Galaxies in Bins

[kirkster501]

Spotted the two Messiers in the Leo Triplet but only very faint and to be honest, had I not known they were there would never have found them. Got them in the scope many times but first time I tried in bins - 15x70 tonight.

Also picked up the Whirlpool as well. Again a very indistinct patch of brightness. Would never know its was there unless chart got me there.

But there they were, definitely not illusions and I could go back and forth and pick them out again. Makes me take my hat off the the guys that discovered these. That said, they had clear skies and not the light pollution we have to struggle with.

[dreamofsirius]

i must say i too had a good hour with my grandson on friday about 9pm i bought some mark scheffel 35x50 off carboot pile of rubbish,grandson said my dads got some off his grandad 10x50 prinz,showed him pleiades then droopped down nand across to left could not believe it andromeda galaxy he was giving it the wooow so now im going to rvo for a decent pair of binoculars,thats a first for me with binos after all these years im finaly starting to learn something, a good book and observing works.

[WaveSoarer]

I like using my bins to go hunting for galaxies that I haven't had the chance to observe with my scope before and it allows me to plan star-hops - which can be tricky with the restrictions of the finder mounted to the scope. The Messier objects are readily visible, if the sky conditions are right, but it gives you huge respect for the observing that was done at the time the catalogue was compiled and how skilled they must have been.

[cotterless45]

Yep, get to a dark site , like The New Forest or Highlands and Islands and you'll get a real feeling of the mysteries that our forefathers and ancient man saw. Without bins I could pick out M33,M101 and a host of clusters fuzzing up the view. It's a good sign when there's so many stars it's a challenge to identify constellations ! I couldn't pick out Leo last trip.

A pair of bins just opens up Bode's, M51 ,Leo and Virgo galaxies,

Nick.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

15x70 bins can show loads of galaxies from a dark site. Many Messier galaxies can be picked out with them. M81 and M82 are my favourite pair but M65 and M66 are nice too.

[ronl]

If you can find Panstarrs tonight you will see M31 in the same FOV with your bins