Rob_K
03-11-2013, 03:26 PM
I’m a bit further north than usual, up north east of Broken Hill, and last night was a cracker so I dusted off (literally!) the Tasco 10x50 binoculars, actual field of view just under 5-degrees. Some amazing views, particularly cruising along the Milky Way and eyeing globular & open clusters, nebulae, dense starfields etc.
Some of the highlights were:
The Large Magellanic Cloud, bright and mottled, covering more than the FOV. Tarantula Nebula was very bright;
The Small Magellanic Cloud, again bright and mottled but this time fitting within the FOV. 47 Tucanae was OK but it doesn’t look anywhere near as good as Omega Centauri through binocs I reckon, because of the very bright core which tends to detract from the extent;
Andromeda Galaxy, M31 – wow, what can you say, doesn’t even rise above the hills from home! A beautiful sight in dark outback skies, naked-eye and through binocs. Core was a big, bright elongated glow and the fainter extensions covered over half the FOV;
Triangulum Galaxy, M33 – barely skims the hills at home but a nice sight from here. A large, dull, oval-shaped glow, nearly a degree in length;
Globular Cluster NGC 6656, M22 – one of the highlights in the Milky Way and a lovely big fuzzy patch through binocs;
Lagoon & Trifid Nebulae – the bright stars associated with Lagoon Nebula are the highlights really and tend to drown out the nebulosity. The Trifid Nebula was very faint but visible.
I have a little 5" dob with me and will get it out when I get the chance.
Cheers -
Some of the highlights were:
The Large Magellanic Cloud, bright and mottled, covering more than the FOV. Tarantula Nebula was very bright;
The Small Magellanic Cloud, again bright and mottled but this time fitting within the FOV. 47 Tucanae was OK but it doesn’t look anywhere near as good as Omega Centauri through binocs I reckon, because of the very bright core which tends to detract from the extent;
Andromeda Galaxy, M31 – wow, what can you say, doesn’t even rise above the hills from home! A beautiful sight in dark outback skies, naked-eye and through binocs. Core was a big, bright elongated glow and the fainter extensions covered over half the FOV;
Triangulum Galaxy, M33 – barely skims the hills at home but a nice sight from here. A large, dull, oval-shaped glow, nearly a degree in length;
Globular Cluster NGC 6656, M22 – one of the highlights in the Milky Way and a lovely big fuzzy patch through binocs;
Lagoon & Trifid Nebulae – the bright stars associated with Lagoon Nebula are the highlights really and tend to drown out the nebulosity. The Trifid Nebula was very faint but visible.
I have a little 5" dob with me and will get it out when I get the chance.
Cheers -