Nebula around Orion

[Sconesbie (Scott)]

Thanks to Acropolite, I'm really starting to enjoy this star gazing caper. Tonight (Thursday) was a really clear night so I grabbed my scope and out I went.

I've looked at the Small Magellanic Cloud, Sirius, gazed at Jupiter for a long time and the nebula on Orion's Belt and some other miscellaneous random star searching.

One thing though, through the eyepiece the nebula is just grey and no colour. Is that due to the limitations of my scope? It's a 114mm Diam, 900mm long tube. I was using a 6.5mm eyepiece. How do I get to see some colour?

Don't get me wrong, I'm still excited about finding it by myself and the fact that I can see stuff is still enough to keep me going. I sound like a two year old with a new toy. I even rushed in and got my wife to have a look.

[Regulus (Trevor)]

Scott this is the norm. The photos in magazines and on the box the telescope comes in are photos that are enhanced for various reason including, but not limited to, artistic reasons.
Nebula are mostly white/grey. Although some (inc myself) see colour tinges in some nebula (Orion has a green tint to me and a few others I have asked).
Don't let the disappointment get to you though, as it easily can to a new viewer. The 'amazing' factor is still there, and the more you learn about these vast objects the greater that becomes.
Also, as you hobby progresses you will come to appreciate 'detail' in Nebula and planetary objects and you will get colour in the planets. Well most. Venus is a bit unspectacular that way, but it is bright, but the pleasure and wonder of Venus is watching it go through phases like the moon. That alone is worth the price of admission.
You will find as you go along that your eyepieces will start to take on divisions for specific purposes. Like Large 32-40mm with perhaps 60+ AFOV to fit complete nebula into your field of view, and narrower AFOV higher powered for planet viewing.
It never gets boring and just by looking you will find you develop favourite objects that you keep coming back to. Mine are Omega Centauri, Carina Nebula, and any really yellow/orange stars cos I just love the colour.
There are double stars to split. Lots.
So mate, don't let the pretty pictures disappoint you. Appreciate them for the layered details they provide for sure, but spend time at the eyepiece and you will learn to love those self-same objects for what they are in there own right.
Enjoy you scope, and if the novelty wears off a bit then ask some people over and show them some of what you've found and I guarantee their 'oohs' and 'aahs' and 'wows' will get you enthused again.
Trevor

[Paddy (Patrick)]

You won't see colour in deep sky objects with visual observing as the rod cells in your retina that register low light don't code for colour. Imaging equipment does so photos can reveal colour that your eye won't see. As Trevor says there is still a lot to observe in monochrome. Also stars will show colour as will some planetary nebulae.

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

As the others have said, colour at the eyepiece is very rare. I have a 20" dob and rarely see colour even in M42 ( the orion nebula) although I have seen hints of it on very clear nights.
Some planetary nebulae will display quite strong colours, usually green or blue and very occasionally ( eg IC418) red. The other way to get colour is hunting down double stars with strongly contrasting colours, say a blue star paired with a red star. Albireo in Cygnus is a fine example with a yellow primary and red secondary.

Cheers

Malcolm

[pw (Peter)]

I see green in the Orion nebula reasonably often through my 8" dob.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

I got a pink tinge through Orion (M42) last weekend in clear skies down south through my 10". It was almost discernible through a 4.5" f8 newt I think, it was certainly a little more than just grey to see.
But you certainly don't see it as the pictures published would have you beleive.

[Barrykgerdes]

Yes it is the response of the light sensors in your eyes that govern the view you have of the nebulae. As said the narrow band "rods" are tuned to the centre of the visible spectrum around green and are quite a few orders of sensitivity better than the "cones" that can respond to the various other emission lines for the different colours.

Many people claim to see different colors in the nebulae but it is generally an optical illusion due to the way your brain perceives the signals from the eye particularly when you stare at the very dim images for long periods.

Barry

[Sconesbie (Scott)]

Thanks everyone. Bummer that you can't see much, anyway, I'm not disappointed. Far from it actually. I'm quite proud that I could find it on my own.

As I said, the more I look and find, the more I get excited and interested in what else I can find. I just need to become more familiar with what is what and what things are called.

Hopefully tonight is nice and clear and I'll head back out. If not, I'll do it tomorrow night, then the next night and so on.

[Pinwheel (Doug)]

The green tint some see is an illusion, It's because the human eye is more sensitive to the colour Green than it is to Red.