Uranuns and Orion Nebula 10x50 binoculars

[orions_boot]

Another clear and very cold night and apparently the last one I will see for some indefinite period according to the met office.

I wanted to dedicate most of my time to looking for Uranus.  Probably spent 45 minutes working my way systematically around the area and not certain I recognised it.   Where it should be is relatively sparse of anything else however there are a couple of blue stars.  Could have been one or none of them.

After I had given up I stood up and looked a bit further east than I usually see from where I sit.  It was a new view for me again so I just pointed my binoculars and had a peep.  My first thought was 'woah'.  A nebulous type cloud and very bright star not far away, transpiring to be Orion Nebula and Rigel after consulting my atlas.

With averted vision and long blinking I could easily see the nebulosity as two small clouds.  One cloud had a really bright central star whilst the other was a lot smaller.

Also clocked in NGC 1981.

Going forward I think I will work concentrate here and study further the shape and layout, and hope my 10" scope comes next week with a clear sky 😁 

 

[John]

Good report !

I'm finding Uranus by it's position at the top of a triangle with two stars in Cetus at the bottom. Uranus is the brightest thing in that particular patch of the sky:

 

Edited October 29, 2020 by John

[orions_boot]

Thanks for your feedback and advice.

That is exactly where I was looking.

I saw a blue dot but to me it looked pretty much like a blue star.  

[Pixies]

On 29/10/2020 at 07:10, orions_boot said:

Thanks for your feedback and advice.

That is exactly where I was looking.

I saw a blue dot but to me it looked pretty much like a blue star.  

In 10x50 bins, that's exactly what it will look like.

[Space Hopper]

I observed it last week, and its quite distinctive, an obvious but very small disc, definitely non stellar,  and now very well placed in the night sky for observation.

I always think it looks more green than blue. 

It seems to be speeding through Aries at a rate of knots. I wish Saturn would catch it up a bit, but it seems to be taking an age to reach higher altitudes.

 

 

[orions_boot]

Tonight looks like the first of a week of clear nights.  However as much as I love the moon it is seriously destroying the darkness.

I went back to study Orion Nebula again and there was very short moments of extraordinary clarity.  

NGC 1981 went from dim but clear in binoculars to naked eye clear.  Through the bins I think I could also make out a faint star appearing in NGC 1973 next to the brightest star 42 Ori.  Next to 44 Ori to the right was a fainter pair of stars separated by a hairs width. 

 

Unfortunately this is where my ability to read the sky atlas, and possibly some lack of detail in the atlas, falls down.  I tried to work it out on Stellarium but I can't map what I have seen very accurately to Stellarium either.

Edited November 3, 2020 by orions_boot