I consider the Horsehead to be right up there as one of the most challenging visual targets, and have only seen it a few times under the most ideal conditions. Decent sized scope and a specialized filter like the H-beta especially help - and even then I can only occasionally say, "Yep - OK - I definitely see it!" One of those objects that images superbly in H-alpha but not to the eye in that band because it is so blasted DIM and our Night Vision "scotopic - rods" are blind to the uber-red H-alpha. So far, so challenging. About a month ago I got TWO Gen 3 Night Vision monoculars, added 12nm H-alphas and looked at the sky. YIKES! All the H-alpha stuff just POPS because the device of course transforms the view to bright green phosphor that one can look straight at. I can see Barnard's Loop piece of cake and the nebulosity to the E and S of Orion's left belt star no problem at all. I had assumed the Horsehead Notch (B33) would be impossible at 1x. But tonight I looked again and - I SEE IT! Just as it should appear, a tiny dark notch hooking in from the left and upward. Again and again I ask myself if I'm actually seeing it at 1x and the answer keeps coming back - Yep...there it is. So now, after the fact - I check the literature and see it is about 4 arc-min in size (certainly resolvable by cone's centralis vision) and the NV 1:1 phosphor rates 64 line pairs/mm At a 1-inch focal length (both objective AND eyep), that translates to about 2 arc-min (for the pair) --- which would be just comfortable to resolve the object. I'm also convinced that using the TWO NVs feedng BOTH eyes immensely reduces the scintillation. So there you have it - I can see the Horsehead at unity mag using Gen 3 NV True Binos. And that's pretty amazing! Has anyone else tried this?! If you think I'm nuts, I understand. Comments/observations welcome! Tom
29-inch Dob in a dome
36-inch upgrade soon
LUNT 80/80 solar scope
FLI 6803 cam
APM 100mm APO Binos
JMI RB-16 Night Vision Binos
Zeiss 20x60 IS binos