Nice views in Devon

[Tweedledee]

Had several good binocular sessions on holiday in a dark part of Devon last week, the best night being my last there which was Monday night July 2nd when the moon was out of the way till later. The sky was really good from the back yard patio of our accommodation once I had removed the bulb from the outside lamp that didn't have a switch. The view was slightly limited due to trees and lush foliage so I couldn't see much of the sky low down. This was actually a blessing as it shielded me from other local lights and the low moon.

 

I had my Hawke Frontier ED 8x43 and Vixen SG 2.1x42 binoculars. I also had my 2" UHC and OIII filters to hold in front of the objectives with the intention of seeing the Veil and North American nebulas. After some good dark adaptation in a garden chair in spanish temperatures in the middle of the night, I had some lovely naked eye views of the Milky Way and Cygnus rift. The Vixens gave fantastic Milky Way views. With the Vixens I could easily see the Northern Coalsack and Le Gentil 3 dark areas as well which looked great. The filters proved to be of no use in this instance and just diminished the views, though others have apparently reported good results on NAN and the Veil with the filters on the little Vixens. I eventually found that I could actually see the bulk of the North American nebula without filters as an extremely faint triangular, sometimes L-shape region with the Hawkes. So I was very pleased with that view, even though it was difficult and elusive. I could not see the Veil at all.

 

Another difficult object was Barnards E dark nebula near Altair. I was very pleased to glimpse this, but not as an E, just a U. The U I was seeing was the upper part of the E only, I just could not make out the full E even though I was studying the area for a long while. This was a first for me, and I will now be after some better views of it with a scope.

 

A few other objects I enjoyed included the following...
Nebula
M27
Globulars
M56, M13, M92, M71, M3
Clusters
M39, NGC6940, Coathanger, IC4665, IC4756, NGC6633
 

[BAZ]

You really stretched the binoculars with those objects Pete, a great session. Amazing what dark skies can do for you isn't it. 

[Smithysteve]

Great to see another one of your inspiring binocular reports Pete!

I will have a bash at Barnard’s E now you have highlighted it ??

Cheers!

Edited July 6, 2018 by Smithysteve

[philjay]

Nice one Pete. I too have caught the NA with bins, 10x42s in my case. It just goes to show one doesnt need massive observation binos to see stuff

[Guest]

On 07/07/2018 at 12:54, philjay said:

Nice one Pete. I too have caught the NA with bins, 10x42s in my case. It just goes to show one doesnt need massive observation binos to see stuff

I've seen NA quite a few times but with 15x70s.