I'm not convinced the Orion Nebula is the best beginner target

Tried to image it from my backyard in Flagstaff last month, but light pollution from a new housing development washed it out completely. Anyone have a less obvious suggestion that holds up better in bright skies?

2 comments

2 Comments

faithb742d agoTop Commenter

Orion's still the easiest target to find though.

jessicaramirez2d ago

Flagstaff is supposed to have dark sky rules, so that new development is a real bummer. The Orion Nebula is bright but it's also huge and diffuse, which makes it fight light pollution. Try the Pleiades cluster instead, it's a tighter group of stars that punches through haze better. A lot of beginners get fixated on nebulae when some star clusters are just more forgiving targets.