Observing with binoculars 19/08/11

[steppenwolf]

I know, I know, Steppenwolf and an observing report in the same sentence makes no sense at all but I had such a good time, I thought I'd share it with!

My normal 10 x 50 binoculars are from that well known company 'King' ( ??) and I bought them years ago from Tottenham Court Road and have never been that impressed with them when pointed to the heavens but they were all I had so I have simply made do.

However, I've recently inherited an absolutely mint pair of Carl Zeiss Jena of 10 x 50 'Field Glasses' complete with all the original paperwork, manual and receipt - they were bought by my mother in May 1986 apparently. Last night I was imaging the Sadr region of Cygnus to carry out yet another differential flexure test (got it down to 4.78 arcseconds over a 40 minute test which is a huge improvement on what I was getting!) and I could see the band of the Milky Way stretching overhead for the first time in ages so I got the Jenas out for the first time since I got them, lay back in a sunbed and just scanned around a few old visual favourites.

WOW! What a difference a decent pair of knockers makes! M13 and M92 in Lyra looked great as did Epsilon Lyrae. M31 was gorgeous as was Albireo but the highlight was the stunning sight of CR399 as I swept around the beak end of Cygnus - I had forgotten what a beautiful visual object this was, I nearly hung my jacket on it!

Thanks Mum .....

[yeti monster]

Did you see Comet Garradd? it was a little above Dolphinus last night and seeable with my 10x42s.

[steppenwolf]

Aaarrggghh, didn't think to sweep for it .....

[ollypenrice]

Dead right about the Coathanger. I just love it. The straight line of stars just looks so improbable.

I also love to frame Sock 2 and the Double Cluster while in that part of the sky.

Olly

[mdstuart]

So are the stars in those Jenas sharp to the edge of the field...What is the FOV? 5 deg..

I pressume they split Albeiro easy enough?

Just interested to compare them to the Orion Ultraviews I have..

Mark

[Veracocha]

In desperation I went out on Friday night with my Hawke Frontier ED's (10 x 43) and between the clouds I had a great hour picking up clusters that I didn't even know were there. Gotta say those ED's are keeping my interest going whilst the scopes stay in their boxes.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Quality 10x50s are just so nice. Cr 399 is also great (no need for a scope). I did switch to a pair of 15x70s last year, but still find my 1050s useful (and sharper).

[BinocularSky]

However, I've recently inherited an absolutely mint pair of Carl Zeiss Jena of 10 x 50 'Field Glasses'..

First binocular I ever used for astronomy was my late father's Zeiss 10x50 "Dekarem". BK7 prisms and T-coatings (single-layer MgF2). So much better than some of the fancy BaK4 and "broadband" coated stuff that attempts to pass as an astronomical binocular nowadays. They got nicked in a house break-in in the early 80s, otherwise I too would have inherited.

[steppenwolf]

So are the stars in those Jenas sharp to the edge of the field...What is the FOV? 5 deg..

I presume they split Albeiro easy enough?

Sorry for the late reply, Mark. Yes, they split Albireo nicely (I was surprised how nicely to be honest, I'd forgotten how wide the separation was!). The FOV is actually 7.3°

Steve, a great pity about the break-in.