Binocular Astronomy 21 Aug 2011

I took advantage of the clear skies tonight after days of cloudy skies. I set out to view as many objects as I can with my Celestron UpClose binoculars. All I had to struggle with was the light pollution from my observing site in Cubao and the fact that I had colds. Nevertheless, clear skies don't come as often.

I trained my binoculars for the constellation Scorpius. My first thought was I need to see the M7 (Ptolemy's cluster/NGC 6475) which remained elusive in my past observation attempts in Cubao. However, I found myself observing the Scorpius Jewel Box (NGC 6231) first. It remained beautiful despite being washed out by light pollution. Then I also caught a glimpse of NGC 6242 which appeared faint. Finally I turned to the position of M7. Luckily I was able to find it with little difficulty. They appeared beautifully as faint fuzzy stars. Next, I moved up and also observed the Butterfly nebula (M6/NGC 6405). I then moved to Sagittarius and found the Lagoon Nebula (M8/NGC 6523) appearing as a fuzzy patch. Moving to the west I came across the bright Arcturus (Alpha Bootis). I turned north to the summer triangle and focused on Cygnus. NGC 6871 appeared very faint, likewise with M29.



I haven't taken binocular astronomy seriously before, and I realized what a waste it was since I had good observing sites in Negros. However, I would still love to have my telescope around. I hope the skies continue to clear up from now on.

Summer Triangle