Two minutes turns into two hours.

[Ciaran Meier]

Watched a movie with the family after dinner (Herbie, on the new Disney Channel, FYI 😀) and popped out with the 15x70's for a quick scan when it ended. 

Turned into a great two hour session. 

Very poor seeing from my backyard in Belfast but that doesn't stop me !!

Beehive first, not visible to the naked eye for me but lovely in the bins. Down to M48, an OC in Hydra which resolved into stars with averted vision.  Then using Canis Minor as a jump off headed over to OC NGC2264, the Christmas Tree then further down to OC NGC 2244 a nice  compact OC.  That area of the sky is lovely to sweep with the bins even from a city location. 

Over to Leo and just about convinced myself that M66 was spotted at mag 9.0.  

36 Leo was a nice wide double, 3.5m and 6.0m @ 334" separation.  84 Leo, another nice wide double  @ 90" separation.  

Dropped down to Sextans for a go at C35, a galaxy at 8.6m. Brighter than M66 but was lost in the city glare. Must have spent thirty minutes on this hunt. 

Ah, it's great to lose a few hours in the stars

Ciaran. 

[mark81]

Another nice session  Ciaran.

Yea, you do often have to convince yourself about m66 with bins. I did a bit not convincing a few nights back.  Good to see you had a go at some doubles too - people often forget about them when using bins.  Might have a go at those ones tonight...

Enjoy the clear skies

Mark