OR: The 31 Nagler and the other trio in Leo

This is a fragment of an observing report. (I may post some other
segments later). It was Friday eve March 19 and unaccountably the
Cincinnati skies were clear. It had been cloudy or rainy all week, and
the next day it was again cloudy, and today, the 21, it snowed briefly,
but the 19th in the evening was very clear. I went to Stonelick State
Park, about 30 miles East of Cincinnati, and set up my Starmaster 11
f/4.5 ELT, which I love. I had acquired a 31 Nagler recently but had
not had much chance to try it under a decent sky. The sky was about mag
5.5 at zenith. Other members of our club, FOTO, were there as well so it
was a simpatico environment to observe in.
First I turned the scope and the Nagler on M41, which owing to the
terrible haze in the weeks preceding I couldn't add to my binocular
Messier list even with my 15 x 70's. M41 looked fine, though close to
the horizon, lots of stars resolved, but seemed a bit over magnified, so
it looked like the Beehive in Cancer or maybe a brighter version of
7789.. M41 has been called "the Little Beehive" but to my taste it
didn't have quite the aspect I wanted.
I next tried the Nagler on the Sword of Orion. Here the view was
lovely, and the Trapezium was resolved well even though it was low in
the sky, and the mirror hadn't yet cooled. Yet somehow I expected a bit
more panoramic view from the Nagler.
Then I tried the Nagler on the Pleiades. I had bought the eyepiece
specifically for the Pleiades, the Double Cluster, M24, and the Veil, so
I was especially interested in what this view would be like. I found
that the view beautiful, and the three stars near Pleone very obvious
and pretty, but the whole Pleiades really didn't quite fit into the real
field of view, even though the apparent field was wonderfully wide, so I
was a bit disappointed again.
I t turned to another object and decided I wanted a higher
magnification, so I went to my eyepiece case and reached for my beloved
20 mm Nagler, which I have owned for years, but it wasn't there! Where
was it? Why, in the focuser of my scope! In the dark I had inserted it
instead of the 31; they weigh the same, but the 31, which I was pretty
unfamiliar with, is o much bulkier.
Actually putting the 31 into the focuser and repeating my
observations, produced wonderful panoramic views, the ones I had wanted.
Glorious. I always use the Paracorr, to get the best image possible
under the circumstances, which makes the focal ratio about f/5.2 and
results in a magnification of 47 in my scope and a real field of 1.75
degrees. Without the Paracorr, the 31 Nagler provides magnification of
40x and about 2 degrees, on my scope, and I plan to use it that way on
very large objects..
Later in the evening, having in he meantime enjoyed "the trio in
Leo," namely M65, M66, and NGC3628, I turned the scope to M95 and M96
in western Leo. I found that with the 31 Nagler, M105 was also in the
field. So, there is a second trio in Leo, doubtless known to many, but
new to me. It was an entrancing view. I called over some people,
including my wife, who observes with me, to see. The ability of this
eyepiece to produce a panoramic view, and include several notable
objects in the field of view, is very satisfying to me and well worth
the price (which is high). It gives a feeling of the vastness of space.
Ciao,
Bill Meyers