Hi Dino
Welcome to the wonderful world of binocular astronomy. There is so much to be seen in binos once we know where to look.
Okay let's see how I can help you...
The areas around Scorpius/Sag. & Centaurus/Crux are a richfield of goodies; clusters, nebulae and a gazillion stars as these constellations lay on the spiral arms of a galaxy. Sagittarius looks straight into the centre of our galaxy, so it's even richer. You can easily make out the Carina Nebula as well with it's huge super giant star Eta Carina glowing bright yellow, tho it's getting a bit low in the horizon lately.
Tips:
To get the object within the view of the bino, line it up level to the bridge on the bino and bring your eye to it- voila!
Hold the bino with your hands at the end of them- holding them close to your eyes will make them shake more.
List your targets to observe- starting with objects that set early. To help you along, I have listed below times and altitudes.
A banana lounge or just a blanket on the grass is nice relief to the neck when objects are too high for a tripod.
Full moon can can give disappointing views to objects, with the exception of very bright clusters. However, on moonless nights those bright clusters will take on a look of breathtaking sparkle and colour. Different seeing & transparency conditions will also impact views. It is possible to grab very faint, small objects on nites of new moon & good seeing- I've even been able to nab the Centaurus A galaxy in my 10x60's.
Some awesome objects visible thru binos at the moment:
IC 2602 - - Carina Southern Pleiades cluster
NGC 3372 - Carina Eta Carina Nebula
NGC 4775 - Crux: The Jewel Box cluster
NGC 5139 - Centaurus The Omega Centaurus globular cluster
NGC 6231 - Scorpius Zeta Scorpii cluster
M6 - Scorpius Butterfly cluster
M7 - Scorpius Ptolemy's cluster
M8 - Sagittarius Lagoon nebula
NGC104 - Tucana 47 Tuc. globular cluster
NGC 2070 - Dorados The Tarrantula nebula
M42 - Orion The Orion nebula
M45 - Taurus The Pleiades cluster
Hyades -Taurus The Hyades cluster
M31 - Andromeda The Andromeda galaxy
M44 - Cancer The Beehive cluster
Col. 399 -Vulpecula Brocchi's cluster/Coathanger cluster
The Eta Carina nebula sits very low on 11 deg at 7pm and setting, so I'm not sure if you'll see much at all, but I wanted to mention this to you for when it rises high in our sky next, as it is a show shopper object for binos.
Scorpious & Sagittarius is nice and high at the moment, sitting around 80 deg. at 7pm and 55 deg at 9pm. If you are going to view this around the zenith around 7pm, I suggest you lay down and look thru the binos, otherwise it will be a neck cruncher. With the full moon out and sitting at Zenith, I had a look at M8 last night, and despite the full moon it was still an awesome site as this nebula is so bright. M8 has an embedded star cluster within it making it extra bright.
Orion doesn't rise until the wee hours of the morning. At 2am it sits around 30 deg.
Taurus will sit around 26deg at 1.30am. The Hyades is a massive cluster which will likely sprawl out of the fov of your binos, and the famous Pleiades will show many more members.
Cancer will sit around 42 deg at 9pm.
The Andromeda galaxy will be at it's highest at 1am sitting at 21 deg. It's a large object for binos and not to be missed!
The Coathanger cluster really does look like a coathanger.
Recommended Reading:
-
Touring the Universe Through Binoculars by Phil Harrington.
I haven't read this book but have heard many reviews and recommendations on it.
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Observing the Night Sky with Binoculars by Stephen James O'Meara.
This is an observing book which goes a bit deeper than Heavens Above. It also helps you find the objects using your hands to measure your way across the sky.
I've attached some pics here for you...
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Heavens Above by Robert Bee (specific to the southern skies).
Highly recommended to start out with.
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Astronomica
I mention this book because it just covers so much. General astronomy is covered well, and towards the back section, a large part of this book is dedicated to maps and objects, listing objects of interests that are available be it naked eye, binoculars or through a telescope. Beautiful pics accompany them. For the weight and information covered in this book, it is well worthy of it's price. I Highly recommended it- great coffee table book also.
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Stars & Planets by Ian Ridpath & Wil Tirion
One of my favourite hard working books. Covers general astronomy at the beginning of the book and the rest is dedicated to maps with the facing page to each map detailing objects of interest and the astrophysics. It will tell you what the spectral classes of the stars are, nice doubles to look at, and each object of interest nicely detailed. Beautiful pics accompany them. Each constellation has its own map- very easy to use. Great book for beginners. Even though it's more specific to telescopes, many of the objects and stars in it are viewable through binos or the naked eye. I highly recommend this book also.
I've attached some pics here for you...
Some Useful Links:
The Messier project through binoculars done by our member, Faith Jordan.
http://www.fjastronomy.com/?page_id=429
A couple of my own observation reports...
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...r+observations
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ight+centaurus
Binoculars- A Basic Guide for Astronomy...
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-374-0-0-1-0.html
How to make a binocular chair...
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-382-0-0-1-0.html
How to make an Parallelogram...
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-617-0-0-1-0.html
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-376-0-0-1-0.html
And importantly, how to determine seeing and transparency...
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-196-0-0-1-0.html
Recommended Computer Software...
Download
Stellarium - it's free!
All the best Dino, binocular observing is so much fun!
Suzy.
