Wow it's clear!!! SkyMaster session

[helicon]

Well sort of. The clouds have temporarily parted as of 2:33 A.M. local time. I got up to take a middle of the night med and then wasn't tired so I finished the VROD write-up of Andrey's recent session and checked the skies from the middle deck.

Surprise! A starry plethora of points of light. Hmmm it might be possible to enjoy the Bortle 5 skies from home. There was a cloud moving south behind a Douglas Fir and another belt of clouds in the West.

So I grabbed the 15x70's and let my eyes dark adapt for a few minutes, enjoying a balmy 46 degree night.

Naked eye, there was a starry jewelbox floating in the South (the Pleiades). Turning the glasses on it I counted maybe 55 stars visible in the cluster. I was hoping to make out some nebulosity around Merope and Alcyone but nothing was seen. The Hyades V-shaped cluster was next, a loose asterism, if you will, dominated by the red-orange glow of Aldebaran. Next I aimed at Zeta Tauri, the well-known marker star for Messier 1 the Crab Nebula. From there, I noted a fleeting presence of something non-stellar, visible but on the edge of perception. Checking the atlas page and noting the position of M1 in a right-side up instrument, I believe I nabbed it.

Looking towards the zenith and just under the top of the deck overhang I counted three large fuzzy objects which of course I have seen before, M36, M37, and M38.

After that I panned around a bit, noting the movement of some wispy clouds (ground fog) which had arisen above one of the two nearby lakes. This haziness is especially noticeable on clear and partly cloudy nights, sometimes spoiling the rare clear night for a ground-based observer.

Looking East, I could see Orion's belt, or at least Alnitak I believe through some cedar branches. With that, having seen just about all of the bino objects visible in the bit of sky available, I came back in to send this report off into the aether. Since it's nearly 3:30 local time I am going to chill and then check the skies again at 4:30 to see what has moved into position. Hopefully then I'll take out the 102mm XLT for a spin. Goodnight, all.

Edit: It is now 4:36 AM and mostly foggy but still managed a view of the fabulous Orion Nebula, M42 and M43 - M78 further up Orion's body however was not visible.

[Bigzmey]

Nice binocular session Michael! Great that you have gotten opportunity to enjoy some winter skies. Did you use a support for your binos?

[helicon]

Nice binocular session Michael! Great that you have gotten opportunity to enjoy some winter skies. Did you use a support for your binos?

Yep it was a decent session, I handheld them because I can keep them steady for a couple of minutes, rest, and then repeat. In the first longer session I was leaning back in an inclined wicker chair that we keep out on the deck so that helped because you can kind of prop up your elbows.

[kt4hx]

Very nicely done Michael. I remember when our skies at home were a solid Bortle 5 and I miss those nights! Sounds like you had a fine time admiring some of the winter treats. I would say most definitely M1 is within reach of 15x70s in your sky. There was a time on nights of excellent transparency, I could just discern it in 10x50s from our B5 backyard.

[SkyHiker]

With the need for quick setup because of the weather, don't skimp on the price for comfortable and quality viewing and just get a pair of these with a quality heavy duty tripod.

TS also shows some cheaper ones, but the prisms and mirrors are difficult to get right, so best to pay for something that looks good. I've been wanting to get some forever but keep telling myself that I have too much stuff already (very true).

[Bigzmey]

Very nicely done Michael. I remember when our skies at home were a solid Bortle 5 and I miss those nights! Sounds like you had a fine time admiring some of the winter treats. I would say most definitely M1 is within reach of 15x70s in your sky. There was a time on nights of excellent transparency, I could just discern it in 10x50s from our B5 backyard.

M1 is definitely within the reach of 15x70, I have resolved with 15x50 as well.

[messier 111]

very fine read , thx .

[John Baars]

Impressive observation of M1 with binoculars! Great!