Quote:
Originally Posted by buill
hi as mentionde before this is my cheap scope https://www.aliexpress.com/item/High...342890122.html it has 20mm,12mm,4mm eyepieces and 2x barlow. the other night i went looking for m42 with no sucess but there was some cloud cover you could see orion belt and bettlejuice with the naked eye but conditions where not perfect and after about 30min of scanning around looking for m42 with 20mm and 12mm eyepieces i gave up although i could see lots of stars that could not be seen with the naked eye my question is should i be able to view the orian nebula with this equipment if conditions where better? thanks |
Hi buill,
short answer is Yes.
Actually, you can "see" M42 with the naked eye.
It appears to be the middle "star" in the sword of Orion.
(or in the Handle of the saucepan, if you prefer).
Of course it is not a star, but a bright nebula.
And the nebula is normally discernible with magnification like yours.
The 20mm eyepiece is probably going to give you the most pleasing results.
Keep at it, as it is certainly worth the effort.
Of course, you will get better contrast when the sky is darker (eg no bright moon), and there are fewer lights in your viewing area.
Hope this helps
Edit
And as Ken said, important to make sure your finder is aligned.