January Binocular Session

Date: 17 January 2007 U.T.
Time: 2:06 - 6:17 U.T.
Binoculars: 20x80 (hand-held)
Seeing: Good
NELM: 6.5 or better
Temperature: +22F to +15F (-6C to -9C)

As evening approached, my sky remained clear. Yet, the 'Clear Sky Clock' indicated that clouds and/or poor transparency would prevail. So I refrained from setting up a telescope, and made plans for a binocular session -- just in case the sky remained clear.

Living under a dark sky, I was able to observe a few objects, come back inside, record notes, and allow the binoculars to warm up a little (as a preventive measure against dew and frost formation). The sequence was repeated as often as necessary. Of course, I was always careful to maintain a good level of dark adaptation throughout the session.

All told, I observed forty Messier objects and eleven non-Messier objects. Descriptive notes were recorded for all objects. A few details follow:

The Andromeda Galaxy was stunningly beautiful! The Merope Nebula in the Pleiades was easily visible with a well-defined shape. M33 was large and bright with a hint of visible structure. Even M81 appeared larger than usual, with more of its outlying region visible.

Based on the above indicators of a good sky, I decided to try for the California Nebula. It's rare that I look for this object; but on this night I'm glad I did. I was pleasantly surprised to find this elusive nebula easily visible in the 20x80s. Clearly this was a very good night indeed!

When I went around to the north side of the house at 4:50 U.T. I noticed an auroral glow along the north horizon. The glow was centered on magnetic north. A few minutes later I noted a single, somewhat fat auroral ray extending upward about ten degrees above the horizon. Fortunately the aurora was limited in brightness and extent, allowing me to return to my binocular observations.

About forty-five minutes before the end of the session I noticed a rather sudden onset of frost on everything outside. My final observations were of a few galaxies in Leo. They didn't seem quite as bright as I thought they ought to have been. Decreasing sky transparency was suspected.