I too was up early this morning
with the idea of checking out Mars
. A bit disappointed
with the view really. I suppose it will look better as we get closer in the coming months. I then looked to the North East and saw three stars in a line I now think that these were Betelgeuse, Alnilam and Rigel
Cartes du Ciel is a wonderful program
to the member who pointed me toward this free software
. While attempting to view them I came across this cloudy object that I investigated further. I now believe that I have seen M42
for the first time. I found a picture on the net which is attached
I hope I haven't broken any rules in sharing this. I'm stoked!!
http://seds.org/messier/Jpg/m42.jpg