Deep sky viewing with 11x80 binoculars

[Bodkin]

A short trip outside for a sniff of the autumn air turned into an unexpectedly enjoyable time with my trusted old binoculars last night.  It reminded me how powerful binoculars can be under a good sky as well as how easy they are for a quick session.

The session started with an unusual target; Stephan's Quintet.  I had read recently that someone in the USA had seen the group with binoculars of 80mm diameter.  I managed to just drag them out of the sky with a 14 inch recently, so I had no hope that I woud see them with my binoculars, but I thought that the nearby marker galaxy NGC7331 would make a good target. It was distinctly visible, but no Quintet of course. 

Off to the Veil in Cygnus next.  Again I had some success.  The bright eastern arc was visible, but the area around 52 was not.  A good result though.

Next was a set of bright globulars.  Moderate sized binoculars are surprisingly good for these targets, revealing them as fuzzy stars. You do not get to resolve individual stars but they do show distinct variations.  For instance  M15 showed a strong central brightening, whereas M13 and M3 were disks of uniform brghtness.  M92 was also relatively easy and M56 was just seen amongst the rich star field in Lyra.

Back to galaxies with M33.  This was very bright and showed its shape well, but no internal detail.  M31 displayed the strong dark band on its southern edge plus the two closest companions; M32 and NGC205. The two companion dwarf galaxies, NGCs 147 and 185 are favoured targets for me with the ten inch, but they eluded me in the binoculars.  M51 showed itself nicely, with a clearly extended form in the direction of the interacting galaxy.  Somehow I missed M101, which suggests that the skies were pretty good, but not great.  M81 and M82 were easily seen as were the differences in shapes of these two.

Back to the south to sift downwards into the murky skies near the horizon.  M11 was very bright with at least one star resolved, but mainly looking like a nebula.  Down further to the Eagle and Omega nebulas, plus a host of open clusters and bright knots in the Milky Way.  I always get lost in this area.

An enjoyable hour or so of observing.  Nothing serious, just scooting about visiting old friends.

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

Good report Jonathan.

 I just wish that I had your skies!

[laudropb]

Very nice report. A most enjoyable read. Thanks for posting.

[Astro Imp]

Sounds like you had a great time, thanks for letting us enjoy it too.

[andrew63]

80mm aperture goes quite a bit deeper  -  and with the clear autumn nights to wile away an hour !   

andrew

[Bodkin]

Thank you, I really did enjoy the experience, so I am glad that came through in the report.  I am tempted to sell all the scopes and move to bigger binoculars; the 20 inch has already moved to a new keeper (must change my photo).

[Stu]

Great stuff Jonathan. Sometimes just panning around with a nice pair of binoculars is a really relaxing way to enjoy the skies. Personally I would always want a scope available to me, but plenty of people enjoy using large binos.

[Bodkin]

Great stuff Jonathan. Sometimes just panning around with a nice pair of binoculars is a really relaxing way to enjoy the skies. Personally I would always want a scope available to me, but plenty of people enjoy using large binos.

Yes I think you are right about keeping a scope. I have had the ten inch since 1983, so I cannot see myself selling it; I might even get buried in the tube.....

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Lovely report. Big bins are just awesome for these kinds of sessions. For me the only reason to sell the Helios Apollo 15x70 is to upgrade them (and given their quality, that is not very likely). I also like to have a scope besides them, and the C8 isn't going anywhere soon.Regarding seeing Stephan's Quintet with 80mm bins: I must say that does sound like a very tall order to me. I have seen the Quintet with Olly's 20" Dob under very clear and dark skies with ease, but the C8 (under more adverse conditions) hasn't shown me the quintet yet. This is unsurprising as their apparent magnitudes are mainly between 13.9 and 14.6 for the Hickson Compact Group 92 members of the quintet, with foreground galaxy NGC 7320 a bit brighter at 13.2 (still a bit faint for a C8). The entire group has an integrated magnitude in the order of 12.1, which would be in range, but the key issue is surface brightness. It might just be possible to make out a patch of fuzz in the C8. For 80 mm bins, it should be very hard indeed

[Bodkin]

Lovely report. Big bins are just awesome for these kinds of sessions. For me the only reason to sell the Helios Apollo 15x70 is to upgrade them (and given their quality, that is not very likely). I also like to have a scope besides them, and the C8 isn't going anywhere soon.Regarding seeing Stephan's Quintet with 80mm bins: I must say that does sound like a very tall order to me. I have seen the Quintet with Olly's 20" Dob under very clear and dark skies with ease, but the C8 (under more adverse conditions) hasn't shown me the quintet yet. This is unsurprising as their apparent magnitudes are mainly between 13.9 and 14.6 for the Hickson Compact Group 92 members of the quintet, with foreground galaxy NGC 7320 a bit brighter at 13.2 (still a bit faint for a C8). The entire group has an integrated magnitude in the order of 12.1, which would be in range, but the key issue is surface brightness. It might just be possible to make out a patch of fuzz in the C8. For 80 mm bins, it should be very hard indeed

Thanks Michael, binoculars really have a key role my observer's kit.  I share your doubts about the possibility of catching the Quintet with 80mm binoculars.  I came across the reference when looking for a good picture of the group to verify the objects in my 14 inch - four seen (one imagined - it was very impressive!) and very faint indeed.  It seems to have been a recurring observing experience for me to struggle to get certain objects with a fair-sized telescope that the guidebook, Astronomy article or web article claims can be seen with a 60mm refractor.  If I am being charitable I could say that they have higher quality eyes, skies and scopes than me - which is probably true.