The Trapezium

[JimmyH155]

Last night when I got home at 7pm, Orion looked magnificent there in the West, right over my shed. I couldn't resist and never mind supper, out came my Lightbridge 12 inch. What a magnificent sight, even from light polluted Brisbane suburb. I tried my Baader nebula filter on M42 and then my O3. I must admit
I really couldnt notice any improvement with the Baader, and the O3 knocked out so much light that I gave up. So back to my Hyperion 13mm on its own. After peering at the Trapezium for quite a time, I imagined I could see an extra star up there, then my eyesight went fuzzy and I lost it. BUT later on, YES:D there it was again - a tiny definitely orange star just to the west of one of the Trapezium stars. I rushed indoors and consulted my trusty Burnham's Celestial Handbook, and there, sure enough, bang in the right place, was star E. WOW and I saw it.:thumbsup: It must have been extra good seeing last night because I have never seen E before, and that is despite my neighbours lighting up my garden with spotlights slung from their deck... Do you think they were sitting out there - of course not. Have they heard of saving the planet I wonder???
Anyway, I then pointed towards Carina and it just blew my mind to think that the sky there was not black - it was milky and that milkyness is of course billions more suns. Fantastic. There's another star in the Trapesium, I think, called F. I'll be after that one next:) :)

[ving]

you should be able to get that F star! give it a go! :D
congrats on getting E :D

[rmcpb]

You have to wonder why people just spray light all over the place at night. They probably complain about the size of their electricity bill but never think why.

On a more important note, you should be able to bag the E and F stars with your scope, I can do it in the 8".

Great report :)

[Geoff45]

From a dark sky with reasonable seeing I can get the fifth star in my 4" refractor. My 12" Dob can usually pick out E and F, but even from a dark sky site there have been times when I couldn't see them with the 12"--perhaps thin high cloud scattering the light from the bright four.
Geoff

[ving]

maybe its a seeing thing geoff. I can generally pick all 6 in my 8" in all but the worst seeing.

[ving]

oh, jimmy... try no filter and high magnification :)
that'll get the 6 for ya :)

[rmcpb]

It sure is a good test for your collimation, temperature of the mirror versus the ambient and the seeing conditions but a 12" should pull them most nights.

[ausastronomer]

Jimmy,

Under favourable conditions you should get both the E and F stars fairly easily in your 12" lightbridge.

Factors which help are:-

1) A well cooled and well collimated telescope
2) Orion is high in the sky with good elevation. Don't waste your time when it's low down.
3) Seeing is good. Good transparency also helps but IMO is not quite as important as good seeing.
4) A sharp eyepiece with good transmission. Your Hyperion is fine for this. A $30 Chinese Plossl isn't
so fine :)
5) The right magnification. You need enough magnification having regard to the aperture of the scope to separate the E and F components, without having too much magnification and causing them to disappear. The appropriate magnification depends on the aperture of the scope and on the conditions to a large degree. This is particularly important with smaller scopes in the 5" to 8" aperture class which are at their limit of resolution. Generally, the larger the aperture of the scope the lower the magnification required. In your 12" scope the 13mm Hyperion should be ideal, it gives about 115X. In my 10" scope I find 120X to be about the optimum. In the 18" Obsession anything over about 70X pops them all out.

The above having been said, I have seen many occasions when the 18" scope has not been properly cooled (its always well collimated :) )and conditions have been poor and no amount of coaxing will pop E and F out. Consequently in your 12" scope don't expect them "all the time". Certainly with favourable conditions as indicated above, you should get them "a lot of the time".

The E star is adjacent to the A star and the F star is adjacent to the C star. This map should help you locate them

http://www.astropix.com/HTML/B_WINTER/TRAPEZ.HTM


If you find this an interesting target, another "multiple star" contained within an emission nebula is HN40. This is a multiple star in the centre of one of the dust lanes in M20 the Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius. This is well placed for observation at this time of year and in the coming months. At low power in your 12" scope you will see this as a double star. At higher power under favourable conditions you will occasionally get 4, but on most occasions 3 stars.

Clear skies
John B

[JimmyH155]

HEY Folks, thanks a lot for all that, - really encouraging - and the chart is great. I'll be out tonight looking for F - and yes, no filter. A bit of cloud coming in to Brissie right now (5 pm)but fingers crossed. Not many nights left before M42 gets too low:)

[astroron]

:hi: Jimmy you should have no trouble with a twelve inch scope getting all six with reasonable magnification.:astron:
Why don't you come up to Cambroon this weekend and see what else you can see in your 12" scope?:stargaze: :thumbsup:

[Starkler]

I can get all 6 in my 130mm newt when the seeing is above average.

[JimmyH155]

Yes, guys - at last:D The F star fell to my eyes last night - but only just. I took your advice, Ving and upped the mag to 8mm Hyperion. There was all this cloud, see, but I waited for a hole and Hey Presto, I THINK I saw F. You remember in the movie Master and commander, in the beginning few minutes, there is the Midshipman peering into the gloom and the camera shot through his telescope (all 1.5 inch diameter) shows a fleeting view of the French man 'o war. The Captain asked him if he saw anything and he said "yes sir" despite nobody else seeing anything. The Captain gives the command "General Quarters!" and the shooting starts. Well I felt a bit like the Mid. I am convinced I saw it, so I did:P :D
And guess what, the cloud ended up completely obscuring everything - but the neighbour's lights were all off last night (Murphy's Law)
I am definitely planning on coming up one day, Ron, but this weekend unfortunately out. Thanks for all youses comments