On the evening of Wednesday, May 3, 2023, I was seduced outside by mildly crappy skies (instead of the forecast 100% cloud cover and rain) and a spanking new Nikon 18×70 IF WF binocular begging for starlight. Here is a shout out to my Cloudy Nights friends...
A misperception exists about the capability of 10x binocular to resolve closer double stars. The actual limit is much closer than often believed. The closest double star I have resolved with a 10x binocular is 100 Herculis, which has a separation of only 14.3...
The starfield around the star Wasat in the constellation Gemini (also named Delta Geminorum, 55 Gem, STF 1066) first attracted my notice years ago because of its marque denizen, the planetary nebula, NGC 2392 (the Eskimo Nebula) which is a fine object for high...
I recently added Oberwerk 7mm XL eyepieces to my equipment collection for the purpose of doing comparisons with the 7mm eyepieces I customarily use – Pentax 7mm XWs. A collimation issue has been reported concerning the XL 7mm eyepieces, such that the eyepieces have to...
The most observed object in the constellation Gemini is the rich open cluster Messier 35. Its faint companion cluster, NGC 2159, is better known to the astronomical cognoscenti than more casual observers. The excellent double star Castor, STF 1110, and the planetary...
