Tweedledee Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 (edited) Having a relaxing break at Eshott Hall in Northumbria. Still heaps of unmelted snow several feet deep along the edges of the back roads up here. Last night I had nice couple of hours under a dark sky and was wishing I had something bigger than my 8x42 Hawke Frontier binoculars. Light pollution is not a problem here out in the wilds 20 odd miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne and I found from a dark sky map on the internet that this is a Bortle 4 region! The best is Bortle 1 on a scale of 1 to 9. When I got dark adapted, the milky way was nicely visible. Bortle 4 is one better than Belper dark site. Lots of barely visible fuzzies were seen with the naked eye, but the little binoculars really gave superb clarity to them all and showed lots of fainter stuff. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time making the most of the very transparent sky. Here's a list of my highlights with the bins... Orion M42 Cr65 Orions Arrow including The Ruby Star mag 4.3 Cr69 Lambda cluster Cr70 Belt cluster Leiter 9, NGC 2169, Persson 1, NGC1662 Gemini M35, Cr89 (9-12 Gemini Cluster) Iota Gemini group Taurus Hyades, Pleiades, Davis's Dog Cancer M44, M67, w1 Cancri Cascade Monoceros NGC2244 Rosette Cluster NGC2264 Christmas Tree Cluster Leo Minor Sailboat Asterism 30LMi group Coma Coma Cluster Melotte 111 Auriga M37, M36, M38, NGC1907 Flying Minnow NGC2281 Perseus Alpha Persei Cluster Melotte 20 Double Cluster, Stock 2 NGC957, M34 NGC1528, NGC1545 Camelopardalis Kembles Cascade, NGC1502 Stock 23 Pazminos Cluster Cassiopeia M52, NGC7789 Canes Venatici Upgren 1 Ursa Major M81, M82 Ferrero 6 Eiffel Tower Cluster Edited March 14, 2018 by Tweedledee BAZ, tuckstar and Smithysteve 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 That's a very systematic session Pete, I am glad you got a good bit of sky. Tweedledee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 You had an excellent session, well documented and described! ? A case of a humble pair of bins, a clear sky and an amazing knowledge of the sky coming together as one! Cheers Pete! Tweedledee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 Cheers, binoculars are so easy to use and show so much under a dark sky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Some of those are tough pots with my 15x70s in suburban skies. I find M67 a tough one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 (edited) Wow what a list, some great objects as well. Is your daughter at Newcastle Uni yet? She was studying Archietecture wasn't she. Edited March 30, 2018 by Doc Tweedledee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted March 30, 2018 Author Share Posted March 30, 2018 2 hours ago, Sunny Phil said: Some of those are tough pots with my 15x70s in suburban skies. I find M67 a tough one. 1 hour ago, Doc said: Wow what a list, some great objects as well. Is your daughter at Newcastle Uni yet? She was studying Archietecture wasn't she. The sky was really good, every so often a small cloud blew over but I just pointed the bins on a different bit of fantastically clear sky. Yes Mick she is finishing her 3rd year of Architecture now and will get her degree this year. Then she's doing a year out working for an architecture practice and then back to uni for 3 more years to become a Chartered Architect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 Good report Pete. I have a pair of 10x42 bins and a garden recliner which make great widefield observing gear. Its nice to free oneself of tech and get back to basics sometimes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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