German Glow + Sister's Nebula

Hi all

The clouds broke late last night revealing a lovely dark sky. I was busy observing Mars and decided to take a break away from the eyepiece to scan the sky with the naked eye. At 01.00 local time i made my very first sighting of the Gegenschein!!!! It was located in a region of sky between Cetus, Pisces and Aries. It looked like a faint mild green patch of light at least 10 * in diameter that was barely brighter than the background sky, it was slightly elongated in a horizontal direction. I held it with direct vision for a considerable time untill clouds arrived on the scene and washed it out.

Then with the 8" LX10 F/10 SCT at 77X i glimpsed the Merope nebula (NGC1435) in M45. It took up half the FOV of the low power eyepiece and looked like a grey elongated strip pointing down to the SW of that star. It looked a little like a comet tail. What a night, it was only clear for 1/2 an hour and i got to see two treasures i have always wanted to see. Great session!!

Clear skies!

Nice!

I don't think I've heard of anyone else ever seeing the Gegenschein before, well done!

Bart.

Thanks very much.

I have just seen it again last night....looked even better in a better sky.

Nice!

I don't think I've heard of anyone else ever seeing the Gegenschein before, well done!

Bart.

Some of us in TAS were not sure if we saw it about 6 years ago from a members house in the country. Roughly overhead if I remember, but detached from the visible Milky Way. It was in the beginning of December too.

Seanie.

Last night i seen it from 23.20 local time until clouds blocked out before dawn. It was a large green oval patch 15 degrees in diameter located between Aries, Cetus Pisces not far west of brillant Mars. The Gegenschein blocked out the fainter naked eye stars in that area!!! It had very sharp edges was easy to see when you know when and were to look. I watched it for most of the night during a meteor watch ( report will be up shortly) and it was amazing.

What annoyed me though was the statement in various books and sites that says it cannot be seen from 'suburban areas' and 'cannot be seen these days due to light pollution'. This is the 2nd night in a row i have seen it with the town lights of Maghera to the south and trans 7-8/10. The sky was dark but not up to its usual excellent standard. If you are clear this weekend..have a look.

All best everyone and clear skies!