| rodelaet |
| (Post Laureate) |
| 05/25/08 05:18 PM |
| Attachment |
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Binocular Icon 17 : a duo of globular Clusters.
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M10 – M12, a duo of globular clusters.
With the approach of the summer, the binocular observer can direct his attention to a target rich environment: the Milky Way. A nice introduction is made by the appearance of numerous globular clusters. The constellation Ophiuchus harbors many of them. Charles Messier alone discovered seven globulars in Ophiuchus. Two of these Messier globulars, M10 and M12, form a nice paring in the binocular field. First try to locate the 4.8 magnitude star 30 Ophiuchus in the torso of the Serpent Bearer. M10 can be found at 1° west of 30 Oph. Once M10 is centered in the pair of binoculars, look for M12 at 3 ¼ ° northwest of M10. Now that they are visible in the same field of view, these two globulars form an interesting pair to study more profoundly. At first glance, all globulars do look the same, don’t they? Now take a second look. I do find M10 the brightest of the two, but with a very small difference. It is also the one with the ‘sharpest’ core and the largest halo. M12 looks a tad paler and shows a ‘softer’ core. While M10 has a distance of 14,000 l-y, M12 is 16,000 l-y away.
The brightest star in the sketch is 30 Ophiuchus.
Site : Butgenbach, Belgium
Date : May 5, 2008
Time : around 23,30UT
Binoculars : Bresser 8x56
FOV: 5.9°
Filter : none
Mount : Trico Machine Sky Window
Seeing : 2,5/5
Transp. : 4/5
Nelm : 6.0
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with Photo Paint, based on a raw pencil sketch.
(Note: if the sketch does look too dark on your monitor, try to darken the room.)
| frank5817 |
| (Post Laureate) |
| 05/25/08 08:36 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 17 : a duo of globular Clusters.
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Rony,
These globulars are marvelous together. Without this binocular view I would not think of these globulars as a pair. Just wonderful Rony.
Frank
| Acheron |
| (scholastic sledgehammer) |
| 05/26/08 12:21 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 17 : a duo of globular Clusters
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Nice.
Where have you found mag 6 skies in Belgium? In Aredennes maybe? I always thought that there are no dark skies in Benelux due to the high population density.
I'm planing to sketch both of those suckers with 12" scope, but clouds are just coming and coming...
| rodelaet |
| (Post Laureate) |
| 05/26/08 03:34 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 17 : a duo of globular Clusters
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Frank and Vedran, Thanks!!
Frank, a binocular observer does have a wider viewing angle at the universe.
Vedran : You are right. The eastern border of Belgium, near the natural park 'Hautes Fagnes' is fairly peaceful and isolated from the larger cities.
I look forward to those globular sketches, Vedran. I bet you'll have your hands full with sketching these globs with your scopes.
| xfile101 |
| (scholastic sledgehammer) |
| 05/26/08 09:39 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 17 : a duo of globular Clusters
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These are 2 of my favs (I'm just a globular fan) and this sketch is awesome!
| starquake |
| (member) |
| 05/28/08 10:08 AM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 17 : a duo of globular Clusters
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Great widefield sketch Rony, congrats! Interesting that this two looks similar, but brighter and smaller in my 8x50 finder, than it is on your sketch.
Vedran: I've just sketched this duo yesterday night with my identical 12", then sat down in a chair for a little rest, and woke up today at 2am sitting in that chair.
Which made me sad as I planned a globular and asteroid sketching marathon. I hope I'll have the time tomorrow to scan my sketches and post them here. By the way, this was the first time I saw this duo, so It was a nice surprise to me, that they are comparable both in size and brightness to M5 and definitely not far from M13.
| Acheron |
| (scholastic sledgehammer) |
| 05/28/08 01:37 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 17 : a duo of globular Clusters
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Starquake, I've just posted my sketches in Ta-Dah!!! topic.
I'm keen to see your work and view on these clusters.
| rodelaet |
| (Post Laureate) |
| 05/28/08 04:11 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 17 : a duo of globular Clusters
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Frank and Ferenc, thanks!
Ferenc, interesting to read your comments on the appearance of these clusters. That is what makes visual observing so interesting: each observer has his own interpretation of the same object.