Horsehead nebula
Jeffrey A. Durham
Where do I look to find the Horsehead nebula in Orion? My two star maps don't pinpoint the location. I have observed M42 which was really fun to see. I have 10" dobsonian reflector. I understand that this Horsehead nebula is in the proximity of Orion's belt and is very dim. I don't know if I can actually see it from my backyard if I do find it.
Thanks,
Jeff Durham
jdu...@one.net
Capella
The horsehead nebula is located south of the leftmost belt star in
Orion. The problem may be that the horsehead is an extremely
difficult object to see. I don't know how good the sky is in your
backyard, but my experience is that it takes extremely good
conditions in a very dark country sky to see the horsehead with a 10".
Take care,
---------------------------------
Capella
Dallas, Tx
Kenneth Drake
Jeffrey A. Durham wrote:
>
> Where do I look to find the Horsehead nebula in Orion? My two star
> maps don't pinpoint the location. I have observed M42 which was
> really fun to see. I have 10" dobsonian reflector. I understand that
> this Horsehead nebula is in the proximity of Orion's belt and is very
> dim. I don't know if I can actually see it from my backyard if I do
> find it.
>
> Thanks,
> Jeff Durham
> jdu...@one.net
Jeff,
It can be located a half degree south of Zeta Orionis (the lower left
star in the belt). In my 10 incher, its visibility is determined by sky
conditions alone. It will take a very dark site and possibly an h-beta
filter to bring it out. I've seen it only twice without a filter in my
10 incher. Both times the sky conditions were excellent (very dry
October nights). The first time was just after having new enhanced
coatings put on the mirror.
Good luck,
Kenneth Drake
Dan Baldwin
In article <01bbffe4$41246070$d3c270ce@jedi>, "Jeffrey A. Durham" <jdu...@one.net> writes:
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|> Where do I look to find the Horsehead nebula in Orion? My two star maps
|> don't pinpoint the location. I have observed M42 which was really fun to
|> see. I have 10" dobsonian reflector. I understand that this Horsehead
|> nebula is in the proximity of Orion's belt and is very dim. I don't know
|> if I can actually see it from my backyard if I do find it.
|>
|> Thanks,
|> Jeff Durham
|> jdu...@one.net
|>
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|> <html><head></head><BODY bgcolor=3D"#FFFFFF"><p><font size=3D2 =
|> color=3D"#000000" face=3D"Arial">Where do I look to find the Horsehead =
|> nebula in Orion? My two star maps don't pinpoint the location. =
|> I have observed M42 which was really fun to see. I have =
|> 10" dobsonian reflector. I understand that this Horsehead =
|> nebula is in the proximity of Orion's belt and is very dim. I =
|> don't know if I can actually see it from my backyard if I do find =
|> it.<br><br>Thanks,<br>Jeff Durham<br>jdu...@one.net<br><br></p>
|> </font></body></html>
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I was unable to visually see the Horsehead using a C11 (at either f/10 or
f/6.3) from a VERY dark site--I knew it was in the eyepiece since I
imaged it using my ST7--just couldn't detect it visually-- The flame
nebula which is very close to the horsehead was easy to see.
Good luck,
Dan Baldwin
PCH
Dan Baldwin wrote:
> |> Where do I look to find the Horsehead nebula in Orion? My two star maps
> |> don't pinpoint the location. I have observed M42 which was really fun to
> |> see. I have 10" dobsonian reflector. I understand that this Horsehead
> |> nebula is in the proximity of Orion's belt and is very dim. I don't know
> |> if I can actually see it from my backyard if I do find it.
NGC 2024 (Horsehead Nebula) is a challenging object for any aperature
below 16".
Although the magnitude listed for this object would lead on to belive it
is viewable, one must realize it is a "dark Dust" nebula. It is weak in
the area of emission and a poor reflector.
A study on magnitudes and a understanding of "apparent" vs "absolute"
sheds light on this.
CCD is no prob, the eye however does not have the ability known as
"persistence" in wavelengths above or below approx 5700A. (i.e. the eye
is a poor long exposure camera)
Clear skies...
Pete
Jay Reynolds Freeman
> > |> Where do I look to find the Horsehead nebula in Orion?
> NGC 2024 (Horsehead Nebula) is a challenging object for any aperature
> below 16".
NGC 2024 is not the Horsehead. The Horsehead is dark nebula B33,
seen in silhouette against the faint emission nebula IC 434.
NGC 2024 is a large blob of emission northeast and not quite
adjoining zeta Orionis; in good conditions it is detectable in a 10x50
binocular. Some people call it the "Flame Nebula" or the "Tank
Tracks".
The Horsehead is more or less south of zeta, but is so small that it
is worth getting a photograph, or some other reference, that shows
enough faint stars to locate it exactly. I have seen it in a
four-inch, once, and fairly often in a six-inch, both while using low
magnification -- exit pupil of 4 mm or more. The observation with the
four-inch did not use any form of LPR filter; for the six-inch I have
used an Orion Ultrablock some times, but often I do not need it. It
is certainly challenging in these apertures, but I would not take the
previous poster's comment as indicating that it took a 16-inch to see
it. Indeed, if the sky is not extremely dark, you may not even find
it in a 16-inch.
--
Jay Reynolds Freeman -- fre...@netcom.com -- I speak only for myself.
Akkana Peck
Jay Reynolds Freeman <fre...@netcom.com> wrote:
> The Horsehead is more or less south of zeta, but is so small that it
>is worth getting a photograph, or some other reference, that shows
>enough faint stars to locate it exactly.
One such photo, and one of the best I've seen of that area, is in the
TeleVue Photo Gallery on Astronomy-Mall:
http://www.rahul.net/resource/regular/products/tele-vue-optics/gallery/horsehed.htm
(or go to http://www.astronomy-mall.com amd follow the Tele-View link).
The top-left-most bright star is Zeta Orionis. The bright blob below
and to the left is NGC 2024 (the "Flame" or "Tank Tracks" or "Burning
Bush"), which should be easily visible in a small 'scope from dark skies.
The long diffuse patch heading diagonally down from the star is IC434,
and the Horsehead is the dark notch in the middle of IC434.
It's visible in small apertures, but it's much easier if you know what
it looks like -- see if you can get a look at it through a few larger
telescopes if you're having trouble finding it in your own 'scope.
...Akkana http://www.best.com/~akkana/astro.html
CURTIS CROULET
Jeffrey A. Durham wrote:
>
> Where do I look to find the Horsehead nebula in Orion? My two star
> maps don't pinpoint the location. I have observed M42 which was
> really fun to see. I have 10" dobsonian reflector. I understand that
> this Horsehead nebula is in the proximity of Orion's belt and is very
> dim. I don't know if I can actually see it from my backyard if I do
> find it.
>
> Jeff Durham
> jdu...@one.net
You need better charts. Uranometria 2000.0 (2 vols plus a catalogue)
shows a sufficient number of stars to help you find it. You should also
study photographs of the area. Reaching for something close at hand, I
see that Stars and Galaxies from Kalmbach Books has an entire chapter on
the Horsehead, with some useful photographs. You will probably not see
the Horsehead unless you know exactly where it is - you won't find it by
sweeping. And you'll want the darkest possible sky. I've seen it a
number of times from a desert valley east of San Diego with an 8-inch
f/6 Newtonian, and (predictably) it's easier with my 12-1/2-inch f/5.
There've been reports in this newsgroup of people seeing it in
telescopes as small as a 4-inch. A Lumicon H-beta filter definitely
helps, but you should be able to see it in your 10-inch without a
filter, if your observing site is dark enough. That is the key. Any
amount of light pollution will kill it.
Bill Arnett
> Jay Reynolds Freeman <fre...@netcom.com> wrote:
> > The Horsehead is more or less south of zeta, but is so small that it
> >is worth getting a photograph, or some other reference, that shows
> >enough faint stars to locate it exactly.
>
> One such photo, and one of the best I've seen of that area, is in the
> TeleVue Photo Gallery on Astronomy-Mall:
>
>
http://www.rahul.net/resource/regular/products/tele-vue-optics/gallery/horse
hed.htm
>
> (or go to http://www.astronomy-mall.com amd follow the Tele-View link).
>
> The top-left-most bright star is Zeta Orionis. The bright blob below
> and to the left is NGC 2024 (the "Flame" or "Tank Tracks" or "Burning
> Bush"), which should be easily visible in a small 'scope from dark skies.
> The long diffuse patch heading diagonally down from the star is IC434,
> and the Horsehead is the dark notch in the middle of IC434.
Other nice images are available at
http://www.seds.org/billa/twn/b33.html
In addition to the objects Akkana describes, also note the second brightest
star, Sigma Orionis. It is easy to identify as it is in a little asterism
shaped like an arrow (much like the constellation Sagitta). The "bright"
object just below the Horsehead is NGC 2023. Note, too, that the Horsehead
is pretty small. To get a sense of scale, it is 82 arcminutes from Zeta to
Epsilon (the eastern and middle belt stars) and 49 arcminutes from Zeta to
Sigma. Thus if your eyepiece gives a 60 arcminute actual FOV then you will
just barely be able to see Zeta, Sigma and the region containing the
Horsehead at the same time. (Its almost impossible to see the Horsehead
with either Zeta or Sigma in the field, however, since they are so bright
they'll "blind" you; use them to find the right position and them move them
out of your field.)
--
Bill Arnett bi...@znet.com http://www.seds.org/billa/
"I know that I am mortal and the creature of a day; but when I
search out the massed wheeling circles of the stars, my feet no
longer touch the earth, but, side by side with Zeus himself, I
take my fill of ambrosia, the food of the gods." -- Ptolemy
herm...@aol.com
> From a couple of the good central California hilltop sites, with the
>fog in below, it is no problem in a six-inch unfiltered. However, we
>have not only dark sky but also air cleansed by several thousand miles
>of passage over the Pacific.
> Have the folks at the WSP looked for the Horsehead in smaller
>apertures? California tends to spoil us: It would be a severe
>condemnation of the WSP site if it really took 25 inches and a filter
>to find the Horsehead.
> Jay Reynolds Freeman -- fre...@netcom.com -- I speak only for myself.
From the Florida Everglades National Park, I have seen the HH on a 6"f5
newt with a HH filter, I have never been able to see it with my 8"f10
sct....its fairly easy in an 18" dob. You must be pretty good if you can
see it without a filter in a 6"..
Herm