03/05/02
10:30pm
Right around freezing..
7x50 Zeiss binos.

I went out last night first with my Trusty Tasco.. only to find that the diagonal I had would not allow my scope to focus, and the neighbors had adjusted their spotlights so my backyard could be used for just about any activity. Gonna fix that with the BobSal light retarding system. (tarps hung on poles to block stray light).

So I decided that I could hide in the shadows with my binoculars and do a little observing.

M42 and the fuzzyness around it was definitely there, found NGC???? the three star just about Orions sword.

Jupiter found three moons making a triangle off to the South, no sign of the 4th.

Betelguese - reddish/orange color was there, off to the North saw the three stars in a wide v, and then a little more North and lower on the horizon I could see a faint fuzzy. Not sure if it was really there or not, couldn't see it directly just when I was looking at the V. Could someone let me know if there is something there or not?

Gemini - both Castor and Pollux were visible. I believe I read somewhere that one of these two is actually a multiple star system, if that is true would they be visible through binocs at 7x?

Here is where my main question is, I turned to the East and could see a orange/red star on the field all by its lonesome, very bright and beautiful against the black backdrop? Any ideas?

I didn't have time last night to consult SkyMaps as my wife was using the machine for work.

thanks for any responses
Happy Hunting
Thom

• Ideas - musca - March 5, 2002 - 19:02 UTC
• good report - leonard - March 6, 2002 - 04:48 UTC
  • binocs/tripod - bolintx - March 7, 2002 - 17:32 UTC
    • advantage of bonocs - leonard - March 8, 2002 - 04:17 UTC