15x70s sights

I'm new to astronomy and received my first pair of binoculars on
Tuesday, the Celestron Skymaster 15x70s. It was full moon
coincidentally, the skies cleared, and I got my first magnified view of
it! I couldn't believe how bright and detailed it was. That view was
worth the 80 quid itself.

My question is (and I'm a newbie so you knew one was coming!) what
should I look out for in the next few nights? I've got the Astronomy
magazine with October's overview in, and books with charts, but I
wondered if any of you could point me towards something at the mo,
specifically seen through 15x70 binoculars, that would dazzle me as much
as the moon did.

Thanks in advance
Darren

My targets when I bought my pair of 15x70s were...

Moon
Andromeda (M31)
Pleiades
Jupiter (trying to spot the moons is great fun)
Saturn (trying to see the elongatedness and Titan)
Venus (just very bright!)

and then I got stuck into hunting down all the Messier objects.
Just make sure you find somewhere with dark and clear skies!

All the best,
Paul.

Darren Reynolds wrote:
I'm new to astronomy and received my first pair of binoculars on
Tuesday, the Celestron Skymaster 15x70s. It was full moon
coincidentally, the skies cleared, and I got my first magnified view
of it! I couldn't believe how bright and detailed it was. That view
was worth the 80 quid itself.

My question is (and I'm a newbie so you knew one was coming!) what
should I look out for in the next few nights? I've got the Astronomy
magazine with October's overview in, and books with charts, but I
wondered if any of you could point me towards something at the mo,
specifically seen through 15x70 binoculars, that would dazzle me as
much as the moon did.

Thanks in advance
Darren

Although not a Messier object, the Double Cluster in Perseus is good 15x70
fodder, as is the entire space north of Perseus heading towards Casseopia.
Shedloads of open clusters and rich star fields.

Early evening, you can still do some sweeping in Lacerta and Cepheus.
Indeed, the star fields in Lacerta are amongst the richest of the entire
northern sky. The only problem is the very high altitude.

Regards
Chef!

On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 18:34:16 +0100, "Paul Neave"
wrote:

My targets when I bought my pair of 15x70s were...

Moon
Andromeda (M31)
Pleiades
Jupiter (trying to spot the moons is great fun)
Saturn (trying to see the elongatedness and Titan)
Venus (just very bright!)

and then I got stuck into hunting down all the Messier objects.
Just make sure you find somewhere with dark and clear skies!

Some other simple objects would be:

The double cluster in Perseus
Uranus with the aid of some charts just to say you've seen it.
M13 as a tiny fuzzball
M15 in Pegasus
M42 early in the morning (the Orion nebula)
M32 and M110 which are the satellite galaxies close to M31 mentioned
by Paul above.
I think Vesta is up and a possible target (again just to say you've
seen it and to use as hunting practice)
Beta Cygni (Alberio) - a nicely coloured double star
Mizar and Alcor in the handle of the Plough
The double-double in Lyra

If you need assistance in finding these objects do a search for them
online to see if you can locate a chart. If you're really stuck, just
ask here and someone will point you in the right direction.

--
Pete Lawrence
http://www.pbl33.co.uk
Most recent images http://www.pbl33.fast24.co.uk/recent_images.html

Darren Reynolds wrote:
what should I look out for in the next few nights?

See:
http://www.astspace.demon.co.uk/nigh...lyNightSky.htm and
http://www.nightsky.org.uk/

--
Best,
Stephen
http://www.astunit.com

I wrote:
http://www.astspace.demon.co.uk/nigh...lyNightSky.htm

Oops -- URL change:
http://www.astrospace.co.uk/nightsky...lyNightSky.htm

Best,
Stephen

Remove footfrommouth to reply

--
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Stephen Tonkin wrote:

See:
http://www.astspace.demon.co.uk/nigh...lyNightSky.htm

This one gives 404 not found. Perhaps it's cloudy?

--
Julian

Anyone remind you to use a tripod? This will increase substantially the
number of objects that you find.

The full Messier catalogues is accessible with 15x70s. Also look for the
Astronomical League's binocular observing list

http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclu.../dsbnlist.html


Regards
Paul

Thanks all! I've printed off the list of objects to watch out for. We
had clear skies around here last night (and still this morning) but the
moon proved too bright for anything but stars I think. So, it was a case
of looking at the moon a bit more. I live at the edge of the Peak
District and West Yorks moors so should be ok as regards dark skies.

Yes, I have a tripod. I don't think I would have bought the 15x70s if I
hadn't. They're a tad shaky!

Thanks
Darren

Darren Reynolds wrote
Thanks all! I've printed off the list of objects to watch out for. We
had clear skies around here last night (and still this morning) but the
moon proved too bright for anything but stars I think. So, it was a case
of looking at the moon a bit more. I live at the edge of the Peak
District and West Yorks moors so should be ok as regards dark skies.
Yes, I have a tripod. I don't think I would have bought the 15x70s if I
hadn't. They're a tad shaky!
Thanks
Darren

Good timing ! My Strathspey 15x70's arrived today, VERY nice.

I'll probably do a write up as soon as I get first light at night, but for daytime use, so far so
good.

Thanks to ST for recommendation and John for providing good friendly service and the best bag of
bubble wrap I've ever seen (well packed sir !)

DH