Details

• Scope: Greening 12" Dobsonian
• Eyepiece: Pentax XW 20mm
• Magnification: 75x
• Filters: None

Notes

Seeing index: 3
Transparency: 2
Jet stream: Poor
Moon phase: 18%

M42 sketched at the eyepiece at Carno in Wales the day after Storm Eowyn using the Greening 12" dobsonian with a Pentax XW 20mm eyepiece giving 75x magnification. The outer nebulosity was so much more visible than back in Coventry. The whole view was astonishingly bright and enabled a much more detailed sketch than previous attempts. North is on the right and the second smaller nebulosity with a central star is M43 de Mairan’s Nebula.

Other highlights of the trip (not sketched) were globular clusters M3, M13, M81Bode’s Galaxy, M82 Cigar Galaxy and M57 the Ring Nebula. Albireo in Cygnus was visible before dawn with the two colours clearly visible even at a low altitude. Also great views of Jupiter and Venus. The seeing wasn’t really good enough to perceive any detail on Mars. As I was sketching M42 I also saw a fireball shoot from north to south in the region of Pegasus, west of my location.