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Old 03-11-2011, 09:42 AM
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madbadgalaxyman (Robert)
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Join Date: Mar 2011
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A good and accurate observation of Barnard's Galaxy, Rob.

I find that galaxies that are bright enough to register in binoculars (50-80mm aperture), but which have an extremely low surface brightness, such as N6822 and Messier 33, often show very well in very low power instruments, even if the instruments which are used are of small aperture.

The additional contrast of using two eyes with binoculars, and the low power of binoculars, seems to do the trick on NGC 6822 and M33; the contrast of the object against the field is actually greater - at least as far as it looks to my own eyes - than it is in a monocular telescopic view at higher magnification.

As another example, there is one small portion of Barnards Loop that I have found is a binocular object; but I doubt if you would notice the contrast between the nebulosity and the field at a normal telescopic magnification!
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