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Old 16-01-2013, 12:44 AM
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mental4astro (Alexander)
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mental4astro is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: sydney, australia
Posts: 4,979
M42 revisited, with a bigger gun

Hi all,

Tonight conditions were much cooler than a few days ago. And I was in for a big surprise. While I would have prefered to have sketched M42 from a dark site last new Moon, conditions weren't condusive to using much magnification. Even at low power, M42 from a dark site is a totally different beast than when viewed from home.

As the sketch progressed, seeing improved. To the point that not only was able to seen Trapezium E & F, but other component stars that are even fainter! Truely remarkable! While I've seen Trap' E & F before, tonight I could count a further 6 additional stars around the Trapezium.

The second attached image is a close up of the Trapezium.

Tonight I added tha circle of death to the sketch to give the piece a little more context on what I could see though the eyepiec.

Object: M42 & M43
Scope: 17.5" f/4.5 push-pull dob
Gear: 13mm modified Hyperion, 153X, OIII filter
Date: 15th Jan. 2013
Location: Sydney, Australia.
Media: Soft pastel, chacoal & white ink on A4 sized black paper
Time: Approx 2.5 hrs.
Attached Thumbnails
Click for full-size image (M42 & M43 Sydney 17.5.jpg)
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Click for full-size image (M42 Sydney 17.5 Trapesium.jpg)
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