Observing the Horsehead Nebula Tonight

[glend (Glen)]

It's looking like a very clear night here and I am going to try and finally get the Horsehead Nebula in my Observation Log. The 16" scope is setup in my most favourable East-North east aspect. I will be warming up with some of the other nebula in Orion to start out. The Horsehead, being a dark neb, has been avoiding me, and the sky has not been co-operating, but now might be the time. I was planning on waiting until it was fairly high in the sky, say after mid-night when it will be above 54 degrees. I have a DGM NPB filter and OIII filters. So what's the best setup for the Horsehead, what have people found to work best filter wise? Any other hints?

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Your NPB filter will do the trick. I used three different filters last new moon and saw it in all three: a dedicated Hbeta, an NPB, and an OIII + Hbeta filter. The last filter is not the ordinary OIII filter. One important thing is to keep Zeta Orionis out of the field of view as its glare will overpower the faint black-on-black dark pillar.

The only other thing I'd suggest is print out a suitable locator map/chart/negative photo of the area around the Horsehead. There is a distinct asterism it sits close to, and it will be the best way to locate it. This is a good start:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a...se.php?a=74600

A 13mm EP is a good choice too.

[glend (Glen)]

Thanks MentalA things went well and the seeing was good. I found the Horsehead neb, and yes zeta orion is a nuisance - I walked the scope down from Q Ori, where the four small stars form a line through the Horsehead area. Pretty pleased with the sky tonight up here, probably the best its been since winter, what with all that smoke and rain. Moved over to the Flame and Orion nebs, then on to the Tarantula and the LMC. Good couple of hours. I used both my 15mm and 9mm EPs, don't have a 13 but I am about to buy a 12. I tried the OIII filter but the NPB seemed to be better on the Horsehead.