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Post by Ahawkeye on Apr 14, 2024 20:46:27 GMT -5
For those of you that care to look, Orion is in thr West, you can see his belt very easy right now look towards the WSW, look up at about a 30° angle and you'll see 3 stars in a row. Orion's Belt.
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Post by astronankin on Apr 15, 2024 12:40:44 GMT -5
Yep. M42, the Great Orion Nebula, is visible just below it as the middle "star" of his sword. If you have a telescope and good skies (and a good view in that direction), get some views of it in deep twilight before it completely says goodbye for the next few months!
Oh, and right below Alnitak, the western most star in the belt, lies the famous but tiny Horsehead Nebula. Someone with good eyes, a good telescope, and dark skies will see it as long as (1) the atmosphere is behaving exceptionally well, and (2) they have a hydrogen beta filter (or not; some see it without the filter). I've yet to have a definite viewing of this little, dark nebula. But right next to Alnitak lies the Flame Nebula. A grey fuzz. Looks like a tree trunk, or a large flame. If it weren't right next to bright Alnitak, this nebula would be a showstopper!
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Post by Ahawkeye on Apr 15, 2024 13:12:43 GMT -5
I was pretty impressed last night, I asked my oldest son to come out and look at something I was going to show him Orion. I pointed to the three stars of the belt and before I could get it out he said that's Orion's belt.
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Post by astronankin on Apr 15, 2024 14:50:22 GMT -5
I may pull my scope out this evening. Depends on cloud cover.
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Post by astronankin on Apr 15, 2024 14:51:32 GMT -5
The moon is at full first quarter tonight but it doesn't tend to hurt Deep Sky viewing too much until after first quarter. Plus the Lunar V and Lunar X should be visible on the terminator.
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