Really chuffed for a quick sesh, and the learning curve continues

[bomberbaz]

I decided to have a quick bins session tonight. Now to date I have restricted this to just scanning the skies as well as Jup,Sat and the moon. So tonight I thought I would have a go at a few fairly easy objects and found it easier than I expected and very rewarding.

Managed to find quite a few objects in a short period of time; double cluster; coathanger; andromeda (really chuffed with this from my awful light polluted garden); M103 and I think M13 (will have to verify this cos clouds ruined it) all with just the cheap bins sold by supermarket. (was it Aldi ?) I found this very rewarding and I am starting to discover aspects of this hobby that had previously not appealed (read been bothered with) to me.

No plans to sell my goto just yet but getting to grips with this star hopping method of finding objects is starting to flick my switch.

When I got serious into this hobby I thought it was all about high magnification and finding as many of or the most hard to hit DSO's as you could. I think this is typical of many who get into this obsess, erm I mean hobby.

As time as gone by and continues, i am finding so much more exists to this hobby. I think it is this aspect that keeps many people hooked.

Baz/Steve

[Moonshane]

deffo mate.welcome to the other side :0)

[Pig]

Bins are very good for looking at stars, I have had hours of fun with them scopes are better though

[cantab]

Good find on M13. See if you can compare it to M92, I find the former just looks like a fuzz while the latter shows a star-like core in binoculars.

And hopefully M103 didn't kill your neck too much. I had to give up looking at Casseiopia the other day, it was practically overhead and I've let the lawn overgrow so I can't lie down.

[bomberbaz]

deffo mate.welcome to the other side :0)

The power has always been with me shane (OB1), tonight I used the force (read no goto)

[Moonshane]

LOL.

[Pig]

lol

[Alma]

Precisely why I love binocular viewing. It's amazing the number of objects you CAN see with binoculars - perhaps not very big or with much detail, but you get a different perspective on the objects and their context to the sky around them. To me it's a different experience to viewing with a scope and though I hate to admit it, often more fun!

[bomberbaz]

I had a good think about what I did learn last night and one of the key things to me is I am learning my way around the sky better. I shall definately be trying to do a little more bino viewing as well as using my AZ grab n go scope a little more often....

[Marki]

I usually wear my 10x50s round my neck when observing with a scope anyway. I find them useful for checking/supplementing my finderscope, especially if my initial alignment was off or drifts so that my go-to becomes poor. Bins are also fun when waiting for my scope to slew to a new target or for when Mrs Marki wants a go at the eyepiece . I've learnt my way round the sky a wee bit better too using my bins, and of course they;re absoluitely great when you only get a few mins clear sky at a time.

[Mrlangston]

I too have started with a scope and been surprised and impressed with what I could see with the cheap bins from Lidl! It has definitely made it easier to find objects and learn my way around the sky. I found the andromeda galaxy the other night and was very pleased for such low magnification