Ciaran Meier

Good stuff !

Thats quite a list, you'll sleep well tonight 😁. Favourite one apart from the chain ?

Enjoyed the video capture.

I was reading up on Mel111 and came across this article in Wikipedia on Melotte. I've seen him referenced in some reports here on SGL but didn't know anything about him. Begin Section. Philibert Jacques Melotte (29 January 1880 – 30 March 1961) was a British astronomer whose parents emigrated from Belgium. In 1908 he discovered a moon of Jupiter, today known as Pasiphaë. It was simply designated "Jupiter VIII" and was not given its present name until 1975. The outer main-belt asteroid 676 Melitta, the only asteroid he discovered, is named after the Attic form of the Greek Melissa, the bee, but its resemblance to the discoverer's name is not fortuitous. The conspicuous star cluster in the Coma Berenices constellation is commonly designated Mel 111 since it appeared in Melotte's 1915 catalogue of star clusters but not in Charles Messier's famous catalogue of deep sky objects or in the New General Catalogue since it was not proved to be a true cluster until 1938 by the astronomer R J Trumpler. End Section.

Davhei has just posted a nice sketch of the Owl and M108 over in the Sketching forum. (Sorry, not sure how to link to another post)

Nice report. Don't think I've tried M46 yet, will add it to my list. Ciaran.

Great shot !! Eyeballed these last night with an 8 inch newt. The angular separation seems a lot closer than in my setup. Is that another galaxy below M81. Well done.

Hey Chaz Make sure that the leather strap on those binoculars hasn't weakened too much. Leather thats not looked after can become dry and brittle over time.

Yep, what a sight. Had the 15x70"s on them a few nights ago. Stunning.

Sorry....

Sigma Ori (Orion) is gorgeous. One of my favourite multiple systems. Can be appreciated in binoculars too.

Found this on the web a while ago, perhaps it's what these gents were pondering ..... TBH I've only managed the abstract summary. M33 Edwin Hubble.pdf

Wow, what a find. Be sure to let us know how you get on with them.

Hi Mark Just arrived back home from a stint out with the scope. Cloud rolled in so have called it quits for the night. There's such a difference between using the big bins and the scope. Yep, the scope of course can pick out the detail but the big bins are great for general viewing and kind of feel a bit more natural to use. If I had to choose between the 8 inch newt or the 15×70's it would be a close call to be sure.

Out with the scope at the moment just outside Belfast. High icy cloud now rolling in, forecast promised clear skies, oh well. Been galaxy hunting but very close to calling it quits. Yep, complete cover now. Gonna go home.

Good luck with those bins. Looking forward to your first light update 😀 .

Headed up the road a few miles out of Belfast for a bit of a darker sky. Some nice targets and a few first time spotted in the big bins. Started as usual around Orion. Highlight here was splitting Mintaka which I cannot achieve just a few miles back home. Next door to Taurus and managed to spot M1, the Crab Nebula. Would have missed it if hadn't known it was there. Followed a chain of stars down and spotted a fabulous red glowing coal. DSO Planner identified 119 Tau, the "Ruby Star" A red supergiant around mag 4. Worth a look. Up a bit for a quick sweep through the Augria clusters M36 M37 M38 and then over to M35 in Gemini. A bit further east to the Beehive which is totally lost from my back yard. Really stunning with all those lovely doubles peppering it with colour. Down then to M67 a fairly bright OC. Round to Leo for the Triplet but only managed M66. Swung further round to get M81/82 galaxies with the spindle shape of M82 very apparent. Down a bit then to find M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy. Very faint and only popped with averted vision. Closed of with Spiral Galaxy M94 which seemed quite compact in the bins. Enjoyed my few hours of peace and was nice to get distracted from the news for a while. All the Best Ciaran.

Was down there maybe 15 years ago touring Kerry and Cork. Lovely part of the world. County Down is not to bad either though 😄.

Is that Carrauntoohil to the west of you ?

Hello Bob The first photo looks very familiar 😐. I observe mainly from Belfast so have to make do with the brighter clusters and DSO's. Doubles are available also. Apart from M42 nebula are out of the question. Our local council are slowly but surely installing the latest low energy street lamps so hoping for some improvement in that respect. I use an 8 inch newt and the 15x70 bins. Nice to hear of others making the best of it. Enjoyed your report. All the best Ciaran.

Wow, they do look the part ! Can't wait to read your first light report 😀. Clear Skies. Ciaran.

Well done. Can think of a few jobs for that JB Weld.

Hi Mark, that's a really nice shot and the colour is striking. What smartphone adapter are you using?

Out with the big bins (15x70) Observing from the backyard in Belfast. Was a wee tad nippy so in and out to warm myself at the fire. Orion area.... Sigma Ori : 4 stars nicely split. Primary very close in colour to the belt stars. Tried to split 44 Ori (STRUVE 752). 2.8m and 7.7m at 11.6" sep but no luck. Another double, HR 1886 (STRUVE 747) 4.7m and 5.5m at 36.0" sep. Easy split and really nice in the bins. Double: 31 Ori at 12.7" sep. Too tight for the bins but noted it's nice association with Mintaka and the visual doubles Ori 27 and 22. Carbon Star HR2308, 6.3m. Spotted another nice red star in same FOV. DSO Planner gave HR2269 for this one, a red supergiant. Very pretty pairing. NGC 1662 OC. Apparently takes the form of a Klingon Battle Cruiser. Maybe was cloaked tonight, just saw a faint smudge. NGC 2169 OC. Could just make out 4 faint stars. There's a chain of stars to the left of this OC that gives the overall impression of a Chinese Dragon with 2169 as the head. Take a look. Monoceres now. NGC 2264. The Christmas Tree Cluster. I see a running man here, but no tree. NGC2244 C50. Very pretty, compact open cluster. Really enjoyed the evening. Was out from 7:30 till 10:30. Have been using a home bodged monopod and its working a treat. All the best.

Looks like a good price for those bins. Well spotted.