Unsure what I am looking at

[spacetrace]

Hello, wondered if anyone can help me with what I am looking at.. tonight I have been out with the bins 10 x 50, whilst scanning the sky I caught a slight fuzzy patch using averted vision, in the region around tau 37 . I navigated up from the end of the V in taurus towards pleidies. I am no good at giving distances but i would hazard a guess at two lunar distances from the end of V..sorry I cant be of anymore help but any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Cannot find anything there in the star atlas. The reflection nebula around the Pleiades does not stretch that far out, and I would thinly if you see that, you will also have the Pleiades themselves in the field of view.

[ronin]

Nothing as described around Tau37, but as Tau37 is close to the ecliptic I am wondering if any of the comets that are around are presently in that area.

Think (only just, so almost 100% chance of being wrong) that there are 3 faint comets visible at present. And no I have no idea of the names.

Just thinking that if they, or any, are on the ecliptic then you may have seen one.

That is all I can come up with, and expect to be wrong.

Have a thought the Heavens-above lists the comets.

OK Forget that idea.

H-E lists:

C/2009 P1 Garradd

C/2010 X1 Elenin

P/2006 T1 Levy

None are in the right place.

[Moonshane]

if you are sure that you were close to Tau 37 then as others say, there's nothing obvious there. There's Hind's Variable Nebula (never looked for it so may be 'impossible' in bins) T Tauri - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia or if further left there's NGC 1647 (open cluster) and of course M1 the Crab Nebula but these are well away from the area you describe.

[Double Kick Drum]

Hmmm, had a look on Cartes du Ciel (sky atlas) and the only thing i thought it could be is the open cluster NGC 1647, tho it is in a slightly different direction from what you described.

The only fuzzies between the Hyades and Pleiades are dim (mag 14 and 15) galaxies which are well out of bino range.

I'm stumped.

[JimStan]

Same here, I checked both Stellarium AND TheSky6, and did NOT see anything that would have remotely shown up in a set of binoculars. Sorry!

Maybe you DID see a comet, but I have not heard of any "discoveries" in the last few days, and I would certainly have imagined there would have been one announced, by now.

Jim S.

[spacetrace]

Typically, I have been unable to view the area again with bins or my scope due to flipping clouds, the only other time there were clear skies, I was in a very light polluted Rome without any binoculars. I really wish I could triple check, I viewed it twice that night as I was not sure that my first viewing was "genuine" and was not an artifact... Nevermind, I'll prob never know what it was.. But I'm certain 100% that there was something there