alan potts Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Well as is often the case the best part of a week, maybe more, has gone with wall to wall grey and rain, now it's a clear as you could wish for and it is blowing like hell outside. I know from living here for a good while and having tried scopes in these conditions is a waste of time, it is normally so still here that my tolerance of moving images is rather low. Of course the scope will exaggerate any wind movement by the factor of the magnification and even the observatory was out tonight due to direction. So I thought I would have a look around with the 10.5x70 binos. Started with the beautiful area of stars around Mirphak which I was surprised to see is marked in many of my books as an open cluster and for the first time ever see it is with a number MEL 20 and named Perseus moving cluster, I see there is NGC 1348 in there too and two other fairly faint clusters as well, maybe one for the 18 inch Dob Hunted down old friend M33 which was fairly easy to see with the binos and after a few minutes and also to rest the arms tried with just naked eye, and indeed I could pick it up until my son turned the kitchen lights on. Whilst in the general area could not resist M31, an object that for me looks as good in the binos as with the 115mm APO at low power, I recall being well put out the first time I viewed this with the Meade Sc on its lowest power of x73, in fact I do not believe I have slewed to it since with this scope. As the wind had dried the concrete I laid down to have a look at the area of NGC6995 and NGC 6960 otherwise known as the Veil Nebula and is just about overhead on the down side. It goes without saying I saw nothing of the nebula but I am sure I would be able to if I had Olll filters on the binos, as i have seen it fairly well through the 70mm top mounted ED on the Meade, using a filter of course. Whilst doing gymnatics on the floor and getting sort of cumfy one of the cats decided to play with my feet nearly giving me a heart attack, I scanned the star filled area around Sadr, always lovely on a low power in any of my shorter scopes. Vega and down to Sulafat and Sheliak,is always nice and though the 70mm is big enough to show the M57 ring, sadly X10.5 is not able to show it as much more than a starlike smudge. Next up was M45, another object that is lost for me in a long focal length scope, I am not sure how many stars I can see with these binos but for sure it is more than 7, a lovely object for me at it's best with a low power. Over to Aldebaran and MEL 25 the Hyades cluster, the alpha star showing a beautiful orange colour through the walnut tree, so nice an object I moved to the lower part of the garden to see around the tree, for me this group is by far at its best with binos. An enjoyable 30 minutes really. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piero Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 The wind can be frustrating with a telescope, whilst a small refractor or bins are less affected somehow. I enjoyed reading your report. Most of those targets can be very beautiful at low power. My favourite is the Alpha Persei moving cluster. For some reason, I prefer it to M45 and the Orion's belt. Thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littleguy80 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Nice report, Alan. The cat attack made me chuckle. My own cat sometimes comes to keep me company. She drives me crazy by rubbing against the tripod making the scope wobble! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Nice one Alan. Been getting some bino action in myself recently so I know where you are coming from. Lying down and staring up is so much more relaxing than some of the contortions we get ourselves into with a scope, isn't it?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiltonstar Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Nothing to beat bins for real astronomy! My cat doesn't play with my feet, but does lay out presents for me while I'm observing. A huge rat last week.. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan potts Posted November 21, 2017 Author Share Posted November 21, 2017 6 hours ago, Stu said: Nice one Alan. Been getting some bino action in myself recently so I know where you are coming from. Lying down and staring up is so much more relaxing than some of the contortions we get ourselves into with a scope, isn't it?! I always find polar scope the worst when having the M/N 190mm on the mount as the mount needs to be at its lowest, it's not the getting down there it's getting back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan potts Posted November 21, 2017 Author Share Posted November 21, 2017 5 hours ago, chiltonstar said: Nothing to beat bins for real astronomy! My cat doesn't play with my feet, but does lay out presents for me while I'm observing. A huge rat last week.. Chris I had two poor little things dumped in the garden and my son wanted to keep them, there would have been dead by now I am sure had we not have fed them up. Whilst I have seen one mouse for my investment they prefer Whiskas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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