Oh to have young eyes, or 'The Nine Sisters!'

[Stu]

I was dropping my 12 year old daughter home last night, and when we got out of the car the sky was stunningly clear. There are new led streetlights around her house which are very well shielded and they have made a huge difference to the levels of LP.

Livvy pointed out Orion first off, which looked very grand, then turned her eye to the 'Seven' Sisters. '1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and err, yes, 9. I can see the Double star at the end' By this she was referring to Atlas and Pleione.

By comparison I could genuinely only see six. I had noticed earlier, even indoors how huge her pupils were compared to mine, but it is amazing the difference between young and old eyes. To any youngsters out there, get yourself observing under dark skies now! I wish I had started younger.

Once I got back home, I got the 8x42s out and had a little scan over the sky, no time to get the scope out with an early start this morning.

M45 was of course my first stop, lovely tight stars in these binos and set in the context of the wider field they looked superb. At least I could see more than six of the little blighters!

M36, 37 and 38 were interesting comparisons having seen them through the VX12L the other night, delicate little puffs of grey of varying shapes and sizes, but easily found.

After recent forum discussions, M31 seemed appropriate, but as ever from here, despite the large fov it was only the core really showing. No signs of M33 despite a somewhat over optimistic look.

The DC was rather underwhelming in the binos, LP robbing them of any impact and I nearly over looked them.

Looking at Taurus with the naked eye, I saw a lovely double which strangely I had never really noticed before. This looked very nice in the binos too, and was Theta 1 and Theta 2 Tauri.

Last stop, Orion of course. Very nice to be able to take in the entire belt area and then the theee stars in the sword all at once. Of course the trapezium just appeared as one star at this mag, but the nebulosity was clear,. What caught my eye though was another lovely little Double, SAO132301 which was a nice tight split in the binos, with several other tiny stars surrounding it.

Another very quick session, but plenty to see even with limited opportunity, and small binoculars under a not very good sky!

[FenlandPaul]

Very impressive, Stu - having eyes that sharp would be wonderful.  However if she starts saying that she can spot most of the members of Markarian's Chain naked eye, you'll know you're having your leg pulled!

Sounds like a nice relaxing session too.  Just the ticket after a day at work.

Paul

[Charic]

30 minutes ago, Stu said:

Very nice to be able to take in the entire belt area and then the theee stars in the sword all at once............. but plenty to see even with limited opportunity, and small binoculars under a not very good sky! [sic]

Nice report.  The one reason I choose my 8x40s over anything else, I  see more!

[Stu]

45 minutes ago, FenlandPaul said:

Very impressive, Stu - having eyes that sharp would be wonderful.  However if she starts saying that she can spot most of the members of Markarian's Chain naked eye, you'll know you're having your leg pulled!

Sounds like a nice relaxing session too.  Just the ticket after a day at work.

Paul

Thanks Paul. Yes it was a busy day and I couldn't allow another lovely clear sky to go past without having a look.

Livvy is blissfully unaware of Markarian's chain so I guess I would have to believe her! Now she is a bit older I would love to get her out under a dark sky with a big scope!

[cotterless45]

Nice one Stu , my granddaughters never fail to amaze with their sharp eyesight. Good to hear that your light pollution is tempered to give you more sky,

old Nick.

[Peter Drew]

I once managed 14 Pleiades members under a very dark sky in my "yoof" but lucky to see 6 these days. The most I've heard reported with the naked eye is 22! 

[Stu]

3 hours ago, Peter Drew said:

I once managed 14 Pleiades members under a very dark sky in my "yoof" but lucky to see 6 these days. The most I've heard reported with the naked eye is 22! 

That must have been amazing Peter. Need to get the young lady under some proper dark skies this winter to see what she can do.

I believe I heard that a certain chap called O'Meara saw something like 21 or 22, but I guess being on top of a volcano in the middle of a rather large pond must help!

[laudropb]

Oh to be that sharp eyed once again Stu. As a youth I could see at least 9 unaided now I see only 5, perhaps 6 with averted vision.

[Paul M]

When I was a boy I could convince myself I could see 7 under a dark sky.

Now I often need averted vision to even find find a fuzz ball and if I concentrate I can make out some  stars

[Ibbo!]

I could manage a few more than seven when younger, 13 rings a bell, but needed a dark site and properly dark adapted, but now its a fuzz ball most of the time and on a good night 5.

[Peter Drew]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

That must have been amazing Peter. Need to get the young lady under some proper dark skies this winter to see what she can do.

I believe I heard that a certain chap called O'Meara saw something like 21 or 22, but I guess being on top of a volcano in the middle of a rather large pond must help!

Yes, that was the guy, legendary eyesight apparently.  

[alan potts]

Nice one Stu, 9 is very good. I used to able to see more than I now can, I can still see about 9 though on a good night. It has to be noted that M45 is higher here for me than it ever was back in Hull.

Alan

[Stu]

2 hours ago, alan potts said:

Nice one Stu, 9 is very good. I used to able to see more than I now can, I can still see about 9 though on a good night. It has to be noted that M45 is higher here for me than it ever was back in Hull.

Alan

That's impressive at 'our age'  

Has to be said it was nicely positioned above 50 degrees when we looked so it's probably far more about eyes than anything else. Livvy's pupil look about 10mm across when dilated! Must measure them.

[alan potts]

8 hours ago, Stu said:

That's impressive at 'our age'  

Has to be said it was nicely positioned above 50 degrees when we looked so it's probably far more about eyes than anything else. Livvy's pupil look about 10mm across when dilated! Must measure them.

It gets very high here Stu which can only help and I still have stunning eyesight beyond 2 and half feet. I find it easier in the morning sky than in the evening, they just seem to stand out better after the atmosphere has settled somewhat and it aways seems darker when the moon is not about..

[John]

Interesting report, as ever, Stu.

I helped at an outreach event for a Brownie pack a couple of nights back. We had decent skies and a range of scopes. Their eyes certainly did seem very sharp and more than one of them said that they could count more than 6 stars in the Pleiades when we had a look at them with just our eyes. Their commentaries on what they were seeing through the scopes made interesting listening as well. With most adults, when you show them M31, you need to help them to see that M32 is nearby but these young ladies spotted that "fuzzy spot" without any prompting and a few found the more challenging M110 on their own as well.

I enjoyed the event but came away feeling just a little bit older !

 

[Chris]

Nice report Stu, I love binos for quick sessions. As for M45 I could see 9 a couple of years ago, but will be re-checking after reading your report.

[Stu]

19 minutes ago, John said:

Interesting report, as ever, Stu.

I helped at an outreach event for a Brownie pack a couple of nights back. We had decent skies and a range of scopes. Their eyes certainly did seem very sharp and more than one of them said that they could count more than 6 stars in the Pleiades when we had a look at them with just our eyes. Their commentaries on what they were seeing through the scopes made interesting listening as well. With most adults, when you show them M31, you need to help them to see that M32 is nearby but these young ladies spotted that "fuzzy spot" without any prompting and a few found the more challenging M110 on their own as well.

I enjoyed the event but came away feeling just a little bit older !

 

That sounds like a really good event John, great to be able to show the younger ones the sights. My group have done a couple of similar events but under quite challenging LP and weather conditions so the results have been fairly limited but it is still great fun.

As I said in my first post, we need to get these young sharp eyed short people out under darks skies with big dobs, it will be amazing what they can see!

[alan potts]

I actually took the time last night to go out an try to see how many I could see as it was very windy and no good using a telescope for anything. Now in my previous post I said I found it easier to see more stars in the morning, what I should have also pointed out as well is that this is at a time when M45 is in my western sky an area where there is nothing for many miles and when the sun is well below the horizon, very dark. Last night while the seven sisiters was in the East, where there is a town about 5 miles away I could only make out 6 stars but it was fairly low though the sky was very clear. Also M33 and M31 were easily naked eye, it was a shame that standing still was difficult.

Alan

[Ouroboros]

Sadly I now have to struggle to see any individual stars in Pleiades at all. It's a blur even with glasses. However my other half, also well into her 3rd age like myself, can see 6, 7 and even more individual stars on very clear nights. She has remarkably good long sighted vision for her age.