Amateur Astronomy with Binoculars and a Small Telescope

January 22, 2010 January 30, 2010

Photorealistic Image in Stellarium

Object: Pleiades

Site: Front Yard

Seeing: Average

Transparency: 3

Type: Nebula

Size: 30′

Magnitude: 2.85

Constellation: Taurus

Magnification: 10x

FOV: 4.8 degrees

Observing Time: 9:55 pm – 10:30 pm

Notes: NGC 1432- The Pleiades.  Spectacular through binoculars!  Amazing, I was surprised that something this beautiful is in reach right outside my front door.  It wouldn’t have looked so pretty through a telescope because of the telescope’s inherently limited FOV, one of the strong points of observing with binoculars.  I was able to draw the Pleiades in moderate detail, hitting all the brightest stars.  I will post the sketch when I get the camera back.  22 stars drawn in total; very interesting how my drawing distorted the relative positions of the stars, it proved that everybody needs practice when first making drawings (or starting anything new, for that matter).  I was surprised that there were a lot of fainter stars visible through binoculars in the same field, giving the experience of looking through a porthole travelling through the expanse of space.  Observed no nebulosity, however (need more aperture, and here is where a telescope might come in handy).   All in all, this will be one of the all-time highlights of my observing sessions with binoculars.  The Pleiades were known to the Greeks in the ancient times to be seven sisters, and elaborate myths from many cultures surround this beautiful cluster of stars.