Quote:
Originally Posted by mozzie
it was one of the clearest and stillest nights last night,the best it has been for months.with orion rising early and over the trees by 9.30pm i thought id have another crack at finding the horesehead using a h/a at 136x i new i was right on it but still not able to seat, i could see the edge of dark neb ic434 and was getting a little frustrated..went back to 102x placed the eye in the eyepiece and woohoo!!!!!! there it was easily visible with a nice outline nothing like the photos you see but i could easily make the shape.then going back to 136x i was able to see it but 102x was a better sight.chasing a few faint galaxies in dorado it was a fantastic night.getting tied and orion up nice and high now id went back to horsehead and was stocked to get an even better view very still skies and seeing was excellent id like to stack a uhc filter with h/a to get some more contrast.id been trying for a long to see it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Well done Peter! How good is it when you first see something regarded as a real challenge thru your own scope and eyes! Just out of curiosity, how dark are your skies?
I spotted it from my place in Berwick last night in a 12" using the 17mm LVW and H-beta filter. Fairly difficult, although IC434 itself was pretty straightforward, sighting the dark notch is somewhat harder. The contrast between the nebulosity and the background sky is incredibly low, akin to satin black paint against flat black paint. The HH itself is just a non-descript notch, but knowing it's that elusive and famous Horsehead is a real thrilll!
I remember a fantastic view from darker skies with an 18", you could see the actual horsehead shape.