King of the Nebulae

[mickoking]

What do you believe to be the most spectacular Nebula: The Orion Nebula (M42) or The Eta Carinae Nebula (NGC3372)

I have limited this poll to 2 options to make it more interesting :thumbsup:

[Starkler]

Its a hard one because whilst I find m42 more interesting and aesthetically pleasing, the Eta Carinae neb contains the humunculus which is a top dso all on its own. So Eta wins it for me.

I'm glad I don't have to choose and I can view both of them :D

[ballaratdragons]

As much as I really like Orion Neb, I prefer Carina due to the amount of objects within. And as Geoff says the 'Humunculus' rules!

Lots of good stuff to see in Carina.

[mickoking]

I haven't decided what to vote for yet?

[astroron]

M42 is great:) but The Homunculus Rocks, Eta Carina is for me the most exiting Nebula in the sky, with all the other deep sky object and those dark rifts, I can spend lots of time observing this one area, plus I hope to see the Supernova go off one day:eyepop:

[acropolite]

I'm with the others, for sheer beauty at least in an image, M42 is unbeatable but Eta Carina is the most interesting.

[ballaratdragons]

Oh, and Carina is purely 'Southern' ;)

[Rodstar]

For "spectacular", which is the actual poll question, M42 wins hands down with its rich colour and deep texture, whether visually or photographically.

The homunculus is an incredibly interesting feature at high power in large aperture scopes, but in smaller scopes is pretty ho-hum IMHO. NGC 3372 lacks the interesting contrast in colour cf M42 as well.

[astroron]

Ken you havn't done your homework;) , so is M42=RA 5:35.4 DEC-5:28'04" :thumbsup:

[Rob_K]

No-brainer for me. :P M42 is the most breathtakingly beautiful object in the night sky, and Eta Carinae, interesting though it is, does not even come close to getting onto my short list of 'WOW' objects (Saturn, M42, OC, 47Tuc, Jupiter + moons, Andromeda galaxy, thin crescent Moon). :D

Cheers -

[h0ughy]

i do agree:thumbsup:

[astroron]

Your easely pleased:lol: :lol:

[Ric]

That was a toughy but Orion just pips Eta for me.
There is also many others which are fantastic in their own right as well.

Cheers

[AJames]

I do disagree with all of you here.

Orion is small compared to the Carina Nebula, which is further away and so much larger. As I've said in more detail elsewhere;

"...covering at least eight times the area of the Great Orion Nebula, M42, and which all southern observers know actually completely reduces the Orion Nebula to a lower grade even though by true apparent magnitude it is slightly less concentrated and as bright. Eta Carinae, and the star that gives it the name, is the brightest, and I dare say also the best nebulae in the sky."

To put it in a true perspective;

"NGC 3372 lies between 1.8kpc to 2.5kpc (6 000 to 8 000 light years) away in the Carina arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. The true estimated size of the nebula is some 400 light years across, some ten to twelve times the area of the Orion Nebula. If it was at the same distance as the Orion Nebula, it would cover the area of Orion's Pot or Venus’s Mirror, and would be incredibly bright – and at best naked-eye covering an area equal to the whole of Orion! Ie. Sunglasses material!"

However, the LMC's Tarantula Nebula is undoubtedly the best nebula of either M42 or NGC 3372. This is the humdinger of them all. In size it is at least four times the area of the Eta Carina Nebulae, and is so bright it is easily seen from a distance of 170 000-odd light-years.

[OneOfOne]

I think m42 is the better mainly because you can see it with the naked eye, even from the 'burbs! If Eta was visible naked eye, I would probably cast a vote its way...maybe if it blows up, I might be tempted to change my vote!

Now...if the Tarantula was the same distance as M42...THAT would be a no brainer. But then you would have to decide which produces more light polution, the Moon or Tarantula.

[duncan]

I'll definately go with M42. Probably the very first object i ever looked at with a scope and is still my all time favourite.:D

[cahullian]

Ivoted for M42 as it was the first deep sky object that I saw true colour in. I in all honesty love both nebula but M42 really gave me the WOW factor.

The worst gaseous nebula is the one that comes out of the bathroom after Ron has been in there reading the paper for half an hour....Phew...

Gazz

[Ingo]

I havn't really seen either well through my scope. :shrug:

[astroron]

I thought it was a given when we put our vote that we thought what Nebula is the most SPECTACULAR, I didn't think that we had to use the word to get our point across.;)
I still think that the Eta Carina is the most spectacular Nebula.
The Tarantula is also spectacular for all the reasons in NYX's post:)

[Dave47tuc]

Eta is No1 imo:D but NGC 2070 is better than Orion nebula, imo.;)

But there all great DSO.:thumbsup:

[robagar]

M42, cos I'm from the northern hemisphere, for the trapezium, and it's just plain epic :)

[jjjnettie]

M42 is the first neb I show to newbies because of its WOW factor.
But, Eta Carina is my personal favourite because there is so much more to her. The Humunculus is awesome. Like Ron said, I want to be observing her the night she goes off.

[mickoking]

I was a hard decision but I decided to vote for Eta Carinae neb. M42 is more graceful but EC is more spectacular, has more to see and is in a better field.

[Gargoyle_Steve]

It's the Orion for me chaps and chappettes .... quite simply I fell in love with it the first time I saw it, and even though my appreciation of the Carina Nebula has improved greatly just recently (since the arrival of my NPB filter) for me the Orion Nebula still rules!

In terms of the general appreciation of these 2 magnificent objects while you do sometimes hear people refer to the Carina Neb as the "Great Nebula in Carina" when you hear someone talk about "The Great Nebula" without further clarification it's a pretty safe bet they're talking about the Orion Nebula.
:P

[gaa_ian]

Eta also wins for me (just) as others have said, because of the Homunculus Neb.

[glenc]

M42 is brighter and eta Car is bigger. I would vote for both if I could.

[ving]

looks a great orange in my 200mm... did you mean smaler than that?

eta C 4 me

[StarLane]

The Orion nebula was the first nebula I saw when I got my 10inch scope, I was amazed, I am still amazed, it`s my favorite object to observe. It`s a pitty this time of year it disappears over the horizon too soon. Orion nebula gets my vote.

[netwolf]

I have seen Orion from my back yard many times but after last nights dark sky view of Eta Carina, I have to say its hands down the better one of the two. Visually the nebulosity is more pleasing as is the humunculus. But Orion is an old friend can always rely on it to show visitors. It was the first nebulae I ever saw and with my first telescope the dob.

Regards

[ballaratdragons]

Whereas, in reality, the 'Great Nebula' title really belongs to Tarantula! :D

Is is so big that it would eat the others and spit out the seeds :lol:

[CoombellKid]

At 3000 lyrs across I would have to agree with Ken, the Tarantula Neb does
it for me.

I think the Orion Neb is only really well known because it's popular in the
northern hemisphere where they cant see N2070 or N5572. You only need
to hear the folks who have traveled south and observed these objects and
then rave about them online once back in the north, especially Eta Carina.

regards,CS

[Robster]

Same here, Duncan. First object I pointed my 130SLT at and actually saw it! Been back many times too - my sentimental favourite ;) . But Eta Carinae - I spent weeks trying to find it. Finally after tweeking the collimation I was able to see it :whistle: . Not as brilliant through my 5" as through your 20", Rod.

Would have liked to have got up to Kulnura last Saturday and had a look through your Truss Dob, Rod, and got my aperture fix. To be honest I read the posts beforehand and got put off with the thought of hoardes of people crowding out a site I have never been to and I didn't want to "bump" into anyone or anything by accident :newbie: . I read some Star Party Etiquette sites and felt I needed some more preparation before I come up. Maybe another time when I can get there early enough to find my spot before it gets too dark or too crowded.

Strange how seeing up there was only 2.5/5 where down here in Woy Woy it was a glorious sky view :stargaze: . Was it fog or mist? Will I need a heater for my scope to stop it fogging up? :screwy: Plenty of unanswered questions for all of you.

Robster
Woy Woy (just down the road)
:cool:

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Yes Ken the Tarantula IS huge, and a wondrous thing it is - but it's too far away! Can you arrange to get it towed in a bit - not too far now, not so much that it starts interfering with the views of other objects. If we can drag it in from it's present distance of approx 160,000 lighyears to, say 40,000 lightyears that ought to do nicely!

[erick]

There, that evened it up! :D

Edit: that didn't last long :sadeyes: But it's gone the direction I wanted ;)

[ballaratdragons]

Steve, it is travelling towards us. And at a rapid rate!!!

It should be close enough to notice its getting nearer in another half a million years :lol:

[Phil]

This is a hard one. I love M42 because it was the first neb. i saw through a scope that amazed me. But eta is one that is so big and bright two but . So i will have to give it to eta .

[hickny]

I have to vote for M42 also as it was the first I saw in a telescope. I haven't seen eta carinae yet. I'm not sure how to find it. When I stumbled across M42 in the early hours of last Thursday morning I was :eyepop: gob smacked. So much so that I changed my avatar as a result.

[ngcles]

Hi All,

Unfortunately with the structure of this poll, we are in my opinion being asked to elect not the King, but the Prince and the Duke.

Both M42 and the Eta Carinae complex (NGC 3372) are astonishing top-draw objects -- agree.

It would be very interesting to know the aperture used by the respective voters because I think this has a significant effect on what the vote will be.

For 8" 'scopes, M42 wins by a nose because of higher surface brightness.

In say a 12" the Eta Carinae complex is now ahead. True the colour isn't there but the extent of the _fine_ detail particularly in the dark/light boundaries and the ionisation front exceeds anything M42 can produce.

Go up to 18-20" and while M42 shows non-green colours like pinks, russet and blues here and there in its wisps. The Eta Carinae Complex just get more and more detailed -- and then there is the Homunculus too!

But, in this aperture range the Tarantula (NGC 2070) beats them both. It is large, bright, bluish, there are dozens of faint stars and the looped structure is simply spellbinding. The surrounding fields are incredibly interesting too. This is the real king.

No, don't bring the Tarantula any closer thanks. It is perfectly framed in my 20mm TII with the 18". Closer means it gets bigger and you can't find an eyepiece big enough to hold it and the surroundings.

I wonder what the votes will look like in a poll conducted several hundred years after Eta Carinae itself or HD93129AB (the only O2 star in the sky)has exploded as supernovae? Think for a moment of the light echoes produced by 1987A now 20 years on? Superimpose them on the Eta Carinae complex after they have had a couple of 100 years to be big enough and spend 50 or so years watching them slowly expand like a ripple on a pond.

Now wipe your chin and stop drooling!

Unfortunately the Trapezium stars will probably disperse (or nearly so) the M42 complex before they can explode and do the same trick. Though they are short-lived stars, they aren't quite in the same league as Eta Carinae and HD HD93129AB that are _exceptionally_ short-lived


Les D

[§AB]

Eta Carinae with a Narrowband filter is OMFG

[DSO]

Saw Eta Carina from Aus ten years ago, and it's avery impressive neb, but M42 got my vote because that's the one I can see from here.

[ispom]

I've voted for the Orion nebula, because it is observable from both hemispheres

[Alchemy]

finally my opinion does count, i went m42 and tipped the vote 36 to 35

[vash]

I think I like eta a little bit more, but I don't think it is my favorite nebulae, I like tarantula and lagoon too.

But the most spectacular view of a nebulae I have ever seen was when I was observing Triffid one night, I managed to see it in perfect detail and Colour, it was simply amazing view to see, the pinkish red with the deep blue just contrasted each other beautifully.

I haven't seen the colours of any other nebulae yet but photographically I like eta a little more because of all the little bits in it. MInd you I haven't had the chance to photograph these properly yet.