16 replies to this topic

[Dale Smith]

Monday and Tuesday evening, in nautical twilight here at 45N, I viewed Mars and Regulus with just a couple of degrees of each other apparent distance in the sky. I viewed them with my naked eyes, Sky Rover 2x54 constellation binoculars, Nikon7x50 SP, Oberwerk 10x50 Ultra, Nikon 10x70 SP and Canon 12x36 IS III.

 

All six views were pleasing. The two SPs showed the most color, but the Oberwerk was close behind. Naked eye and 2x54 of course gave the most context, but because this was during nautical twilight, Regular and Mars were brighter and had more color in the higher powered binoculars. If I had to pick a favorite higher-mag binocular view, it would be the one in the 10x70 SP.

 

Click to enlarge the images.

 

 

 

Who else viewed this conjunction?

Edited by Dale Smith, 19 June 2025 - 03:51 PM.

[Erik Bakker]

Wonderful report and images Dale!

 

If skies are clear, I will try and observe this conjunction tomorrow.

[Dale Smith]

Thanks, Erik! Hope you skies clear!

[dmorrow]

I've been able to enjoy this conjunction all week here in AZ.  The Oberwerk 15x70 deluxe provides a very nice view.  

 

Great photos Dale! 

[RMay]

Great photos. Saw it and loved it. Spotted through binocs, and in the Finder view at 6x of my Questar to keep them in the same field of view. Loved the colors…

Ron

[BrianSh]

I feel fortunate to have viewed it tonight for a few minutes during early nautical twilight. With a long string of cloudy evenings and just starting my medical residency, I've had extremely limited observing time lately. But the skies were clear enough tonight, and I decided I would benefit more from 5 minutes of beauty than 5 minutes of sleep. The framing and colors were really nice in my Orion 8x30 ED. I'm trying to learn to observe in micro-sessions like this as a "survival strategy" during residency... and I'd say it was a great success this time. Amazing how recharged I felt after 5 minutes with Mars and Regulus in a small binocular.

 

(As an aside – and with no intention of derailing the thread – Highpoint has 3 pairs of Orion 8x30 left for the $99 closeout price, and I've loved mine at that price.)

[Dale Smith]

I've been able to enjoy this conjunction all week here in AZ.  The Oberwerk 15x70 deluxe provides a very nice view.  

 

Great photos Dale! 

Thanks! I’m glad to hear you’ve been able to view the conjunction all week. The Oberwerk 15x70 deluxe sounds like an excellent binocular to go with for this.

 

Great photos. Saw it and loved it. Spotted through binocs, and in the Finder view at 6x of my Questar to keep them in the same field of view. Loved the colors…

Ron

Thanks! The colors were amazing. They must have been doubly so in your Questar 

 

I feel fortunate to have viewed it tonight for a few minutes during early nautical twilight. With a long string of cloudy evenings and just starting my medical residency, I've had extremely limited observing time lately. But the skies were clear enough tonight, and I decided I would benefit more from 5 minutes of beauty than 5 minutes of sleep. The framing and colors were really nice in my Orion 8x30 ED. I'm trying to learn to observe in micro-sessions like this as a "survival strategy" during residency... and I'd say it was a great success this time. Amazing how recharged I felt after 5 minutes with Mars and Regulus in a small binocular.

 

(As an aside – and with no intention of derailing the thread – Highpoint has 3 pairs of Orion 8x30 left for the $99 closeout price, and I've loved mine at that price.)

I feel for you! My brother-in-law is a doctor and I remember well him going through residency. Having micro-stargazing sessions is a great survival strategy. Hang in there.

 

I’ve been tempted by the Orion 8x30. If I didn’t own a pair of Oberwerk 8x32 binoculars, I would have pressed buy already. 

[Erik Bakker]

Wow, just wow.

 

The subtle beauty of this colorful pairing was a joy to observe from 23-23.45 local time.

 

Twilight here painting the sky bluish for a befitting background.

Tried the 7x5 SP, 10x70 SP and 8x42 EDG.

 

The lower power 7x50 and 8x42  yielded a more pleasing view of this now quite wide conjunction than the 10x70.

Tonight, the 8x42 EDG was my clear favorite for observing this cosmic dance. Stunning views of this colorful cosmic scenery.

 

Pure beauty  

[NinePlanets]

I've always enjoyed seeing ruddy Mars in a deep blue sky. Having a sparkly blue companion to offset the red is nice.

[Knighton]

(As an aside – and with no intention of derailing the thread – Highpoint has 3 pairs of Orion 8x30 left for the $99 closeout price, and I've loved mine at that price.)

I too have discovered my Orion 8x30ED is quite good for stargazing. The ED glass and modern coatings makes up for the non-standard (5mm) "small-ish" exit pupil of 3.75mm. Cheers!

Edited by Knighton, 21 June 2025 - 05:28 PM.

[Mark Y.]

Glad for all of the observations. Personally, I haven't had a clear night for around 2 months. Poor me. 

[Kevin Barker]

Monday and Tuesday evening, in nautical twilight here at 45N, I viewed Mars and Regulus with just a couple of degrees of each other apparent distance in the sky. I viewed them with my naked eyes, Sky Rover 2x54 constellation binoculars, Nikon7x50 SP, Oberwerk 10x50 Ultra, Nikon 10x70 SP and Canon 12x36 IS III.

 

All six views were pleasing. The two SPs showed the most color, but the Oberwerk was close behind. Naked eye and 2x54 of course gave the most context, but because this was during nautical twilight, Regular and Mars were brighter and had more color in the higher powered binoculars. If I had to pick a favorite higher-mag binocular view, it would be the one in the 10x70 SP.

 

Click to enlarge the images.

 

 

 

 

 

Who else viewed this conjunction?

I was observing at an outreach this evening and showed a few people this conjunction in our 10X70FMTSX's

[Bill Barlow]

I got to see this conjunction Tuesday evening with my Garrett Optical 10x50’s.  Very nice view of bright white Regulus and orange Mars.  Conjunctions between planets and other objects are worth the effort to see.

 

Bill

[Dale Smith]

Glad for all of the observations. Personally, I haven't had a clear night for around 2 months. Poor me. 

Sorry to hear this, Mark! I’ve been there. Hoping you get clear skies soon.

 

I was observing at an outreach this evening and showed a few people this conjunction in our 10X70FMTSX's

This is wonderful to hear. Glad you could share the wonder 

I got to see this conjunction Tuesday evening with my Garrett Optical 10x50’s.  Very nice view of bright white Regulus and orange Mars.  Conjunctions between planets and other objects are worth the effort to see.

 

Bill

I agree, Bill. I’m glad you were able to experience this as well.

[Erik Bakker]

This is an impression of what I saw last night around 23.25 local time, Mars and Regulus just hovering above the trees in the middle with a still bluish sky background. Not a substitute for the mesmerizing visual beauty in the binoculars of course.

 

Nikon D4 hand held with Nikkor AF-S 85/1.4 at 1.4, 1/15 s and ISO 800.

 

Click to enlarge:

 

[Erik Bakker]

Tonight I observed the Regulus and Mars conjunction again under similar skies. Another beautiful rendez-vous as seen from 23-23.20 local time.

 

With the pair having widened a bit since yesterday, tonight I had a preference for the views in my 7x50 compared to the views in my 8x42, as they felt more balanced and better suited to still show this celestial scene as a conjunction, whereas the views in the 8x42 already felt more like the conjunction already was a thing of the past, even while it has the slightly wider true field (7.7 vs 7.3 degrees). Subtle, but a definite difference,

[aznuge]

After seeing the pair tonight naked eye, I thought I would try some 7x Nikon bins on them.  The color contrast was magnificent in both the 7x35E and the WX.  Westward celestial events are always preferable to me from my backyard since it is away from the light pollution of the city toward the NE.  Regulus and Mars together, in the West,  in the same 7x field of view - what a delight!