Klingons on the Starboard bow...

[Ciaran Meier]

Out with the big bins (15x70) Observing from the backyard in Belfast.  Was a wee tad nippy so in and out to warm myself at the fire. 

Orion area....

Sigma Ori : 4 stars nicely split.  Primary very close in colour to the belt stars.  

Tried to split 44 Ori (STRUVE 752).  2.8m and 7.7m at 11.6" sep but no luck. 

Another double, HR 1886 (STRUVE 747) 4.7m and 5.5m at 36.0" sep.  Easy split and really nice in the bins. 

Double:  31 Ori  at 12.7" sep. Too tight for the bins but noted it's nice association with Mintaka and the visual doubles Ori 27 and 22. 

Carbon Star HR2308, 6.3m.  Spotted another nice red star in same FOV.  DSO Planner gave HR2269 for this one, a red supergiant.  Very pretty pairing. 

NGC 1662 OC. Apparently takes the form of a Klingon Battle Cruiser.  Maybe was cloaked tonight,  just saw a faint smudge. 

NGC 2169 OC.  Could just make out 4 faint stars. There's a chain of stars to the left of this OC that gives the overall impression of a Chinese Dragon with 2169 as the head.  Take a look. 

Monoceres now.   

NGC 2264. The Christmas Tree Cluster.  I see a running man here, but no tree. 

NGC2244 C50. Very pretty, compact open cluster.  

Really enjoyed the evening.  Was out from 7:30 till 10:30. Have been using a home bodged monopod and its working a treat.  

All the best. 

 

[Stu]

Nice little session Ciaran 👍

[mark81]

Nice session Ciaran,

People do tend to overlook doubles with binoculars but they really can be nice to look at.  Monoceros and Orion are up there as my favourites for binoculars,. So much going on.

Half to hear the monopod is working well...

Mark