Things that make you go "Oh!"

Remember when you first saw the rings of Saturn or the Orion Nebula, how stunning they were to you. Did you gasp or say something, or maybe you just held your breath. Those times are rare because with experience, the things we look for are not as impressive. Sure, search for that dim DSO might give you more satisfaction now than those object do now, but that satisfaction lies from the challenge, not the beauty. I got to say "Oh" tonight when I wasn't expecting it, and that was wonderful.

But let me set the stage.

I've been enjoying my binoculars so much recently I went on a book buying spree. I happily picked up Philip Harrington's Star Watch. This is a great book that gives the usual overview of things in the sky, then breaks into seasonal sections, covering 125 objects.

What makes the book special is the organization and detail. I love the seasonal layout. (I've also picked up his Touring the Universe through Binoculars which, uhhh, divides the sky alphabetically! Yuk.) And I love the detail that he goes into. For the most part, each object gets an entire page. There is a star chart every couple of pages, making it easy, in the dark, to cross reference the text and the chart. There are photos and sketches of many objects. The sketches are particularly useful since, unlike modern photos, they show you what you can actually see. Each object is also rated on a Wow factor and more importanly, you are given a separate Wow for binocuars, small telescopes, and large telescopes.

One of my favorite binocular objects in the sky is M7.

(M7 image courtesy seds.org)

I don't know why I like this open cluster so much, perhaps because it was one of the first objects, if not the first object, that I found without using the GoTo feature of my telescope. I found this a week or two after getting my Canon 15x50IS binoculars.

M7 is in Scoprius and this summer has been rough for me for the Scorpius/Sagitarius section of the sky. I'm not sure why, I've had time to look elsewhere but not here. So after avidly reading the section containing M7, I anxiously awaited the time when I could head out.

I also decided to go out to Pilgrim Heights. I've used this dark site before, but as I noted in an earlier blog entry, I'm not at all fond of going here alone, coyotes you know. But, I wanted to see if I could do it so I headed out.

The good news is that I was able to spend an hour and a half there. The bad news is that I was never comfortable. Oh well, perhaps with exposure I'll get used to it.

I got to the site after dark, but not completely dark. The western sky was still a nice Maxfield Parish blue, beautiful, but not great for dim DSOs low on the horizon. You see, I'd waited until late September and these objects are very low on the horizon.

My first attempt was for M4, a globular that I've found before from light polluted Manchester, but at only 15 degrees above the horizon, I needed more dark.

So I went over to M7 and M6, I didn't even need the charts for those friends. They were nice, but I'd seen better M7s before. I guess I waited too late in the year. I bounced back and forth between them and where M4 should have been, waiting for more dark. Of course I looked at the Double Cluster and M31 since I was just killing time.

Eventually I grabbed M4, it was around 7:30 and Stellarium tells me it was only 12 degrees above the horizon then! It was quite dim and I don't think I would have seen it without knowing that it was there. I then looked for M80, couldn't find it. (I would try several times again that evening but I never nabbed it.)

NGC6231 was on the chart but in the trees for me so I went up to find M19 and M62. Both were a bit of a challenge. Harrington says that M19 should appear noticably oval. It was dim enough for me that I could not observe that. And he goes on to say that M62 lies in an "absolutely stunning star field." Well, that wasn't the case for me. (Memo to myself, look again at these objects when they are higher in the sky.)

So now I'm feeling a bit disappointed. I waited so long that everything was in the murk. I should have regrouped at this point and started looking at things higher in the sky but I guess I'm too stubborn to do that.

So next on the list was M8, the Lagoon Nebula. I've seen it before but it never fails to disappoint and indeed, even under these conditions I could see the central dark rift between the two nebulous sections. Not that my binoculars are 15 power, which is high for binoculars, it may not be as impressive in yours.

Close by is M20, the Triffid Nebula. If M8 weren't next door this would be considered a impressive object, but M8's glory overshadows it.

I know I saw M21 but I wasn't able to pick it out from the copius background stars. I probably should have tried harder but I still wasn't entirely comfortable with the location. I just knew their beady eyes were peering at me from the trees.

So then, I head up north a bit more and...

"Oh!"

I'd actually looked at this object a few weeks ago at this site through my Burgess but I didn't even know what I was looking for. It just looked like a lot of stars. But that's because M24, the Small Sagitarius Star Cloud is just too big to really be appreciated in a telescope. Oh sure, your short focal length APO refractor will give great views but I loved my view, sliding the binoculars north from M20/21 and there it was. More stars than I could fathom, wonderfully framed by dark spots. This made the whole evening worth it.

I lingered some then headed north again, to M18, which I could spot even though it seemed so small. Then M17, the Swan Nebula. I was very glad that Harrington included a sketch of M17. I spent a lot of time looking at, trying to see the neck, and you know, several times I caught elusive glimpses of it with averted vision, but never with direct. I need to revisit this one.

Next was M16 and I was able to easily see it but alas, there was motion in the woods. Probably a cute little bunny but it sounded like a Coyote to me. I packed up my gear and headed home.

I will certainly revisit this section of the sky, maybe in 9 or 10 months when things are higher in the sky!