Starship Asterisk*

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McNeil%27s_Nebula wrote:

In these images we compare a colour picture of the Messier 78 region taken in 2006 with the 4-metre Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona (below) with a new image that was captured using the Wide Field Imager camera on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory, Chile (above). McNeil's Nebula is almost completely invisible in the older image but very prominent in the new picture.

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<<McNeil's Nebula is a variable nebula discovered January 23, 2004 by Jay McNeil of Paducah, Kentucky. "Only recently discovered by amateur astronomer Julian W. McNeil II [Jay McNeil], this peculiar looking object is currently classified as a cometary-type reflection nebula. The newborn nebula was found while processing a wide field image of Orion's Messier 78 nebular region which was taken from McNeil's suburban backyard using a 3-inch refractor. Images taken of the area before September 2003 show absolutely no signs of the nebula nor its ruddy illuminating star, which can be seen near the object's southern apex. Preliminary research by Bo Reipurth (Univ. of Hawaii) reveals that the nebula was created when the deeply imbedded fetal star previously catalogued as IRAS 05436-0007 somehow erupted and went into outburst. The young star's sudden increase in brightness consequently resulted in the surrounding cocoon of gas and dust becoming illuminated much like a lighthouse would light up a foggy harbor. To actually capture such an eruption of a pre-main sequence star so early in its evolution is an extremely rare occurrence. Often regarded as FU Orionis or EX Lupii type events, these sudden outbursts represent a very elusive stage through which most stars are thought to pass as they make final adjustments with their surroundings before settling down and becoming stable objects much like our very own Sun."

"The idea that this thing, first seen on my 3-inch telescope, which one can easily hold using one hand, would be observed, within 48 hours, by a telescope of 342 tons was absolutely staggering." Jay McNeil

The nebula has been identified on images taken by Evered Kreimer in October 1966, but not in various other images taken between 1951 and 1991. The nebula appears therefore to be very variable in luminosity, and is a reflection nebula illuminated by a variable star of some kind, or with the star's light being variably obscured for some reason.The nebula was not observed after 2004 until 2008, when it reappeared once more.

In November 2018 the Sky & Telescope website reported that the nebula had disappeared. On November 5, an observer using the 500-mm Gemini telescope at the Iowa Robotic Observatory reported its disappearance. Another observer using a 30-inch Dobsonian telescope on November 3 also failed to detect the nebula.>>

ECA wrote: ↑Fri Mar 08, 2019 9:08 pm I would love...
But know its not possible..
To have a few Lens, that would show at least a few of the colors of the night sky...
Esp viewing without anything, just the naked eye and a handheld lens..

It might scare a few people.
But the atmosphere would cause problems.