Flame Nebula

[BLiTZWiNG (Trent)]

Ok the horse thread is getting too long.

Do I have any hope of seeing the flame nebula in an 8" scope?

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

Through but not in....
It's a little easier than Studmuffin

[BLiTZWiNG (Trent)]

Are you sure it wont fit in my scope?

What's studmuffin when its at home?

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

Horsey - stud....muffin...? get it...

[BLiTZWiNG (Trent)]

Um. Sorta. hmm no. wait.... no.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

HORSEHEAD NEBULA.... D'oh!

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Yes, you'll see the Flame. A UHC filter will enhance the view though.

[GeoffW1 (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by jenchris

HORSEHEAD NEBULA.... D'oh!

Studmuffin? Horsehead Nebula?

I'm with you Trent That's too obscure by half

There could be more to it you know

Cheers

[BLiTZWiNG (Trent)]

how do you get muffin from head?

I gotta do me some learning about these filter things... kinda wish I ordered a filter with my RDF.

Will UHC help with light pollution?

[Rob_K]

Originally Posted by BLiTZWiNG

Do I have any hope of seeing the flame nebula in an 8" scope?

Yep but NGC 2024 is easier if you nudge the bright star Alnitak just outside the field of view. Dark skies help, as with all the faint fuzzies. I have no trouble seeing it with my 4.5" reflector in dark skies and routinely use it as a 'transparency test' when it's in the sky. I find you can make it out by concentrating on the dark lanes - when skies are extra good the maple-leaf shape is easy to make out. A little bit off and you can see the main dark lane & a hint of nebulosity around it. And when the sky's poorer again you can't see anything!

Good luck!

Cheers -

Rob

PS: Studmuffin???

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

Ok Ok - I just got sick of writing horsehead......

[BLiTZWiNG (Trent)]

Maybe the sheeps bum nebula?

[BLiTZWiNG (Trent)]

Maybe I had the wrong star the other night, I couldn't see a damn thing (though that bright star was in my scope). I'll try um... not tonight. No sir ee. Not me. I couldn't imagine it being clear tonight. That bright thing in the sky is just a UFO. NOTHING TO SEE HERE.

I wish I had ordered my RDF 10 mins earlier, it'd be here today.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

How does the Radio Direction Finder work?

[BLiTZWiNG (Trent)]

I don't remember actually. Used to have one though.

[BLiTZWiNG (Trent)]

Ok what evil doer ordered the clouds... this one great big dirty thing just rolled in and stole the blue sky thats been here all day!

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

Yes, you'll see the Flame. A UHC filter will enhance the view though.

I loooovvvveeeee my nebula filters. It is the main way I get to see detail in nebulae from my home in Sydney. At a dark site, it isn't as critical.

In case you didn't know, these work by eliminating just about all wavelengths of light, except those at which nebulae glow at. Some are broad band, and then some are very narrow in what they allow through.

An Ultra High Contrast (UHC) is maybe the most useful all-purpose. The Oxygen III (OIII) is a little narrower in transmission, but still very good in light polluted skies.

NOTE, these are ONLY good for nebulae. Everything else stellar in nature, globular clusters, galaxies, open clusters, they kill.

[BLiTZWiNG (Trent)]

Thanks for that Alex!

I guess it would be hard to kill LP without killing starlight... if it was easy people wouldn't complain so much about LP!

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Horse > Stud, I'm with Jen on this one. Get with the plan ...

Haven't tried the Flame Neb from home, I suspect LP will kill it until it gets closer to zenith but I've easily got the Great Neb in Orion even over city lights with 10" and even the 4.5" sees some dust around there.

Must add a UHC filter to my wish list ...

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

I was surprised how much is easy to capture - a single shot of 30 seconds was enough to capture colour and the main section of the nebula -
I'm not in a polluted area - though the trees do a remarkable job of interfering - TP - tree pollution