This is a case where surface brightness vs. actual absolute brightness is super important. I don't agree on the use of a filter, but that's just personal - don't like subtracting light. You might want to try an occulting bar. You use a very low power eyepiece like a 56mm or 40mm Plossl (less glass! do not use a wide field eyepiece!) and make a piece of cardboard that covers part of the field of view - just shove it into the eyepiece up against the field stop - then position the eyepiece so that Alnitak is behind the occulting bar - also sigma Orionis if you can arrange it - then you have a very low power view with the highest possible surface brightness but with the glare from the bright stars removed because they are behind the bar. This also works for the companions of Antares, Rigel, and Sirius.
Thanks for all the tips. I really liked the view through that 56mm eyepiece I have but preferred having Alnitak out of the view with the higher power eyepiece but next time I will try with an occulting bar or piece of cardboard as you suggest. I have seen the Pup by just blocking out Sirius with a piece of black paper over part of the eyepiece.
Thanks for this guide! I was finally able to bag the Horsehead Nebula this year from my family’s rural cabin under Bortle 3 skies. I was using my 12.5” Discovery Dob, Tele Vue 24mm panoptic, and an H-beta filter. Really difficult but I was able to see its distinct shape against the faint glow of IC 434.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Tsula! Wasn't sure if you were taking a bit of a well-deserved break until after Christmas, so I thought I'd send my best wishes to you. Enjoy the Holiday!
Hi Greg: Thank you! I have a couple of things left to publish before the year's out but Merry Christmas and happy new year to you and your family as well.
Thanks Tsula, brilliant content as usual. I see you are on the way to 2k subscribers. Keep going and you will have 20k and on to 200k no doubt. Thank you for putting the work into these fantastically informative videos.
I loved that book too. I almost cried when Annie Jump Cannon died. She deserves so much more credit but hooray for Dava Sobel for writing this great book about these women who worked so hard for a pittance.
Thank you for the book recommendation. I have read Dava Sobel’s books ‘Longitude’ and Galileo’s daughter and they were meticulously researched and great reads. I have tried for the horse head several times and have been unsuccessful and have had to settle by simply saying, ‘Well it’s in the field of view! You have motivated me to try again, but the cold nights in central New Hampshire can test your perseverance here too! Thanks so much for your always positive attitude, I always enjoy your video’s.
Thank you! Keep trying for the Horsehead. Perseverance will eventually pay off but it's definitely easier when the cold weather eases up a bit in March.
Congrats on seeing the Horsehead, Tsula! Don't think I'll be able to see it from my backyard since I'm just about in a Bortle 4 (around 21.3 or so). But, I'm going to give it a try! Not sure if they have the same app for Android, but I have an app (free) for my iPhone called Dark Sky Meter that uses your phone's camera to take a reading of your sky. Don't know how accurate it is, but it's pretty quick and easy to do and will give you a rough idea about the sky above.
Thanks, Greg. I have not heard of that free sky meter. I'm not even sure how accurate my SQM is. The best thing to do is just look up and see if you can see a lot of stars. Those stars around Polaris are a good indication. You might be able to see the Horsehead from your backyard especially on a night of very good transparency and if you dark adapt for an hour or more. Good luck! It ain't easy.
I saw a tiny divot in the emission nebula corresponding to where the horsehead is. It was with 80x11 swift binoculars (2 eyes really helps), 20 year old eyes (now 60+), averted vision, -10 degree F temp, and low 1970s level light pollution near lake erie. Someone else was able to see it also. Haven't seen it since.
Wow. That's really cool you saw it with binoculars. How did you hold your hands still at -10F? You deserved to see it for being out there when it was -10F.
I had the binoculars on a photographic tripod, and was sitting on a bucket with a blanket over it and myself. I've heard the comfort of a tripod and a seat can mean half or a full magnitude better seeing for you.@@tsulasbigadventures
Thanks. I failed to mention the moon but the times I've seen the Horsehead there was no moon. I don't think you would be able to see it if the moon was up even at crescent phase.
Excellent account of a little foray to touch the face of God! 🙂 But are you sure about seeing magnitude 8 stars? Sky & Telescope counts it astonishing that a 19th-century observer noted 102 stars in the great square of Pegasus, down to 7.4 stars, and although I've forgotten how to do the logarithmic math, that's a fair distance from 8. At 21:00, the shout of the crowd startled me. Please don't do that again! 🙂It made me think that, even though it's raining cats and dogs in Manhattan - Meteora is in one of her worse moods 🙂 - one of our periodic demonstrations-cum-riots was in progress. 🙂
Thanks, Walter. I'm not sure about that magnitude 8. That was taken from one of the sources I read about limiting magnitude and honestly I can't see how a human could see a star of magnitude 8. Even in Big Bend National Park the best I could do was magnitude 7. I think that is the limit of my eyesight and probably most people. I'm sure the cheering crowd startled you due to the periods riot in progress. I'm all too familiar with those in the Bay Area but here in rural Montana I am more alarmed by suddent bursts of what sounds like machine guns going off.
@@tsulasbigadventures I imagine those are semiautomatic rifles which, as you've told me elsewhere, are legal in Montana. Fully automatic weapons need a special license. But then again - and as you've also told me elsewhere - it's Montana. 🙂
@@msroper5287 Interesting! But Brian Skiff - wasn't he also the very advanced observer who sketched the canals on Mars? Oh, no, wait! That would've been the eponymous Percival Lowell himself. 🤩🙂 Happy holidays, everyone, in case Tsula doesn't favor us with another thought-provoking video in the meantime! 🎄🙂
Stop insulting a clearly thoughtful intelligent women. However, your outburst demonstrates the very point you were trying to make fun of. Women have and still are getting crapped on including getting unfair wages. Thanks for proving this point. Don’t get your shorts in a knot over my reply because I have said my share of nasty things about everything and I know what it is like to be in a dark place. The fact that you are interested in astronomy shows you have an inquisitive mind and I’ll bet you are a good and kind person who was feeling lonely and used the anonymity of the internet to holler and shake your fist at the moon.
Way to go Tsula! Nice job putting in all the academic work and field application. I'm so proud of you. Brava!
Thanks, David.
This is a case where surface brightness vs. actual absolute brightness is super important. I don't agree on the use of a filter, but that's just personal - don't like subtracting light. You might want to try an occulting bar. You use a very low power eyepiece like a 56mm or 40mm Plossl (less glass! do not use a wide field eyepiece!) and make a piece of cardboard that covers part of the field of view - just shove it into the eyepiece up against the field stop - then position the eyepiece so that Alnitak is behind the occulting bar - also sigma Orionis if you can arrange it - then you have a very low power view with the highest possible surface brightness but with the glare from the bright stars removed because they are behind the bar. This also works for the companions of Antares, Rigel, and Sirius.
Thanks for all the tips. I really liked the view through that 56mm eyepiece I have but preferred having Alnitak out of the view with the higher power eyepiece but next time I will try with an occulting bar or piece of cardboard as you suggest. I have seen the Pup by just blocking out Sirius with a piece of black paper over part of the eyepiece.
@@msroper5287 Not my first rodeo pard, i don't like filters for the stated reason.
Thanks for this guide! I was finally able to bag the Horsehead Nebula this year from my family’s rural cabin under Bortle 3 skies. I was using my 12.5” Discovery Dob, Tele Vue 24mm panoptic, and an H-beta filter. Really difficult but I was able to see its distinct shape against the faint glow of IC 434.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Tsula! Wasn't sure if you were taking a bit of a well-deserved break until after Christmas, so I thought I'd send my best wishes to you. Enjoy the Holiday!
Hi Greg: Thank you! I have a couple of things left to publish before the year's out but Merry Christmas and happy new year to you and your family as well.
Thanks Tsula, brilliant content as usual. I see you are on the way to 2k subscribers. Keep going and you will have 20k and on to 200k no doubt. Thank you for putting the work into these fantastically informative videos.
Thanks, Kevin! I never dreamed it would be possible. Thank you for your support and kind words.
I saw the horsehead nebula in an 8" dob it was an amazing sight
Thanks that’s one of my targets for sure!
Nice job teaching us all how to see the horse head!
Thank you!
Loved The Glass Universe! Dava Sobel is a great writer and these women are finally getting their due.
I loved that book too. I almost cried when Annie Jump Cannon died. She deserves so much more credit but hooray for Dava Sobel for writing this great book about these women who worked so hard for a pittance.
Great video. The Horse Head is beautiful
Thanks, Craig.
Thank you for the book recommendation. I have read Dava Sobel’s books ‘Longitude’ and Galileo’s daughter and they were meticulously researched and great reads. I have tried for the horse head several times and have been unsuccessful and have had to settle by simply saying, ‘Well it’s in the field of view! You have motivated me to try again, but the cold nights in central New Hampshire can test your perseverance here too! Thanks so much for your always positive attitude, I always enjoy your video’s.
Thank you! Keep trying for the Horsehead. Perseverance will eventually pay off but it's definitely easier when the cold weather eases up a bit in March.
Congrats on seeing the Horsehead, Tsula! Don't think I'll be able to see it from my backyard since I'm just about in a Bortle 4 (around 21.3 or so). But, I'm going to give it a try! Not sure if they have the same app for Android, but I have an app (free) for my iPhone called Dark Sky Meter that uses your phone's camera to take a reading of your sky. Don't know how accurate it is, but it's pretty quick and easy to do and will give you a rough idea about the sky above.
Thanks, Greg. I have not heard of that free sky meter. I'm not even sure how accurate my SQM is. The best thing to do is just look up and see if you can see a lot of stars. Those stars around Polaris are a good indication. You might be able to see the Horsehead from your backyard especially on a night of very good transparency and if you dark adapt for an hour or more. Good luck! It ain't easy.
Or....you could use a PVS-14 with a 6nm ha filter from an urban sky while the moon is up (feels a little like cheating though).
Never seen it other than in photos however much closer to Earth i saw some Nacreous Clouds this afternoon!
Neat.
Thank you and Merry Christmas. 🎄🎅🏻❄😊🔭
Thank you and Merry Christmas to you as well.
Excellent video
Great info...my goto viewing site is a Bortle 2 ...will have to give it a try...plus a filter 😊.
Thanks. Yeah, a Bortle 2 would be perfect for the HH.
Great video
Thank you.
I saw a tiny divot in the emission nebula corresponding to where the horsehead is. It was with 80x11 swift binoculars (2 eyes really helps), 20 year old eyes (now 60+), averted vision, -10 degree F temp, and low 1970s level light pollution near lake erie. Someone else was able to see it also. Haven't seen it since.
Wow. That's really cool you saw it with binoculars. How did you hold your hands still at -10F? You deserved to see it for being out there when it was -10F.
I had the binoculars on a photographic tripod, and was sitting on a bucket with a blanket over it and myself. I've heard the comfort of a tripod and a seat can mean half or a full magnitude better seeing for you.@@tsulasbigadventures
Did you mention the phase of the Moon? Maybe I missed it. You covered pretty much everythihg else! Tnanks for sharing!
Thanks. I failed to mention the moon but the times I've seen the Horsehead there was no moon. I don't think you would be able to see it if the moon was up even at crescent phase.
Excellent account of a little foray to touch the face of God! 🙂 But are you sure about seeing magnitude 8 stars? Sky & Telescope counts it astonishing that a 19th-century observer noted 102 stars in the great square of Pegasus, down to 7.4 stars, and although I've forgotten how to do the logarithmic math, that's a fair distance from 8.
At 21:00, the shout of the crowd startled me. Please don't do that again! 🙂It made me think that, even though it's raining cats and dogs in Manhattan - Meteora is in one of her worse moods 🙂 - one of our periodic demonstrations-cum-riots was in progress. 🙂
Thanks, Walter. I'm not sure about that magnitude 8. That was taken from one of the sources I read about limiting magnitude and honestly I can't see how a human could see a star of magnitude 8. Even in Big Bend National Park the best I could do was magnitude 7. I think that is the limit of my eyesight and probably most people. I'm sure the cheering crowd startled you due to the periods riot in progress. I'm all too familiar with those in the Bay Area but here in rural Montana I am more alarmed by suddent bursts of what sounds like machine guns going off.
@@tsulasbigadventures I imagine those are semiautomatic rifles which, as you've told me elsewhere, are legal in Montana. Fully automatic weapons need a special license. But then again - and as you've also told me elsewhere - it's Montana. 🙂
@@waltergold3457 Correct.
@@msroper5287 Then why do you often read in treatises that humans can only see up to about 6.5 magnitude stars?
@@msroper5287 Interesting! But Brian Skiff - wasn't he also the very advanced observer who sketched the canals on Mars? Oh, no, wait! That would've been the eponymous Percival Lowell himself. 🤩🙂
Happy holidays, everyone, in case Tsula doesn't favor us with another thought-provoking video in the meantime! 🎄🙂
Thank you, but I'm just not interested in womens rights astronomy.
You lost me at 1/4 of the pay. Way to muck the nebula with your dark, cloudy leftist thoughts. Maybe stick to bowling or softball.
Stop insulting a clearly thoughtful intelligent women. However, your outburst demonstrates the very point you were trying to make fun of. Women have and still are getting crapped on including getting unfair wages. Thanks for proving this point. Don’t get your shorts in a knot over my reply because I have said my share of nasty things about everything and I know what it is like to be in a dark place. The fact that you are interested in astronomy shows you have an inquisitive mind and I’ll bet you are a good and kind person who was feeling lonely and used the anonymity of the internet to holler and shake your fist at the moon.
You need to find a better hobby than trolling the internet.