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Old 29-05-2013, 09:57 AM
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mental4astro (Alexander)
kids+wife+scopes=happyman

mental4astro is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: sydney, australia
Posts: 5,006
Hey Allan,

Of the 110 Messier objects, 100 can be seen from Oz. A keen eye would be needed with binos though with the smaller galaxies, as you mention, even 70mm ones.

The aperture grunt that 70mm binos have is truely amazing. I have an 11X70 pair (not Orion's though), & from a dark site the image is spectacular.

I had been so focused on the narrow field of view that a scope offers that I was totally unaware of the different perspective that a really WIDE field given by binos offers of the sky. My binos give me a 4.5deg true field of view, which totally changes the context of DSOs in relation to their surroundings: I never knew of the grainy texture of the Milky Way that surrounds Omega Centauri, or the striking juxtureposition on the Coal Sack with the Jewel Box, or the amazing finger like dark nebulae the riddles the entire Milky Way.

I haven't aimed my binos at Saturn, but I'm not expecting to see much by way of ring structure with only 11x magnification. But yes a few of its moons are in easy reach. Jupiter is cannon fodder, & Uranus & Neptune are in reach too (Uranus is easy in just about any size binos as it sits at mag 5.5 - just need to know where to look).

Let us know how your first dark sky session with your binos goes, Allan. Enjoy!

Mental.
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