" f/12 refractor
Eyepiece: 25mm Super Plossl, 24X
Filter: OIII
Media: white pastel, white & black charcoal on black paper
Date: 30th December 2010
Location: my backyard, Sydney