7x50 Binocular Deep Space Odyssey

                                            

                                      

                                      “Sometimes it is important to believe those things which may or may not be true.”

                                                                     -----Tim McCanlies  Second Hand Lions

 

 

              

 

                        M81 and M82  12 inch Binocular  75x                       M81, M82 and  NGC 3077  7x50 Binoculars

 

 

The astrophotos give  a pretty good approximation/comparison of what can be seen with clear dark skies .  Back up 7 or 8 feet from the screen for a more realistic binocular view of the RH image……

 

My friend Alan Scott recently embarked upon a Messier Marathon and I wondered whether or not all the Messier objects could be seen with 7x50 binoculars.  He assured me they could not.  A quick check of web sites revealed 70 objects could be accessed with small binoculars  and around 90 with 80 mm binoculars, but  40  of the 110 were advertised as beyond the grasp of  my old Zeiss Janoptem 7x50’s.

 

A couple of years ago I built a binoviewer  (See Home page for details)  to permit steady views of the sky.  I eventually attached a Rigel finder  so I could pinpoint the location in the sky on which my binoculars were centered.  The next refinement was a few hours learning how The Sky Pocket Edition worked  so I could really run it in the dark on my now vintage HP Jornada.  Additions of a good light tight red filter from 1/8” plexiglass and a photographer’s “cloak” to exclude stray light brought the “system” up to speed.  Last items added, tripod with rotating table for the computer and a folding bar stool gave me a complete portable observatory.

 

                                                               

  Here’s everything ready to go in the Jeep            Molly is ready for a night out            Closeup of Rigel finder  and mirrors

 

 

Are those folks who write about binocular Messier forays  correct?    Is there a  magnitude wall keeping those last 40 objects safe?   Is the feeble light from some of the objects spread over too large an area to be detected at 7x?  There is one way to find out…..

 

On April 12, 2005 at 8:30 pm mst I began my quest at the Oak Flat Camp ground, 7600 feet msl, 20 miles east of Albuquerque, NM.  There was a 1st quarter moon til about 10:30 and the sky was so clear we could see sharp shadows from our equipment in the moonlight.  I observed til 1:00 am mst and logged 19 Messier objects.  Open clusters were easy in the moonlight but moonset was needed for the galaxies to appear.  Albuquerque’s light dome extended  in altitude about  40 degrees in the west and spanned  50 degrees of azimuth.  The sky from NE to SW and to the zenith, however, was seriously dark and transparent.  Of the initial objects logged below I had difficulty finding M104.  Surprisingly, NGC 3077, a companion to M81 and M82  shining at VM  9.9  was fairly easy and confirmed by our Messier Marathon man, Alan Scot.  Just maybe the whole list can be done with 7x50’s……. I think the rock steady field afforded by the binoviewer coupled with accurate pointing augmented by star hopping may turn the trick – at least we can view the spot where the object “isn’t” and wait for seeing to permit a glimpse.  Sort of like waiting for winking planetary neutron stars to show up with direct vision.  This may take more than a few nights…… 

 

Zeiss Janoptem 7x50 on 2x80mm elliptical mirror box with Rigel Quickfinder all tripod mounted

April and May 05 used HP Jornada with pocket Sky software.  Nov 05 used Palm Z22 with Planetarium software:

 

Binocular Observing Log

 

 

Date            Messier        NGC            Const          Type            VM

 

4.13.05       42               1976           ORI              DIF NEB       4.0    

4.13.05       43               1982           ORI              DIF NEB       9.0

4.13.05       35               2168           GEM            OC               8.4

4.13.05       37               2099           AUR             OC               6.2

4.13.05       36               1960           AUR             OC               6.3

4.13.05       38               1912           AUR             OC               7.4

4.13.05       41               2287           CMA            OC               4.6

4.13.05       47               2422           PUP             OC               5.2

4.13.05       46               2437           PUP             OC               6.0

4.13.05       50               2323           MON            OC               6.3

4.13.05       44               2632           CNC             OC               3.7

4.13.05       65               3623           LEO             SGAL           9.3

4.13.05       66               3627           LEO             SGAL           8.9

4.13.05       81               3031           UMA            SGAL           6.9

4.13.05       82               3034           UMA            IGAL            8.4

4.13.05       51               5194           CVN             SGAL           8.4

4.13.05       104              4594           VIR              SGAL           8.0

4.13.05       13               6205           HER             GC               5.8

4.13.05       92               6341           HER             GC               6.4

5.7.05         101             5457           UMA            SGAL           7.9

5.7.05         5                 5904           SER             GC               5.6

5.7.05         57               6720           LYR              PN               8.8

5.7.05         107             6171           OPH             GC               7.9

5.7.05         12               6218           OPH             GC               6.7

5.7.05         10               6254           OPH             GC               6.6

5.7.05         4                 6121           SCO             GC               5.6    

5.7.05         80               6093           SCO             GC               7.3

5.7.05         28               6626           SGR             GC               6.8

5.7.05         22               6656           SGR             GC               5.1

11.5.05       31               224             AND             SGAL           3.4

11.5.05       32               221             AND             EGAL           8.1

11.5.05       110             205             AND             EGAL           8.5

11.6.05       77               1068           CET             SGAL            8.9

11.6.05       74               628             PSC             SGAL           9.4

11.6.05       33               598             TRI              SGAL           5.7

11.6.05       2                 7089           AQR             GC               6.5

11.6.05       30               7099           CAP             GC               7.2

9.15.06       102             5866           DRA             LGAL            9.9

 

Bilateral Cataract surgery 2.06 disrupted observing til successful

Bilateral capsulotomy 3.07 restored 20/15 vision to both eyes.  The

Sky Gods have been kind to me……visual acuity and light throughput

is better than at any time I can recall in my observing experience of

over 20 years.  I will post additional objects as acquired.

 

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