Orion's Return!

[glend (Glen)]

I have noticed that our old friend M42 (Orion Nebula) is appearing again in the early hours as it rises in the east earlier and earlier each night. This is surely a harbinger of spring not being far away. I had my scope all setup for imaging it last night and got a string of exposures before the dawn's light intruded. It needs to climb much higher for best visual observation, but even at 40 degrees it was a wonderful sight once again.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

For me the first winter sighting of Orion heralds a glimmer of hope for the warmer weather, A deep sigh, and then push on through the cold stuff for a little longer...

Like you Glen, July's Orion apparition is too low for meaningful observation for me. Nice to see the old fella though.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Woohoo! M42 season is back.
Talk about desperate to try a new target.
Looking forward to reshoot the whole lot for the nth time with my new toy.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Aye, I saw him a few weeks ago, glowing faintly in the dawn light.
It's always nice to see a friendly face.

[Pinwheel (Doug)]

My new 12" dob has not yet had the pleasure of meeting M42. Can't wait!

[omegacrux (David)]

Doug
You will be impressed .
Orion in a dob is one of my favourite targets

David

[Monstar (Johnny)]

I got up at 4:30am with the aim or trying to see Andromeda. When I first walked into the backyard with a steaming cuppa my eyes were not dark adapted and I couldn't see many stars at all. But the attentions of my eyes was caught by 3 bright stars in a diagonal line at around NEE, and I knew immediately what they were and they stayed there for the next hour or so til it got bright.

I'll have another go at Andromeda tomorrow.

[OzStarGazer]

Orion was pretty this morning. With my nebula filter I could see M42 clearly, even if it was small. A beauty!

[Pinwheel (Doug)]

Minus 3 degrees....Brrrrrr Back to bed..

[PeterEde (Peter)]

Am I right in assuming summer is the season to be jolly?
Seems the winter months have little ?
Or is that just me and my lack of knowledge of all things celestial?

[GrampianStars (Rob)]

Originally Posted by Pinwheel

Minus 3 degrees....Brrrrrr Back to bed..

got up early to spot Andromeda on Monday. The Alpaca water trough had 1/2 inch ICE
Later the water heater flat panels split ! when I went to have a shower.
The weather station claimed it was -2.5c

[glend (Glen)]

Geez harden up guys, there are people in Canada that get the scope out in the winter - I know because I lived there for 30 years. What's a little frost.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Originally Posted by glend

Geez harden up guys, there are people in Canada that get the scope out in the winter - I know because I lived there for 30 years. What's a little frost.

That's the way to endear yourself to your fellow man, Glen! Ridicule them...

Bet you kill moose with your bare hands too, er, I mean bandicoots...

[glend (Glen)]

It's all about perspective ALexander, I already knew you would have a comment about anything I said.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

My brother-in-law is Canadian. Bugger walks around in a tee-shirt and shorts all winter long. I've seen photos of him in Canada digging out the snow from the front door after a night-long snow shower - you couldn't see the front door!

Not for me! Like the good man said "a man's gotta now his limitations". I'd rather have to deal with Browns and Red-belly Blacks...

Now, if the clouds would stay away, then this winter would be more bareable if some observing could be done. Last session I was out I forgot to plug in my secondary's heater and it frosted over. Had to use a little 12V hairdrier to clear it up. But I'm not complaining as I did manage some star time that night,

One thing about Orion, once I see its risen in full in the early morning I know I've missed my night's chance to see the Andromeda galaxy,

[Draco (Draco)]

Stop teasing Alex My North sky has been blocked by a recent 2 storey house. I guess I was lucky to enjoy Andromeda last year in my binoculars .. amazing how I am using the stars to track the seasons and the year nowadays

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Yay for Orion! I want to image the goodies in his belly.

[andyc (Andy)]

I'm looking forward to imaging Orion's treats too, after filling my boots with the wonders of the centre of the Galaxy this winter.

Coldest I observed in was -25C in Scotland and you wanted to get in to the fire asap even if the sky was breathtakingly clear. -10C evenings were quite regular in Highland winters ... where Orion was a favourite target! The first task might be to make a flat patch in the snow, then the battle was with frost rather than simply dew. But I'd take -25C over meeting any of the nasty snakes hereabouts

Weird as it is (for me) seeing Orion in summer, it is quite fun to look at it in shorts and T-shirt...

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Dumb question I suppose - has anybody ever looked at the galaxies in Orion?

I know the nebula is great, but I suspect everything else may get ignored.

I remember using those galaxies to test the focal reducer on my C8. Without the reducer and a 20mm eyepiece I could see them. With the reducer and a 15mm eyepiece, I was having great difficulty seeing them. I haven't used that reducer much since, except on bright objects.
Regards,
Renato

[Neil]

Can't say I've ever looked at the galaxies in Orion, too busy looking at something else, perhaps you could recommend the better galaxies to observe when Orion gets a little higher( 60-70 Degrees), ? clear skies everyone.