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| August Binocular Highlights |
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Binocular Highlights in the month of August by Filip Feys Binoculars show many deep-sky objects just as well as telescopes do, but not globular clusters. These immense balls of ancient stars need substantial magnification to look really impressive. Still, lots of globulars can be seen in binoculars, and the hunt is half the fun. Riding high in august is the constellation Hercules, home to two of the finest globulars. The great Hercules Cluster, Messier 13, has the double virtue of being easy to locate and easy to recognise. Look for it along the western side of the Keystone, about 1/3 the distance from Eta (η) to Zeta (ς) Hercules. The Cluster is attractively set between a pair of 7th-magnitude stars. In my 10 x50s, M13 looks like a tiny snowball with an intensely luminous center. Photo M13
Photo M92
North of the Keystone, in a relatively barren stretch of sky, lies M13’s neighbour, Messier 92. Compared with M13, M92 is both fainter (magnitude 6,4 versus 5,8) and smaller (11,2 versus 16,6 arc minutes diameter). You might suppose that these differences arise because M92 is farther away, but substantially smaller, spanning about 100 light years compared to 150 for M13. The physical differences between these Hercules clusters are readily apparent en binoculars. While M13 is big and bright enough to be picked up in a casual sweep, M92 is easy to overlook. Even in 10 x 50s, M92 appears only as a slightly out-of-focus star. It’s only when you look carefully and use averted vision (viewing slightly to on the side) that M92’s nature becomes apparent. Finder chart photo chart For more astronomical events and wonders, go to www.sasteria.com See you on the next binocular highlight. Feys Filip
Binocular Highlights in the month of August by Filip Feys |
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