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M42, Trap E, Trap F mission!


Smithysteve

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I went out at 22.00hrs last night solely to have a good look at M42 and try out a few of my new lenses. :)


The missus declared me mad, but having layered up and sporting my new Astro gloves, I disappeared into my frost covered dome... A man on a mission, I wanted to see another first for me, Trap E and Trap F... :wacko:

 

M42 was still a bit low, there was a smattering of thin cloud about and the waxing gibbous moon was blazing away!


I went straight to M42 with the Explore scientific 40mm 68 deg. EP in the slot (X 63 mag)
The Great Orion Nebula was majestic. I admired the tenuous nebulous wisps and lanes. 
Beautiful!

I swapped to the 28mm Uwan (X 90). then the 20mm Nagler (X 127). Awesome in both!

 

Ok, let's zoom in on the trapezium...(Struve 748)

 

The most identifiable Trapezium stars are the brightest four. They are designated Trap A, B, C, and D, in order of increasing right ascension. They were all clear and bright in all the lenses so far. But I wanted to see the 2 faint stars that accompany the main asterism, Trap E & Trap F, (mag +10.31 & +10.38 respectively). They are, of course, much fainter than the main 4, and so make a good and interesting target to try out your scope, lenses and seeing conditions.

 

I did not have a look in the atlas to see where they should be in relation to the main 4 stars, I wanted to spot them first and then check it out later. That way I would know it wasn't my imagination playing tricks!

 

I started with the Delos 12mm ( at x211) but could not quite resolve Trap E & F stars, then moved up to the 16mm Uwan ( x158) and then bingo! I spotted Trap E, and a hint of Trap F. Using slow speed on my Meade electric fine focuser I tuned in the focus and knew I had them in the bag. I checked them on my atlas to confirm it and yes, spot on!

 

Now I knew where they were, I looked for them in the 12 mm Delos, the 20 mm nag and 28 mm UWAN and I could see them in all of them!

After all that I spent the rest of the session on the 28mm Uwan, I did not even bother with the 2" OIII,..

2 hours on M42... Brilliant....!

 

Oh and the Astro gloves were the best gloves I have ever worn, with part of the thumb missing and part of the forefinger and 2nd finger missing, they were warm but totally dexterous.

 

Thanks for reading ?

Cheers!

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Well done Steve. It must be those Uwan's ;)

 

When you know where they are and what you are looking for it does make it easier. Great discovery though.

 

I used the following to check 

 

 

TRAPDIAG2.gif

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7 minutes ago, Doc said:

Well done Steve. It must be those Uwan's ;)

 

When you know where they are and what you are looking for it does make it easier. Great discovery though.

 

I used the following to check 

 

 

TRAPDIAG2.gif

Thanks Mick I did have a good night :-) those are the babies! It made a change to stick with one thing for the whole session... I will have another look at these on another night, to compare conditions etc. You have probably had a look at E & F before, but if not, it's worth taking a look.

The UWANS are great, thanks! They get the job done! Love em, ?

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I often saw them in the 16" dob.  I have had an elongated peanut shape through the 120 Triplet but never managed to split them yet.

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Well done for bagging the E & F stars Steve. :thumbsup:

 

I assume you were using 10" SCT ?

 

I had a go at them myself on Saturday night with my refractor, but no joy.

I've never seen them yet. Neither could i split Rigel.

I think the seeing wasn't up to much though on Saturday + everything was a bit too low down.

I sometimes wonder from an optical point of view if my scope is up to it.

I'm guessing (apart from the decent seeing) that a larger aperture is a help.

 

I shall of course persevere with the 132 over the winter.

 

But once my 10" Dob Planet disrupter is up and running, i think i'll have more joy.

 

Apart from Trap E & F, I also have Sirius pup, & Antares B (the blue bit) on my bucket list. 

Wishfull thinking ? 

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Pants tonight. It was raining pretty hard earlier on.

 

last night was pretty good though.

 

Saw Uranus just above the moon.

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1 hour ago, Bino-viewer said:

Well done for bagging the E & F stars Steve. :thumbsup:

 

I assume you were using 10" SCT ?

 

I had a go at them myself on Saturday night with my refractor, but no joy.

I've never seen them yet. Neither could i split Rigel.

I think the seeing wasn't up to much though on Saturday + everything was a bit too low down.

I sometimes wonder from an optical point of view if my scope is up to it.

I'm guessing (apart from the decent seeing) that a larger aperture is a help.

 

I shall of course persevere with the 132 over the winter.

 

But once my 10" Dob Planet disrupter is up and running, i think i'll have more joy.

 

Apart from Trap E & F, I also have Sirius pup, & Antares B (the blue bit) on my bucket list. 

Wishfull thinking ? 

 

Hi Rob, thanks for your comments, yes I was using the 10" LX200 GPS, with electric focuser. It is rock solidly mounted, and tracks well too, which helps. 

I was interested to see you are hunting them too! Let me know when you nail them! You have given me a couple of more ideas! ?

Has your focusser turned up yet?

cheers!

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Thanks Pete, yes I had a rewarding session, there are loads of potential WOW factors and buzz moments to be had in this great hobby. You should know! ?

 

Thanks Graham. DJPaul, and Mick, your comments are welcomed and appreciated.

 

cheers!

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No focuser yet Steve ; that may be another 2 or 3 weeks yet. 

Its got to get through customs etc first.

 

Is your friend still interested in my Skywatcher...?

 

In the meantime (while i'm waiting) i now have something comfy to sit on :)

 

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2 hours ago, Bino-viewer said:

No focuser yet Steve

 

Is your friend still interested in my Skywatcher...?

 

In the meantime (while i'm waiting) i now have something comfy to sit on :)

 

 

Hi Rob,

I will be seeing him tomorrow night :wacko: I will ask him. If he is not interested I will let you know... ?

Are your feet out of plaster now? ?

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Thanks Steve.

Yes, as of last Friday, i was free of the plastercast.

 

The foot is very stiff, as you'd expect.

Also it is still swollen, particularly the ankle area.

Indeed my right ankle is 3cm bigger than my left in circumference.

Wearing shoes is out of the question.

I can however wear trainers ok.

I'm back at work (only on light duties) can drive and walk at a slow pace.

Just need to build up slowly and let it heal.

But it could take a whole year for that to happen, so i'm told.

But as i have said all along, a broken foot is better than a broken back.

 

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Hi Rob, I spoke to the guy last night and he is interested, just been busy! I used to be busy too, but now I am retired! ☺️

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Thanks Steve, and for your PM too.

 

I will keep an eye out for your friend calling.

There's no hurry at my end.

 

So he can see it working when / if he wants to pick it up, i've put it back on the OO tube.

It only takes a minute or 2 to remove it , the 4 screws are easy.

 

Also my Moonlite fitting kit was not on my tube straight. I need to get that right.

I had a devil of a job getting it on at all.

 

What scope is your friend Steve Binns using btw....?

I've just realised the Skywatcher i have is for tubes 8" or larger.

 

If he's only using a 6" it won't fit :o

 

Also he may need to drill new holes to fit the Skywatcher. 

They are wider than the standard OO focuser holes, so i have 2 sets on my tube.

This made fitting the Moonlite plate much more difficult.

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Hi Rob,that's great!

He has the Skywatcher synscan 10" Dobsonian.... So should not be a prob ?

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I think Tap E and F should be easy to spot in my Mak at high magnification but they are too close to the other stars. I've seen Sirius B. I'm wondering how to photograph them, bearing in mind I can't do long exposures.

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22 hours ago, Sunny Phil said:

I think Tap E and F should be easy to spot in my Mak at high magnification but they are too close to the other stars. I've seen Sirius B. I'm wondering how to photograph them, bearing in mind I can't do long exposures.

 

Hi Phil, they are not that close, but they are dim at approx 10.3 and 10.1 mag resp. etc. Once I had found them, I could pick them out in a lower power eyepiece fairly easily. But that was in a 10" scope. Let us know how you get on :):)

 

You have wetted my interest now, so I will try and see E & F in my Mak too! It has fine optics, so under the right conditions I might get lucky. I can picture the trapezium so well in my mind now having spent a fair amount of time looking at it, that I am definately going to return to this time and time again. I will let you know if I succeed etc.

 

i am also keen to have a go at Sirius B, it does seem to have about 10 minutes of space between them at this time, and it's mag is about 8.4. At least I should be able to see Sirius A :), the trick may be to edge Sirius A (at -1.4 mag) just out of the TFOV...

Cheers!

Good hunting Phil!

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