What do you do when you find yourself wide awake at 2.30 am? Grab the Dob and head outside and look at the Orion region! Only a brief summary before the moon rose. A taste of the summer nights ahead.
12" GSO Dob.
22 and 12 Naglers.
Seeing 4 out of 5, transparency 3.5 (dust mostly gone).
M42 - I don't think I have seen this wonderful region better than this morning. The 2 new Nagler eyepieces really showed their worth. Averted vision just seemed to extend the nebulosity further than I have seen before and this without any filter.
NGC 2068 - this bright reflection nebula enveloped 2 mag 10 stars. The nebulosity seemed mottled or perhaps powdery, somewhat oval in shape.
NGC 2071 - in the same field as 2068, this nebula was surrounding a mag 10 star. Smaller, fainter and more diffuse than the above but easy without a filter.
NGC 2024 - The Flaming Tree nebula's main shape and wide dark division was better with the 12mm, with Alnitak (zeta) out of the field of view. That darned Horse Head thing is around this region, but I doubt if I will ever see it.
Sigma Orion is one of the best multiple systems in the sky. Moderate magnification shows 4 stars and there is another close companion not seen, making 5. Almost a mini cluster.
Some good info on Sigma here:
http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/sigmaori.html
Beta Monoceros A beautiful triple system making a long triangle shape.
Epsilon Monoceros is a bright and beautiful pair of yellow stars.
Monoceros is sometimes overshadowed by the brilliance of Orion and Canis Major, but it has some wonderful star fields, doubles and DSO's.The Canberra Astronomical Society's excellent website has this information on Moneceros and the galaxies of Dorado:
http://msowww.anu.edu.au/cas/souther...sc_200202.html
There was a number of meteors radiating from the Orion region and one fireball that streaked from NE towards the SE and left a glowing trail behind it. By this time the moon was rising and time to head inside. Excellent little session.
