Observing Report - 15th January 2011 - 19:30 - 21:00

[orionswallet]

Hi All,

After investing in a pair of Draper 10x50 binos, last night was the first chance for me to give them a run-out outside of the city - was at a friends house where light pollution is minimal. Set them up on the tripod and away we went.....

First stop, the moon - I've looked at it a couple of times through the binoculars and the views are amazing, and last night was no exception! Craters to the lower end of the moon (just beside the terminator) were simply stunning! Blows me away to think about what you're actually looking at, could clearly make out several different sized craters - I have the Turn Left At Orion book so I'll have to "swot up" and find out the names of the different craters for next time.

On to Jupiter then - it was a lot lower in the sky than the moon, so it was easier on the neck! (As a side-note, I might have to invest in a taller tripod, as it's a little uncomfortable when looking at things which are higher up in the sky with a 5' tripod). After focusing on Jupiter, the disc was clearly visible, i.e. bigger than a star looks, but still quite small, and, with a little effort, could make out 3 of the moons - two above and to the left, and one below and to the right. Once we went back inside, I fired up Stellarium, and it turns out that the reason only 3 moons were visible was because Io and Europa were very close (visually) to each other! Ganymede was the top-left moon and Callisto at the lower-right. Mind-blowing to think about how far away they actually are, and I'm looking at them!

Swung the binoculars onto Orions Sword next, to take a look at M42 - could easily make out dozens of stars within the sword, but unfortunately no haziness to report - but still very happy with the view.

This was my first outside session with the binoculars, and I'm so happy with the results - hopefully I'll get out again at some point over the next week to see if I can find a couple of the Messier objects....

John.

[mdstuart]

Very nice rport, I am surprised you could not see the hazyness of the Orion nebula in your binoculars, perhaps the moon was too bright. Try again on a moonless night!

Mark

[Nexus 6]

Nice report John,

when you see M42 you'll certainly know! Try looking for NGC 869/884 Double Cluster in Persius, other nice open clusters worth finding are M36, M37, M38 in Auriga and M42 the Pleiades.

Alan