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The Orion Nebula, seen through the Millennium Telescope
Leo Huckvale, HCO Webmaster, 7th March 2011
Last night I saw the Orion Nebula through the 30-inch Millennium Telescope for the first time. I was totally blown away.
The Millennium Telescope saw "First Light" and had it's official opening in the autumn of 2009, the International Year of Astronomy. While there is still some work to be done on the telescope to make it ready for use by the public, we have been able to test the capability of the telescope in a "Newtonian" configuration - with the eyepiece at the top end. This set-up entails some precarious footing on a temporary platform at the end of what will be the main viewing deck, but it does allow us a viewing window of about 20-40 degrees off the horizon. Fortunately, this region of sky includes the beautiful Orion Nebula, as well as the path of the ecliptic, which all the planets follow throughout the year...
