August 19, 2023: Great binocular session

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Finally the clouds that have been following me around all summer found someone else to harras, so I got out the big Helios LightQuest 16x80 mm bins and drove to a nearby dark location. I first checked out the sky quality in my usual way by having a peak at M101, which is generally hard from my suburban garden, but popped out neatly here. M81 and M82 were also easily spotted, but those are much easier targets. I then turned my attention to Cygnus, and had no difficulty seeing the North America Nebula, and some hints of Pelican to the side. I moved over in the direction of Pegasus, and found comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) quite easily, my second successful attempt at this object. I always feel you only really spot a comet if you can detect its motion, so two views is sort of a minimum. I then trailed along the Milky Way, spotting a host of summer objects I had missed all summer, due to clouds. M11 is always a favourite of mine, and onwards towards M24, the star cloud, picking up M26, M16, M17, M18, M25, and M23 on the way. Further down, M20 and M8 could be spotted, and M7 just a short way above the horizon. Swinging the bins back up, I managed to spot the Veil, which I always find hard in bins, had a quick peek at some globulars (M13, M92 and M3), before going for our galactic neighbours M31 with satellites and M33.

A quick, farewell look at C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) closed the session.

Really lovely to have a relaxing session with bins, with no technology that can all too easily go BING getting in the way.

[The60mmKid]

Thank you for sharing! I found the report inspiring, and it makes me long for dark skies.

[callisto]

On 06/09/2023 at 17:46, The60mmKid said:

Thank you for sharing! I found the report inspiring, and it makes me long for dark skies.

Same here 👍

[bosun21]

Thanks for your report Michael. I still haven’t managed a proper first light for my new Helios Apollo 15x70’s as yet. Your report has spurred me into action.