2454 replies to this topic

[Dave Mitsky]

When I'm using a large aperture, let's say 15 inches or more, I'll often observe M13 at magnifications of over 250x.  I've seen it at very high magnifications through a 24" Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob at a very dark site.

 

Years ago I saw NGC 5139 (Omega Centauri) and NGC 104 (47 Tucanae) through a 22" Dob at over 500x from a very dark location on the Bolivian Altiplano.  The views were spectacular.

 

Omega Centauri as seen through a 10x binocular resembles M13 through a small telescope.

[Star Shooter]

I looked at Jupiter with my 16x50 Vixen Binoculars. I saw a bright fuzzball and three of the moons. Just could not keep the view steady for long enough to see any detail. The night before I could only see the planet due to the moisture in the air.

[duck2k]

Had the APM 100’s out again. Skies were beautiful with the temp in the seventies. The 12.5 Morphs and the TV 24mm Pans used again. Objects observed:

 

M72/73, M24 (a personal favorite), M50, M2, M16, M17, Double Cluster, Stock2, Owl Cluster, M27, M57, M13, closed out the session with eta and sigma Cas (both double stars.

 

CS

[maki]

Neptune:)

[Rich V.]

The wind shifted a bit and the wildfire smoke thinned enough for Jupiter to peek through it.  It was a dark red-orange color resembling Mars.  Kind of pretty in a sad way.  No moons were seen; not bright enough to penetrate the smoke...      

 

Worst summer ever.  Outside of a couple of nights with favorable winds, it's been two months straight of smoke filled skies over here, day and night, with no end in sight yet.  There are mountains all around us here but you'd never know it.

 

Rich

[duck2k]

The wind shifted a bit and the wildfire smoke thinned enough for Jupiter to peek through it.  It was a dark red-orange color resembling Mars.  Kind of pretty in a sad way.  No moons were seen; not bright enough to penetrate the smoke...      

 

Worst summer ever.  Outside of a couple of nights with favorable winds, it's been two months straight of smoke filled skies over here, day and night, with no end in sight yet.  There are mountains all around us here but you'd never know it.

 

Rich

I was up in the area earlier this month. I brought my 15x50 IS, but hardly used them, because of smoke conditions. I got very little done. Did not stop me from enjoying the other stuff (Yosemite, Bodie, Mono Lake, and Reno), even having Jolly Kone...again.

[Nobodo]

 

 

But why would your mailbox be across the street from you?  

I live in a rural area and mailboxes are only in front of even-numbered houses.  My house is even-numbered, so there are 2 mailboxes in front of my house.  It saves a lot of time on mail delivery as the delivery driver only has to drive down one side of the street.  It also saves the county money in winter as their snow plows only have to consider obstacles on one side of the road.

Edited by Nobodo, 29 August 2021 - 12:22 PM.

[ECP M42]

... I'll often observe M13 at magnifications of over 250x....

Omega Centauri as seen through a 10x binocular resembles M13 through a small telescope.

Three times bigger than 80x, the sight of the M13 at 250x is sure to be much more beautiful.

I don't know if I've ever seen Omega Centaurs, probably not.
I have to update myself a little more! 

[duck2k]

Last night in Moab, UT. Packed and loaded the APM 100's and the gear. Used my 15x50 IS binos. Not a very long session but a great one nevertheless.

Kicked off with M24 (never gets old), M22, M28, Omega and Eagle Nebulas, M11, Coathanger Asterism, M56, Caroline's Rose (another personal favorite). Closed out with the gas giants.

CS

Edited by duck2k, 30 August 2021 - 02:30 PM.

[Boki]

M5 and M3 and Melotte 111, from my balcony. Just to try out, new to me, UA T-mount parallelogram. 

[Cestus]

I spent some time swimming in the Lagoon nebula using a variety of magnifications.

[Fiske]

I enjoyed back to back observing sessions last Friday and Saturday evenings (August 27 and 28). Friday evening I was at Powell observatory in Louisburg, Kansas for the monthly ASKC star party. A club member named Chris with a new Oberwerk PM2 p-gram mount and an APM 12x50 set up to my right, and then on the other side of my long time observing friend Dave, a newer member named Ken set up with an Orion 100mm BT. Fun to see other binocular enthusiasts at the club star party.

 

Here are a few of my observations from Friday evening.

 

NGC 6791 OC, Lyra
This OC was high overhead, making it a little inconvenient for the 100XL, but I have been wanting to see it for so long that I started with it as soon as it was dark enough to reasonably observe. And I could see it! The description from my journal: "Gorgeous!! Better with the 100XL than the XT-8. Tried 20/14/10 XWs and liked the 14 view best. A distinct nebulous glow in averted with a hint of granularity and a few faint stars winking in averted vision." I was struck by how rich the star field is around 20/21 Lyrae. Initially, I was star hopping to them from Epsilon1,2 (4&5 Lyrae) and Zeta 1,2 (6&7 Lyrae) but then realized that I could see 20 and 21 Lyrae naked eye.   So many double stars!

 

Espin 2490 Lyra
19h21m +37*41' / SA2K: 8; UM2K: 49
AB 10.57/11.60 21.2" pa 40*
BC 11.60/11.80 7.6" pa 10*
Just at the edge of 6791. I haven't noticed it before because it is too faint for Lenexa light pollution. According to StelleDoppie it is an 11-fold system, but most of the members are 13th and 14th magnitude. I observed it with the 100XL-SD and 7mm XW eyepieces and also with the XT-8. Could see what I take to be the ABC components. An enjoyable view. All components white. Steve Smith shared some fantastic images of the star field including ES 2490 in the Double Star form in this topic.

 

NGC 6709 Aquila
Viewed this with both the 100XL and the XT-8. The richness of the star fields compared with the view from my yard was slightly disorienting – the W asterism doesn't stand out so clearly. OTOH, the cluster is readily seen in averted vision and can easily be swept up. As with many clusters, the view with the 100XL is more pleasing to me. The cluster seems richer seen against a larger star field, the nebulosity more striking. The double stars (BU 1464 and HJ 870), can be seen in the 100XL, but the secondary of HJ 870 is more distinct with the XT-8. It was not a very steady evening, somewhat limiting higher magnification views with the telescope.

 

M11 / NGC 6644 / M26 / NGC 6712 Scutum
The latter three of these four DSOs are objects I was unable to observe from my yard in recent weeks and were easily seen from Louisburg. A terrifically fun romp to wander through the star field picking these out. The ease with which they can be located with binoculars is delightful. I was observing with the 20 XW – would have been a good idea to switch up to the 10 XW. I'll make a note to do that on my next safari in this region.   M11 is gorgeous in both the 100XL and in the XT-8. The views complimented each other nicely. One of the richest and brightest open clusters in the summer sky. NGC 6664 is coarse (not concentrated) but nevertheless distinct from the surrounding star field and perhaps best seen with the 100XL. I did not view this series of objects with the XT-8, which would be a nice exercise to try. The astro images of the cluster don't do it justice – it gets lost in the rich starfield. Much more apparent observed visually. M26 is more compressed, brighter, and richer than NGC 6664. It stands out well from the surrounding star field and is a fine binocular object from a darker site. NGC 6712 is bright and easily seen but looks nebulous (distinct outer shell with brightening toward center). No stars resolved.

 

NGC 6760 Aquila
This globular cluster is considerably fainter than 6712 in Scutum. Readily but not easily seen with the 100XL even from Lewis-Young park. Probably not as challenging from a really dark sky like the ASKC dark sky site. Observed with the 20mm XW. Did not try with 10, which might have brought out a bit more detail. Fun just to spot it.

 

A striking thing about the region in Aquila near Scutum is the richness of the Milky Way star fields. It looked like clouds of stars in the 100 XL, an impression I don't recall experiencing from telescopic observations.

 

Moonrise was relatively early, around 10:40 PM local time, and when it was just above the horizon it was remarkably red due to the forest fire smoke. As red as I have ever seen it. When the moon was higher in the sky it washed out the star fields, being about 79% illuminated, I think. Anyway, I turned the 100XL on STF 2993, which I have been meaning to observe since aznuge shared his observation of it in this topic last month, and subsequently a drawing. 

 

STF 2993 Aquarius
An easy triple system, enhanced by its proximity to the Psi Aquarius asterism. I later noticed that the galaxy NGC 7606 is in the same field, but with the moon and haze I saw no hint of it. Ted Aranda describes it as faint in his 10-inch bino telescope (3000 Deep-Sky Objects: An Annotated Catalog), so it doesn't seem too likely for the 100XL, but I'll revisit the field on a better night and do some snooping around, in an optical sense. The field ring is the FOV through the 100XL with 20mm XW eyepieces (about 2.5 degrees).

 

 

STF 3008 Aquarius
23h23m -08*28' / SA2K: 17; UM2K: 122
7.21/7.67 7.1" pa 147*
Just northeast of the Psi trio this is a pleasing double for the 100XL, observed with 7mm XWs (80x), close but fully resolved, the primary was white and the secondary a light peach color.

 

BU 715 Aquarius
23h14m -10*41' / SA2K: 17; UM2K: 122
6.14/10.90 3.8" pa 256
Had a brief look at this with the 100XL but could not resolve it. More a job for the XT-8 or TV-101. And it was getting late. And the moon was reducing visibility a lot. So I just went on.

 

STF 2998, 94 Aquari
23h19m -13*28' / SA2K: 17; UM2K: 122
5.27/6.97 12.1" pa 353*
Another excellent nearby double. The colors light yellow and blue, easily resolved with the 100XL and a relaxing fun view.

 

Saturday evening I decided to observe with the 100XL again, from my driveway, wondering if I would enjoy the experience as much after the richness of the star fields seen the night before. And found to my satisfaction that I had just as much fun. The evening was more transparent than the previous night, which helped. The seeing was only marginally better. But there is just so much to see. And the 100XL provides such fine views. Even with light pollution it is still irresistible to me.

 

I wanted to revisit the DSOs in Scutum to see what was visible, but the lower portion of the constellation was already behind the trees / below my roof from where I had set up. (Closer to the house.) So I went for the globular cluster NGC 6712, which I have tried to observe from home before without success. Using the 10mmXW eyepieces. I started from three stars in the string running from R Scuti (which did not look particularly remarkable) down to alpha Scuti, working southeast from those. I came across S Scuti, a strikingly red star in a delightful triangular asterism – I used Sky Safari to identify it. From there I pinpointed the location of 6712 and was able to see it. Faintly, but steadily in averted vision. A triumph of suburban astronomy!

 

STF 2425 Aquila
19h00m -08*07' / SA2K: 16; UM2K: 125
7.92/8.64 29.5" pa 177*
While working on locating NGC 6712 I also came across this fine double star, primary light yellow and secondary grayish. I couldn't locate it in Sky Safari, so marked it on the UM2K chart and later identified it. It was bright and striking in the 100XL. It should also be visible in mounted 10x50 binoculars, something I want to test.

 

NGC 6760 Aquila
This globular had been remarkably faint from Louisburg, so I didn't anticipate seeing it from my yard but I was able to do so. Seen faintly in averted about 50% of the time. To accomplish that, I had to pinpoint the precise location. Really another triumph. And I could have stopped there. But I didn't. 

 

I had a quick look at M71 in Sagitta – stars of which were actually visible naked eye, Gamma and Delta, I suppose. M71 was better seen with the 100XL than with the TV-101. Not surprising, really, for a fainter object – binocular vision enhancing what can be seen in averted. I tried KRU 8 north of the Coathanger, to no avail. But STF 2523 was easily resolved and HLM 23. I tried the Baader Hyperion on these and it provided an excellent view – sharper than the 100XL.

 

M27 Dumbell, Vulpecula
Really gorgeous with the 100XL. Tried it with both the 10mm XW and the 7mm XW. Maybe the best suburban sky planetary nebula? Bright and large. I could see brightening in the lobes of the planetary. Fine starfield too.

 

NGC 6823 OC Vulpecula
Spent time roaming the wilds of Vulpecula with the 100XL+20mm XW working west from 12 Vulpeculae around the streams of stars near this cluster, which is distinct from the star field (at least in a suburban sky) with numerous faint members in averted. What looks like a multiple star system can be seen in the center area of the cluster, making a linear formation that is better seen in averted. I bit difficult to pick out. Sky Safari identifies one element as POU 4027 9.35/11.30 17.7" 307*. A line of stars extends from that, which may have contributed to the impression it made through the 100XL. Stelle Doppie actually lists this as a 15-fold system.  So maybe a few of those other stars are also part of it.

 

Roamed around a bit in Vulpecula with the 10x50s and enjoyed the region around 18/19/20 Vulpeculae which is a favorite starfield in the constellation. Also viewed with the 100XL-SD+20mmXWs. The bright yellow 19 Vul making a fine color contrast with its blue-white companions and 18/20 Vul as well. NGC 6885 is a terrific binocular open cluster, despite light pollution. I need to observe this region from Powell observatory.

 

NGC 6834 OC Vulpecula
I hopped up to view this OC, just over the border from Vulpecula in Cygnus. It is cluster like in averted and seems to be elongated EW. A subtle cluster compared to 6885, but still enjoyable and an object to revisit. Need to view it from a darker site.

 

STFA 53 / 49 Cygni
20h37m +31*34' / SA2K: 9; UM2K: 47/48
6.29/6.54 182.7" pa 177*
Went back to roaming with the 10x50 and wandered along the star chain between 23 Vulpeculae and 39 Cygni and then over to the area around 53 Cygni, where I came across this excellent binocular double, easy and enjoyable with hand held binoculars.

Edited by Fiske, 01 September 2021 - 08:34 AM.

[MT4]

Wow, Fiske.   I am green with envy . 

 

I haven't been able to see much in my night sky these past few days, aside from the occasional glimpses of Jupiter and Saturn peeking out from behind the thick clouds.

[ayadai]

OK, Fiske. I'm not sure which I envy more: your sustained clear skies or having the time to do such an extensive, detailed and thorough write-up. On a MUCH more modest front, we had some brief breaks in the rain the last couple of nights that provided about an hour of very good seeing, and were able to observe M8, M20, M7 and M17 with the 25x100s before the clouds rolled in. You've inspired me to look up M27 the next time we get a break...

Edited by ayadai, 01 September 2021 - 06:08 AM.

[duck2k]

Fiske you gave me a list to plan my next venture. Moab was excellent, but I came back to AZ in time for more clouds. At the earliest opportunity, I will study these with binos and one of my fracs.

[Fiske]

Wow, Fiske.   I am green with envy . 

 

I haven't been able to see much in my night sky these past few days, aside from the occasional glimpses of Jupiter and Saturn peeking out from behind the thick clouds.

 

OK, Fiske. I'm not sure which I envy more: your sustained clear skies or having the time to do such an extensive, detailed and thorough write-up. On a MUCH more modest front, we had some brief breaks in the rain the last couple of nights that provided about an hour of very good seeing, and were able to observe M8, M20, M7 and M17 with the 25x100s before the clouds rolled in. You've inspired me to look up M27 the next time we get a break...

I hope clear or clearer skies are coming your way, guys. The summer here has been a bit vexed for astronomy due to forest fire smoke from the pacific northwest and from Canada. Plus the weather has been humid and hot. Looking forward to better skies and nicer weather in the fall, which we typically have.

 

Truthfully, researching objects, making observing plans, and writing up and organizing observations and notes is something I enjoy. Part of the fun for me. I wish I had more time to do it, though I do have a lot and more than folks who have young families and many time commitments. There is just never enough time to do all that we would like, I'm afraid. When I was working on that report last night I was also finishing up the prep for a colonoscopy scheduled this morning. So I was, uh, multi-tasking.  I get to have that adventure every year due to some unfortunate genes in my family line. (Clean bill of health from my gastroenterologist.)

 

Definitely visit M27. 

 

Fiske

Edited by Fiske, 01 September 2021 - 01:29 PM.

[Fiske]

Fiske you gave me a list to plan my next venture. Moab was excellent, but I came back to AZ in time for more clouds. At the earliest opportunity, I will study these with binos and one of my fracs.

Looking forward to your report, Duck.

 

[Dave Mitsky]

Early last night I viewed a pass by the Resurs 01 rocket from my light-polluted front yard using my Celestron Noble 8x42s.  It exited the Earth's shadow high in Cygnus and traveled through Cepheus on its way to the northern horizon.  I also looked at Jupiter, Saturn, Epsilon Lyrae, Omicron Cygni, Collinder 399, the Heart of the Swan asterism, and M39.

 

Later on, I drove to the orange-zone Naylor Observatory.  After watching a GRS transit and observing Saturn and a number of deep-sky objects with the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain housed in the French Dome, I spent some time viewing fall and early winter DSOs with my Canon IS 15x50s. 

 

I logged the waning crescent Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Albireo, Dabih, Epsilon Lyrae, Omicron Cygni, the Davis' Dog asterism, the Golf Putter asterism, the Heart of the Swan asterism, the Sword of Orion asterism, Collinder 65, Collinder 69, Collinder 70, Collinder 399, Melotte 20, Melotte 25, M2, M15, M27, M29, M31, M33, M34, M36, M37, M38, M39, M42, M45, M103, NGC 457, NGC 663, NGC 752, NGC 869 and NGC 884, NGC 1528, NGC 7209, NGC 7243, Stock 2, and Trumpler 2.

 

The transparency was very good and I believe that I even saw a hint of NGC 7000.  I was able to resolve stars in M34 and NGC 752.  M33 was relatively easy to see, which isn't often the case any more at the observatory.

[MikeHC8]

I went our early to start my eyes getting use to sunset.  I use Venus as my first target and look to the west to see how the sky looks for Mercury.  I could see Venus and started looking for Mercury using Skysafari and found the area then started to search, unable so I look again at my app and figured out that Mercury was approximately 13 degrees north and about 6 degrees down from Venus position.  I started a new scan and it was there, I was very excited but verified that no bright stars were in that area, it was 0 magnitude and could be seen clearly in my 10 by 50.  The time was 7:30 and spent about 20 minutes until 7:49 until it went below my FOV.  This was amazing because I have been trying for about a week, fighting the clouds and smoke.  I did remove my binoculars and could not see it visually, It did cross some power lines and it was interesting watching it cross 2 power lines and how fast it was going.  When it was done I could see another bright star in the direction which was Arcturus, I found this also interesting because it is almost the same brightness as Mercury but higher in the sky and was very bright, the atmosphere takes a lot out of lower objects.  I also check 20 Bootis and other stars in this area.  I check out other topic about 10 best binoculars object and now ready to go and find these fine objects.  My first target was M-6 and M-7, it was very interesting because at first I did not see them because of City lights, I knew I was correct and keep on the same position and there was M-7 just came out.  The stars were twinkling and it was spectacular to watch, I could see 4 or 5 stars then 10 more would appear, had a great time watching.  Clouds were moving in so I took a look at Saturn could not see any moons, went to Jupiter and observed with out looking at any aid 2 moons, then I check and I was correct.  The moons were Ganymede and Callisto which I was happy with the 10 by 50, I would not have seen this with 10 by 25 in the City lights.  The clouds have come in at full force and look toward the Ring Nebula, I know it would not be seen, but just had a few moments before the sky turn white.

[Corcaroli78]

I have had a lucky week with 4 nights in a row observing with binoculars under suburban, but clear skies, some sessions with the 10x50 and the 15x70 and others only with the CZJ 10x50 Dekarem. These nights have been the best nights in years!!  i have been touring Cygnus, Cassiopieia, Hercules, Perseus, Andromeda, Lyra, Aquila, the northern part of Ophiuchus, Draco, UMa, Umi, and Pegasus. From all these nights i have realized that i must invest in a P-mount to maximize the experience.  I observed with the Telementor and the ST102 in parallel with the binos and i must admit i am a binocular fan! Comparing the views between the telescopes and the binos, i would keep the binos for the simplicity and the aesthetics.  I played with the O-III filter in front of the eyepiece and i have successfully seen the North America nebula and a glimpse of the Veil nebula.

 

It would be difficult to describe each object i have observed, but i am still missing the tour in Cepheus as it is in the zenith, i hope to have another good night as there are many interesting things to observe in the Cass-Cepheus area. 

 

This days have boosted my interest in binocular astronomy!

 

Clear -bino viewed- skies to all

 

Carlos

[MT4]

I've been having bad weather this past week.   The sun finally decided to come out from behind the clouds, if only for a very brief game of hide-n-seek with me.   I grabbed my Maven B5 15x56, put on a pair of Thousand Oaks solar filters and pointed at the Sun, and was instantly rewarded with a bright-orange ball and two dark spots near the center.

 

I went back inside to grab my Canon 15x50 IS but the sun decided that the game of hide-n-seek was over.  Oh well, at least I managed to see two sunspots today.

 

Those who have good weather might want to check out the sun.  Looks like there are quite a few sunspot activities today.

https://www.spacewea...ot-regions.html

[Jon Isaacs]

"What did I see last night in my binoculars?"

 

Since you asked:

 

 

Aligning the secondary mirror on a Newtonian used with a Paracorr 2 requires centering to about 1 mm, even smaller is better. Normally this is not so easy because you're several feet away from the mirror. With an open truss design you can look from a couple of feet away but now the adjustments are not close.

 

So I was having trouble seeing the center marker clearly and realized I could use my roof prism binoculars with their 6 foot close focus to get a good sharp focus on the center marker and the laser beam. And the secondary adjustments are right at my fingertips.. Did Jon have a good idea?

 

It works to absolute perfection.. It's now part of my SOP for collimation. It's one of those, "Why didn't I think of this before?" things.

 

I also looked at some other stuff with the binos.. Andromeda, that whole Summer Milky Way thing they're always talking about.

 

Jon

[ayadai]

"What did I see last night in my binoculars?"
 
Since you asked:
 
Aligning the secondary mirror on a Newtonian...

But, but, but... Jon....wasn't that picture taken in the daytime? Or did you get too close to Alamogordo again?

Edited by ayadai, 05 September 2021 - 04:47 AM.

[Traveler]

(very) early sundaymorning here. Made a great observation session including a first season observation of M42 with my Nikon 18x70.

[NGA]

Continuing my beginner's journey, so you'll excuse my basic observations. After the initial delight of Jupiter from my city block balcony, I got a little outside the city to a more suburban area and had clear skies last night. 

 

Saturn's rings make the planet an oval shape, makes me want to pull out a tripod for my 18x50s so to get an even closer, more stable look at it.

 

I caught the Andromeda galaxy from my balcony a couple days back but with less light pollution it was now a much more attractive view. Sizeable, shapely and with a glowing core, if rather fuzzy, makes me eager to catch it in a truly dark location. This was a little before midnight in the suburbs. I had a pair of basic 7x50 binoculars with me and was curious to see if the large galaxy could benefit from a wider view, but in fact it was very much an inferior experience to the 18x50, which probably benefit from better optics in general. Orion up a bit too late, looking forward to that as winter approaches more.

 

Moved on to some obvious star targets in familiar constellations. Finished with the Pleiades, just gorgeous, felt like I was seeing 100 stars, stunning blue balls at the center.

 

Having some great experiences in these early, trying stages, so I'll prob be blown away when I get to true dark skies. Want to keep at it with binoculars for a while before considering telescope.