jetstream Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 My recent infatuation with bino viewers is paying off and an unexpected clear and cold night gave the perfect opportunity for a go at some fainter objects. The sky held at 21.8 mag until the aurora came out-at which time the scope was put away. High transparency from the rain washed skies of this afternoon had the Milky Way sharply defined and bright horizon to horizon. The 15" and Binotron 27's are a natural pair together as well as the remarkable 25mm TV plossls. This combo delivers some great views with the Denk powerswitch. NGC 7331 is a fantastic bright galaxy and the binos in comparison to mono gave a better, more contrasted view- surprising really. After warming the eyes up on this object I figured I'd drive the binos over a squeak to look for Stephans Quintet... well not much looking was required, they just popped into view in direct vision. Surprised again I went and got another eyepiece to check the view in mono and yes there was the Quintet. The flexibility of the mono zoom I was using is vg as is its high transmission. What really surprised me though was seeing two "fleas" with the binos at NGC 7331. So yes, many surprises tonight and I'm becoming very attached to these binoviewers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faulksy Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 3 hours ago, jetstream said: My recent infatuation with bino viewers is paying off and an unexpected clear and cold night gave the perfect opportunity for a go at some fainter objects. The sky held at 21.8 mag until the aurora came out-at which time the scope was put away. High transparency from the rain washed skies of this afternoon had the Milky Way sharply defined and bright horizon to horizon. The 15" and Binotron 27's are a natural pair together as well as the remarkable 25mm TV plossls. This combo delivers some great views with the Denk powerswitch. NGC 7331 is a fantastic bright galaxy and the binos in comparison to mono gave a better, more contrasted view- surprising really. After warming the eyes up on this object I figured I'd drive the binos over a squeak to look for Stephans Quintet... well not much looking was required, they just popped into view in direct vision. Surprised again I went and got another eyepiece to check the view in mono and yes there was the Quintet. The flexibility of the mono zoom I was using is vg as is its high transmission. What really surprised me though was seeing two "fleas" with the binos at NGC 7331. So yes, many surprises tonight and I'm becoming very attached to these binoviewers. very interesting gerry with the bino viewers , might be a cheaper option than ethosessss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 Fantastic stuff Gerry! One of the targets I would most like to see visually, quite amazing what you can achieve with skies like yours. I'm hoping to give my Binoviewers a go under reasonable skies at Lucksall this weekend on some DSOs to see if they work well for me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 Great report Gerry I've just got some BV's so I'll pencil in a session with my 12" dob with them. I'd intended mostly to use them for solar system use but it sounds like some fainter stuff might benefit as well. Mind you, my BV's are not quite in the Binotron 27 league ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark at Beaufort Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 Fantastic report Gerry. I recently looked at NGC 7331 in my 12" and then looked at Stephans Quintet but could only see the brighter galaxy and that with averted viewing. It just shows that 2 eyes can be better than one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul73 Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 Direct vision!!! Wow! NGC7331 is a lovely site. But, the quintet is a tough one. I've yet to coax it into view, using one eye, a 16" mirror and only OK sky. But, I will be resisting the divorce inducing expense of binoviewing. Might be cheaper than the traditional approach of getting a bigger mirror..... Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 21.8.....!!!! You got good skies, must have been a great view. I have (tentatively) added the quintet to my things to find list... maybe a bit optimistically.. though I am sure 7331 will be a good commiseration sight. Peterw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan potts Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 Nice report Gerry, I was on this target last time out for the first time with the 18 inch, they were clear as you could imagine with the 21mm at just over x100, they didn't even take much finding which was a shock. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetstream Posted October 26, 2016 Author Share Posted October 26, 2016 7 hours ago, alan potts said: Nice report Gerry, I was on this target last time out for the first time with the 18 inch, they were clear as you could imagine with the 21mm at just over x100, they didn't even take much finding which was a shock. Alan Hi Alan, I sure love when these faint objects are near something reasonably easy to find like NGC 7331 I always look for this with my manual dob, finding and identifying things are a challenge lol! I kinda wish I had your 18" here to try out Great job seeing the Quintet Alan. ps I'm enjoying Gilmores accoustic version of "Shine on you crazy Diamond" atm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul73 Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 Allan. Could you describe what you saw? How big? How tight? Etc. I've had a couple of goes at this one which have ended in failure. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollypenrice Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 This is always a tricky observation for me but the presence of 7331 nearby makes getting to the Quintet much easier. I don't have young eyes, which doesn't help! In the 20 inch under similar SQM values to Gerry I begin by sensing that there's something there and then have to coax it out. The cluster is small and tight with very uneven brightness within the components. I have to say I can't really make out their separation well enough to tell one from the other but I can see the Quintet as havng structure, certainly. The original discovery was made in Marseille, a couple of hours' drive to our south. Nobody will be seeing it from Marseille in this day and age... Thanks to the OP for a great post. Olly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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