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I totally agree, Paddy, that a new thread could be started in the "Observational and Visual Astronomy" section, perhaps with a catchy title such as "Best visual Observing techniques for deep sky"
Is there any easy way to transfer most of this thread to the Observational and Visual Astronomy forum?
Many of us have developed "tricks and techniques" to enable us to better see those vanishingly faint HII regions and galaxies and other diffuse objects, yet it seems clear to me that some of these techniques are not as widely known as they ought to be.
Some of these techniques are seemingly quite trivial, such as my observation that using binos (when lying down) maintains observer stamina and relaxation during a long observing session, while also increasing dark adaptation. Yet, deeply technical discussions of things like the response of the eye's rod detectors and the spatial distribution and density of the rods on the retina, are also very relevant to people who want to improve their deep sky observing skills.
Oddly, at present I am only doing a handful of visual observing sessions per year (galaxies databases & catalogs & scientific papers are of more immediate interest), yet for many years in the past I was fanatically interested in any tips and techniques which could increase my ability to conclusively detect faint features in diffuse objects.
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