Orion Nebula Second Observation

Tonight was the first night out for awhile, it was very cold (-26c), but I had to get out, the sky was so crisp and clear i couldnt resist going outside and getting my first glimps of the sky in 2005. Tonight was so calm and clear, I was able to spot 4 of the Trapezium star's, before I was able to only see 3. However the 4th star would come in and out of view, depending on the stability of the sky.

The Nebula had a pear shaped figure, and I could really see the greenish tint. I find the best views are through my 32mm Eyepiece, which gives me 32x magnification. This allows me to get the whole view of the nebula in view.

Here is what I saw through my finder, in my drawing here you can see the 3 stars that make up Orion's belt fairly faintly, and the 3 stars that consist of his 'sword' are darker. Orions Nebula is the centre star.

Here I am showing what i was able to see this night while observing, This was also the first time I was able to spot the 4 new born stars in the centre.

Date: 27/1/05
Time: 9:00pm EST
Location: Front of 111 Reed
Seeing: Good
Site Conditions: Very cold, -26c
Eyepiece Used: 32mm
Instrument: NexStar 114GT