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Witch Head Nebula/Calif. Nebula

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#1 PilotStar

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Posted 21 January 2012 - 12:42 AM

Anyone ever sight IC 2118, The Witch Head Nebula, visually? If so, what size scope, filter, and viewing conditions? I caught it five-years-ago in my 6" f/4 Newt using wideband and narrow band filters under a mag 6.5 sky. Very faint, but shape definite. Also caught the Calif. Neb last year with my C11 SCT under a mag 6.2 sky using a H-Beta filter--barely visible, had to pan to see entire object.

Ernie (PilotStar)

#2 David Knisely

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Posted 21 January 2012 - 02:30 AM

Anyone ever sight IC 2118, The Witch Head Nebula, visually? If so, what size scope, filter, and viewing conditions? I caught it five-years-ago in my 6" f/4 Newt using wideband and narrow band filters under a mag 6.5 sky. Very faint, but shape definite. Also caught the Calif. Neb last year with my C11 SCT under a mag 6.2 sky using a H-Beta filter--barely visible, had to pan to see entire object.

Ernie (PilotStar)


The smallest scope I have seen the Witch Head Nebula in was a good pair of high quality 10x50 binoculars at a dark sky site. Even then, all that was seen was the faintest of glows that was a little elongated northeast to southwest. I have seen its dim glow in my 10 inch f/5.6 Newtonian, but it was marginal, and best noticed using my broad-band Lumicon Deep-sky filter. I have seen it a couple of times in my 100mm f/6 refractor at about 15x, but again, it was very difficult and showed little detail other than a vague elongated brightening of the sky background and maybe a little irregularity. Again, the only filter that seemed to help it at all was a broad-band filter like the Orion Skyglow or the Lumicon Deep-sky filter, but the improvement was slight.

The Californian Nebula (NGC 1499) in Perseus is considerably easier, but requires a filter for a decent view of it. Without a filter, it is just a very dim somewhat diffuse elongated glow not a lot brighter than the surrounding sky background. It is best seen using a good H-Beta filter, and indeed, with just an H-Beta held up to the eye, I have seen that object without other optical aid. It occupies much of the four degree field of view of my 100mm f/6 refractor at 15x with my 40mm MK-70 eyepiece (a 4.49 degree field of view) and my Lumicon H-Beta filter. It shows up as a large elongated patch of light with a slight darkening along its main axis. In an 8 inch f/5 Newtonian and the H-Beta filter, I can easily see the nebula with hints of the two broad diffuse filaments which outline much of the northern and southern edges of the object. In my 14 inch f/4.6 Newtonian, the filaments are quite easy to see and start to show a little bit of structure with the H-Beta filter, although I can only see less than half of the entire object at any one time. Clear skies to you.

#3 JakeSaloranta

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Posted 21 January 2012 - 03:14 AM

By using search you can find many posts on these objects.

#4 IVM

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Posted 21 January 2012 - 05:30 PM

I have not seen the Witch Head. California Nebula displays a very recognizable shape of the eponymic state with an H-beta filter and a wide field. I first saw it through a fellow observer's 4" refractor from Spruce Knob. In my own refractor of the same aperture, the f/5.5 Comet Halley Renaissance, and the maximum 2" field of my 40-mm Pentax ocular, I viewed it many times from Cherry Springs. Some edge enhancement, corresponding to the filaments David is describing, was noticeable under good conditions in the low-power view.

#5 Dave Mitsky

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Posted 22 January 2012 - 12:30 PM

I've seen IC 2118 through my 101mm Tele Vue refractor and a 35mm Tele Vue Panoptic (4.4 degrees TFOV) on a particularly good winter night.

NGC 1499 is relatively easy from a dark site through the same telescope and an H-beta filtered 35mm Panoptic.

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#6 JayinUT

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Posted 22 January 2012 - 01:50 PM

Jake is right. Here is a thread from 2 years ago on IC 2118.

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Posted 22 January 2012 - 03:50 PM

I saw IC2118 last week as a slim sliver of light, about one degree from Rigel. I used an Orion narrowband filter. It wasn't much to see and didn't have the bluish tint you always see in the photos (perhaps due to the filter). I'm going to try again this week, when Orion is higher in the sky.

- Roy

#8 tnakazon

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Posted 23 January 2012 - 01:32 AM

Just read about it recently in Sue French's new book. Looking forward to seeking it out this week - I'll try it with and without a narrowband filter.

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 11:03 AM

Last night, I had a good view of the Witch Head, using 10x50 binoculars. I placed an Orion narrowband filter over one of the binos' lenses, and the Witch Head stood out nicely.

#10 sgottlieb

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 01:31 PM

Interestingly I found a narrowband filter dimmed the Witch Head (isn't it solely reflection?). The smallest scope I've observed it with is my 80mm finder at 13x unfiltered. The main prerequisites are dark skies as it has a lower surface brightness than Barnard's Loop and low power to frame it.

#11 Guest_**DONOTDELETE**_*

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 02:12 PM

Interestingly I found a narrowband filter dimmed the Witch Head (isn't it solely reflection?). The smallest scope I've observed it with is my 80mm finder at 13x unfiltered. The main prerequisites are dark skies as it has a lower surface brightness than Barnard's Loop and low power to frame it.


That is what I've always understood, so I initially wondered what I was really seeing. I checked Finder Chart 14-10 in The Night Sky Observer's Guide and the nebula was right where it should have been.

I have seen unusually transparent regions in the sky before, and possibly the narrowband filter eliminated any ambient light in that area.

A similar thing happened in 2010, when we were able to view details on Uranus and Neptune, as well as some of those planets' satellites - all with an 11" Celestron. Such breaks in the atmosphere don't happen often, but when they do, you can see some memorable sights.

Has anyone else here had similar experiences?

- Roy

#12 IVM

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 03:24 PM

Yes, Roy, such breaks (moving patches or fluctuations with unusual transparency) is what we deep-sky observers should be living for, like our planetary brothers/sisters live for those moments of frozen seeing. Coincidentally I was just reminiscing in the "Four Fahrenheit" thread about my best view of M51's dust lanes during such a totally unexpected break last spring:

http://ivm-deep-sky....011/04/m51.html

#13 David Knisely

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 04:23 PM

Interestingly I found a narrowband filter dimmed the Witch Head (isn't it solely reflection?). The smallest scope I've observed it with is my 80mm finder at 13x unfiltered. The main prerequisites are dark skies as it has a lower surface brightness than Barnard's Loop and low power to frame it.


Yes, the Witch Head is mostly reflection nebulosity. Some "narrow-band" nebula filters are broader than others, so they may help some reflection nebulosity to at least some degree. However, the Witch Head seems to be helped most by a good broad-band LPR filter like my Orion Skyglow. Indeed, with the Merope Nebula in the Pleiades, my Skyglow filter can be the difference between seeing and not seeing that nebula from my backyard. Still, the improvement isn't exactly huge, so filter or no filter, the Witch Head can still be a fairly tough object. Clear skies to you.

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 08:54 PM

Indeed, with the Merope Nebula in the Pleiades, my Skyglow filter can be the difference between seeing and not seeing that nebula from my backyard.

You can see the Merope from your back yard? I will have to try that some time.

#15 David Knisely

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 09:12 PM

Indeed, with the Merope Nebula in the Pleiades, my Skyglow filter can be the difference between seeing and not seeing that nebula from my backyard.

You can see the Merope from your back yard? I will have to try that some time.


Yup, my backyard often has a zenith limiting magnitude of around 5.5 to 5.9 or so depending on conditions. This makes for a bit of a problem with the nebulosity in the Pleiades, but a good broad-band filter can help with that, making the nebula just visible in my 100mm f/6 refractor. From my site nine miles outside of town however, no filter is needed (ZLM 6.1 to 6.9). Clear skies to you.

#16 tatarjj

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Posted 26 January 2012 - 02:19 PM

The Witchhead is one of those objects that gets an undeserved reputation, and no matter what scope you try to view it through, it's gonna be pretty tough. I've seen it with 4", 18" and 25" scopes, and I'd probably say you'd need something like a mag 6.2+ sky for a decent shot at it. The darker the better, especially if you're using a small scope. With a big scope, the object is much bigger than the FOV, but that is offset by the fact that even if you can't see the object out right, you can still just rapidly sweep the scope back and forth across the object's position and pick up the increase in sky background brightness.

It's funny how some objects get undeserved reputations, like IC 2118, while other, better objects can go completely ignored. For example, one time, while looking for another object, I just randomly "found" a big reflection nebula (about 60' X 15' if I remember correctly) that is much brighter than the Witchhead nebula, and yet is not plotted on ANY star chart/electronic chart I know of (including Uranometria and Megastar). To get the designation, I had to use Simbad!

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Posted 26 January 2012 - 02:46 PM

I think that nebula is charted in The Night Sky Observer's Guide. Is what you saw to the right (west) of IC2118?

- Roy

#18 tatarjj

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Posted 26 January 2012 - 08:13 PM

I think that nebula is charted in The Night Sky Observer's Guide. Is what you saw to the right (west) of IC2118?

- Roy


Well, if you want to know, pulling out my notes I see that it was LBN 534 which is near 23h 38m +48 30', in Andromeda, near the border with Cassiopeia. It appears this nice object has not gone totally without notice, see this image here:
http://www.collectin....DG191.1200.jpg
(If you look carefully, you'll see a little blue/green planetary left of center- that was what attracted me to the area, but I must admit, the reflection nebula proved far more interesting.)

#19 blb

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Posted 26 January 2012 - 11:02 PM

It's funny how some objects get undeserved reputations, like IC 2118, while other, better objects can go completely ignored. For example, one time, while looking for another object, I just randomly "found" a big reflection nebula (about 60' X 15' if I remember correctly) that is much brighter than the Witchhead nebula, and yet is not plotted on ANY star chart/electronic chart I know of (including Uranometria and Megastar). To get the designation, I had to use Simbad!


Well, if you want to know, pulling out my notes I see that it was LBN 534 which is near 23h 38m +48 30', in Andromeda, near the border with Cassiopeia. It appears this nice object has not gone totally without notice


Two questions. First, which telescope were you using, 4", 18" or 25"? Second, Is there someplace where you can find a list of the LBN (Lunds Bright Nebulas) objects with all the pertinate information on each?

#20 sgottlieb

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Posted 26 January 2012 - 11:42 PM

Buddy, I've attached the LBN (Lynds Bright Nebulae) catalogue in Excel format. The original coordinates are for 1950, though if I have the time I can precess them to 2000. If for some reason you can't open the file, I have another version with slightly different formatting on Adventures in Deep Space. Follow the link for "Catalogues, Lists and Links" on the home page.

Attached Files



#21 blb

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Posted 27 January 2012 - 12:02 AM

Wow, Thanks Steve.

#22 palsing

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Posted 27 January 2012 - 12:40 AM

Is there someplace where you can find a list of the LBN (Lunds Bright Nebulas) objects with all the pertinate information on each?


Here you go, I put it up for you...

https://sites.google.../www/catalogues

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Posted 27 January 2012 - 08:52 AM

I think that nebula is charted in The Night Sky Observer's Guide. Is what you saw to the right (west) of IC2118?

- Roy


Well, if you want to know, pulling out my notes I see that it was LBN 534 which is near 23h 38m +48 30', in Andromeda, near the border with Cassiopeia. It appears this nice object has not gone totally without notice, see this image here:
http://www.collectin....DG191.1200.jpg
(If you look carefully, you'll see a little blue/green planetary left of center- that was what attracted me to the area, but I must admit, the reflection nebula proved far more interesting.)


Sorry, I thought you were talking about the object west of the Witch Head. However, I will look for this one as well, since Andromeda is still fairly high in the sky.

Thanks,
Roy

#24 tatarjj

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Posted 27 January 2012 - 11:35 AM

Two questions. First, which telescope were you using, 4", 18" or 25"? Second, Is there someplace where you can find a list of the LBN (Lunds Bright Nebulas) objects with all the pertinate information on each?

25" from West Texas, in Dec. 2009, on one of the best nights I've had out there. So I suppose I could be overestimating the surface brightness of this object a little bit, because I stumbled across it on such a good night (I haven't reobserved this object since), but I am highly confident that a reobservation and direct comparison on the same night will prove that it is in fact of significantly higher surface brightness than IC 2118.

You have a good point about the catalogs. It seems we shouldn't trust the star charts (even Uranometria and Megastar) to determine what nebulae we might and might not be able to see. Several years ago, I sorted through images of all the Sharpless 2's, found the brightest, and observed some of those that aren't plotted on any star charts. Obviously, it seems like you have the idea of doing something similar for the LBNs, and I should probably follow suit as well. It would be the only way to be sure.

#25 GlennLeDrew

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Posted 27 January 2012 - 10:16 PM

The For example, one time, while looking for another object, I just randomly "found" a big reflection nebula (about 60' X 15' if I remember correctly) that is much brighter than the Witchhead nebula, and yet is not plotted on ANY star chart/electronic chart I know of (including Uranometria and Megastar). To get the designation, I had to use Simbad!


John,
Then you haven't ever checked out (the now defunct) Desktop Universe planetarium software, created primarily by Peter Ceravolo. It was released in 2003, and was based around an all-sky photomosaic (the same one now used in Starry Night Pro Plus.

I compiled the DSO databases and drew the nebula outlines. There are a LOT of obscure nebulae included, and LBN 534 is among them. Indeed, it reasonably clearly shows up in the image mosaic as a 1 degree long cometary cloud, it's surface brightness being just a tad less than that of IC 2118.

This program is the bee's knees for users of binos and RFTs. With an image scale of 12 arcseconds/pixel, it just begins to resolve the better globulars, and reveals some detail in the larger galaxies. Best of all from my perspective is the plethora of intricately detailed dark nebulosity. I wouldn't be without this program.


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