It is very cold in Birmingham and the ground is becoming very slippy so it was not the best idea for me to go out in the garden for long tonight. I didn't want to risk damaging my ankle further. It is getting better - slowly.
My parents brought me a pair of binoculars for Christmas. They are very good. They are not a pair that would cost silly money and I believe were very reasonably (so are well within the reaches of the normal person just wanting to give astronomy a go!) priced. I am glad they brought them for me as what with I have seen recently I have become a convert to binocular astronomy. It is quite interesting and something that you can do very easily and very quickly. My knowledge of the night sky was pretty good but it is getting better and better now that I am using binoculars.
Tonight I observed M52 (not entirely convinced), M29, M39, NGC 457 (Owl cluster) and I think M103. I also went for the normal objects that I look at during my observing including getting probably my best view ever of the Orion Nebula. Comet Machholz was easily observable with my binoculars and I am not convinced that it has particular increased in brightness yet. Lets hope it does soon otherwise I will be deemed as lying! :-) (see below for sky charts).
M29 is a 7th magnitude open cluster and lies in a region of high dust absorption. It is about 7,200 light years away and contains about a dozen clearly visible stars. It is not the best example but is still quite a nice sight. This object lies just below Sadr in Cygnus.
M52 is a rich open star cluster and contains about 200 stars. It is easily visible through binoculars and can be found in Cassiopeia. It also has the name "the Scorpion".
NGC 457 (Owl cluster) is again a rich star open star cluster in Cassiopeia. It has several thousand member stars and through large telescopes shapes can be picked out in this.
M103 again an open star cluster in Cassiopeia. Some say this resembles a Christmas tree. I wasn't convinced though my binoculars. Well I wasn't convinced I could see it to be honest. Either way it made me feel Christmasy!
Sky Charts:
NGC 457, M103 and M52:
M29:
More:
+ Comet Machholz - http://www.krioma.net/blog/archives/2004_12_15.php#000462
+ SEDS NGC 457 - http://www.seds.org/~spider/ngc/ngc.cgi?ngc457
+ SEDS M103 - http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m103.html
+ Astrosurf M52 - http://www.astrosurf.com/jwisn/m52.htm
+ M29 Amateurs View - http://members.aol.com/kdaly10475/M29.html
+ SEDS M29 - http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m029.html
