Some bino targets

[ARock]

Gear: Celestron Skymaster 15x70 binos, monopod, pistol grip, Bino Bandit eye shade.
Time: Around 10:30 pm.

Having brushed the dust of my binos with two new accessories I thought I would try out my Skymaster 15x70 from my balcony for a quick session. Recently I have been looking at the area north and east of Jupiter in my Dob, and have been familiar with it enough to hop with little help. The Bino Bandit on the 15x70 worked well. It prevents stray light from entering you eyes in an urban setting. I remembered always seeing a flare on Jupiter through the 15x70 and had blamed it on my eyes. With the Bino Bandit the flare is gone (or very very minimal). Could see the moons, but not the bands.

• From Jupiter went up using Sabik and Saik as reference points and headed to M10. Much easier to find than on the Dob, and was visible well in direct vision. Headed up and right beyond a pair of stars and could pick out M12. Not quite in direct, but easy in averted. Got greedy and came down towards Jupiter to see if M9 was possible but no, could not make it out.
• Headed east for open cluster Summer Beehive IC 4665 (TSS challenge of the month) just off Beta Oph which is visible with naked eyes. A little trial and error to get to it, but seeing IC 4665 in the binos confirmed to me that I had found Beta Oph. Very visible in the binos, and well framed. Not as brilliantly lit as in the Dob, but still pleasant viewing.
• From there down to a triangle of stars with an extra pair of pointer stars close to it, pointing towards NGC 6633 (Tweedledum Open Cluster), visible as a OC but not as dense as it should be. Went further down for Tweedeldee IC 4756 (Graff's Cluster) which I had seen just yesterday with my Dob, but not much luck. Could feel an OC there but could not quite make out the stars.
• Went back to Jupiter and from there to Antares, and tried to find M4. This has been off and on for me with the 15x70s. Tonight was good. Could make out M4 in the right place by panning the binos, and picked it up in averted. No details, but it was definitely there.

Came back and checked Clear Dark Sky for my logs, and transparency was excellent seeing not so good.

All in all a quick productive half and hour with some new scores for the bino.

[Harshil]

A good quick bino session!
I always like quick bino session, Just two days before I've observed M7, M20, M21, IC 4665, M6, and few bright stars...

[Shabadoo]

Nice session indeed!
Jeff

[helicon]

Great session AR and quite a haul from your balcony. Since it was clear I also took the 6" scope out and checked out IC4665, M8, M23, and M17. I could also just make out M71 in Sagitta. The Sagitta asterism was pretty impressive. Tried for the Veil but not visible in my home LP, unfortunately.

[bladekeeper]

Some nice binoing, AR!

[ARock]

A good quick bino session!
I always like quick bino session, Just two days before I've observed M7, M20, M21, IC 4665, M6, and few bright stars...

Good that you got some bino time Hershil. I am waiting for Sagittarius to come into view from my balcony at an earlier time. There is something to see there at any time. The binos never cease to amaze me with what they can show. For example, I have found it impossible to see M4 with my 4" Mak, but I have seen it a few times with my 15x70s.

Great session AR and quite a haul from your balcony. Since it was clear I also took the 6" scope out and checked out IC4665, M8, M23, and M17. I could also just make out M71 in Sagitta. The Sagitta asterism was pretty impressive. Tried for the Veil but not visible in my home LP, unfortunately.

Sagitta is out of my field of view from the balcony unfortunately. We have had a few good nights lately, good that you have been able to get the new scope out Michael. I have been mixing it up between my Dob, and imaging with my 80mm Meade (still very stressful), with binos thrown in for quick unplanned sessions.

[seer]

Another Bino Bandit fan
I have them on all of my binoculars. One of the next things on wish list is one of those L Adapters that you can also mount a RDF on.
M4 is my most elusive target. I hope to be able to see it this year.