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Horsehead & Homunculus
Tahmoor, 20 December 2015, 3.00-4.30 AEDT
No cloud
Transparency 8/10
Seeing 6-7/10
10" f/5 GSO dobsonian
Got up out of bed for this, so dark adaptation was as good as it gets.
IC 434/ B33 Horsehead Nebula, Orion
First observation where I can comfortably say that I saw it. 16mm ES 68° with Astronomik H-Beta filter attached, giving 78x and 3.2mm of exit pupil diameter. Found the general area from memory (not difficult) but because I had not remembered the exact position of B33 relative to the foreground stars, there was absolutely no doubt of its visibility when I saw it. Tube nudging improved view but was not essential.
B33 was not visible without the H Beta, however the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) was seen very well with its branching dark lane a notable feature.
NGC 3372, specifically the Homunculus Nebula, Carina
The two spheres were seen surprisingly well given the less-than-perfect seeing. Pentax XO5, giving 250x and 1mm of exit pupil diameter. A surpirising amount of detail in the greater Carina Nebula even at this small exit pupil.
This was worth getting up for.
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