The Veil nebula complex makes a wonderful sight even in a modest 8-inch Newtonian equipped with an O-III filter and an eyepiece with a decent field of view. However, a dark, transparent sky and absence of ambient light is important to enjoy the full splendour of the nebula.
On Wednesday evening I had my scope out just to check the seeing conditions. A friend of mine dropped by, and wanted to have a look at the Veil, and I decided to make a try in spite of interfering moonlight and snow on the ground reflecting all the high-pressure sodium lamps in the vicinity. Just a hint of the nebulocity could me made out without a filter, therefore I put on the O-III. Then the nebula was pretty easy to see in spite of the conditions. Just as my friend was to take over the scope, a #£€@#@ truck came down the road pointing its headlights directly towards us. And believe it or not, it was still possible to see the Veil with the truck parked at a distance of 30 metres.
This was not a great sight, but it just illustrates the fact that the Veil nebula isn't really a difficult object in a decent modern telescope. The O-III filter certainly helps a lot, but even without a filter quite a lot can be seen with 8-inches of aperture.
On Wednesday evening I had my scope out just to check the seeing conditions. A friend of mine dropped by, and wanted to have a look at the Veil, and I decided to make a try in spite of interfering moonlight and snow on the ground reflecting all the high-pressure sodium lamps in the vicinity. Just a hint of the nebulocity could me made out without a filter, therefore I put on the O-III. Then the nebula was pretty easy to see in spite of the conditions. Just as my friend was to take over the scope, a #£€@#@ truck came down the road pointing its headlights directly towards us. And believe it or not, it was still possible to see the Veil with the truck parked at a distance of 30 metres.
This was not a great sight, but it just illustrates the fact that the Veil nebula isn't really a difficult object in a decent modern telescope. The O-III filter certainly helps a lot, but even without a filter quite a lot can be seen with 8-inches of aperture.
