A lifelong amateur astronomer, Phil Harrington was bitten by the "astronomical bug" when he was assigned to watch the total lunar eclipse of April 1968 as a homework assignment.  Since then , Phil has spent countless hours touring the universe through telescopes and binoculars. Phil is probably most familiar to amateur astronomers for his books, including: TOURING THE UNIVERSE THROUGH BINOCULARS, STAR WARE, and STAR WATCH.  Phil is also a contributing editor for Astronomy magazine, where he frequently reviews telescopes, binoculars, and other astronomical equipment, as well as authors observing features.  Phil also authored the magazine's monthly Binocular Universe column from 2005-2009.  In June 2009, his popular column moved to Cloudynights.com. Each month, Binocular Universe will visit some of the many wonders of the night sky that are visible through a simple pair of binoculars.  Some of the sights may be familiar, while others may be brand new.  And if you spot something along the way that you would like to see mentioned in a future column, be sure to drop Phil a line here. Welcome to the Binocular Universe, where two eyes are better than one. A Clearing in the Clouds [Article]  | 08/01/09 | by Phil Harrington The view through binoculars, especially 7x and 10x wide-field glasses, is simply overwhelming on a warm, dark summer's eve. There are more stars framed wit. . . A Month of Luna-See [Article]  | 07/02/09 | by Phil Harrington What were you doing exactly 40 years ago this month? For those of us who were around way back in July 1969, we were anticipating the greatest technologica. . . Bikini Bottom [Article]  | 10/05/09 | by Phil Harrington April showers may bring May flowers here on Earth, but up in the sky, October is the soggiest time of year. That's because the "wet quarter" flows above o. . . The Coathanger [Article]  | 09/01/09 | by Phil Harrington The three brilliant stars of the Summer Triangle -- Vega, Deneb, and Altair -- ride high in the sky this month, framing the gentle glow of our Milky Way ga. . . The Double Cluster and Friends [Article]  | 11/02/09 | by Phil Harrington Of the dozens of open star clusters that dot the autumn sky, none is more popular among binocular stargazers than NGC 869 and NGC 884, the famous Double Cl. . . The Heart of the Scorpion [Article]  | 06/01/09 | by Phil Harrington "Two eyes are better than one!"... That’s been my astronomical mantra ever since I got hooked into this hobby 41 years ago because of a homework assign. . .