Good sights to see with binoculars?

[Utwo]

I am going camping to a semi-remote, light pollution-free area of Utah next week. The moon will be nearly full, so that may drown out a lot of dimmer stuff. I have an account on heavens above, and so I can look up any ISS and Iridium Flare sightings.

But I was wondering, what sorts of cool things are there to see with a cheap pair of binoculars? Mine are 8x50, I believe. I heard that many objects are rather large, like M31, and that binoculars provide enough extra aperture to see details I otherwise wouldn't see, and that a high-powered telescope is actually not preferred for such objects. Is that true?

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Deeps how clear you're skies are and if you have a lucky nights viewing but you might try to see

Iridium Sats, Mizar ( double star ) The Moon, M48 Cluster, Double Star Alberio, North American Nebulae NGC 7000, The ISS, coma cluster, Jupiter, Andromeda M31, the coat hanger cluster

[Dave Mitsky]

A handful of deep-sky objects are too large for some telescopes. Some rich-field telescopes can produce a true field of view of about five degrees (I own two such instruments), which is larger than that of some giant binoculars.

Here's a post I made recently at another astronomy forum that may prove useful. The OP had a 20x80 binocular but the advice still applies. (I didn't mention some obvious targets like M31, since they had already been mentioned earlier in the thread.) You'll want to use this link - http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/binomess/binomesa.html - for the AL's binocular Messier list, however.

During the summer, the open clusters M6 and M7 in Scorpius are good binocular objects as well as NGC 6231.

You should also be sure to have a look at the Coathanger asterism (Collinder 399) in Vulpecula. In the same constellation, M27 stands out well in 20x80 binoculars. M39 in Cygnus is a large, coarse open cluster that looks good in binos. The same goes for IC 4665 in Ophiuchus. There is also, of course, the so-called Binocular Double Cluster, which consists of NGC 6633 (Ophiuchus) and IC 4756 (Serpens).

In the autumn sky, the large open cluster NGC 752 in Andromeda is worth a look. Just north of the Double Cluster (NGC 869 and 884) lies the charming Muscleman Cluster (Stock 2), which was named by my friend John Davis.

Another great binocular target that hasn't been mentioned so far is Kemble's Cascade (Kemble 1) in Camelopardalis.

http://www.backyard-astro.com/deepsky/bino/homeb.html

A short list of good binocular objects and information about them can be found at http://www.lightandmatter.com/binosky/binosky.html

A list of binocular objects is included with each monthly Evening Sky Map at http://skymaps.com/downloads.html

The Astronomical League's Messier and Deep Sky Binocular lists should keep you busy for some time:

http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/binomess/binomesb.html

http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/dsbinoc/dsbnlist.html

As far as binocular observing guides go, I recommend Crosen and Tirion's _Binocular Astronomy_ and Phil Harrington's _Touring the Universe through Binoculars_.

Dave Mitsky

[redshifter]

Just scanning the summer milky way is absolutely amazing through binocs, though the moon will be problematic for scanning. You should still be able to see many of the Messier objects mentioned above though. The moon is a good binocular target as well.

[Glom]

Oh my! Everything! Binoculars are the best. I'm trying to remember the cool stuff I've seen through mine. Probably M31 if that's around. It's too big and diffuse to be seen through some telescopes, but it should look great through binos. Of course M45 is great and ditto on the telescope problem. Take a gander at Orion if that's around. I think that was the first thing I tried my binos out on when I first got them. It blew me away how much they opened up the constellation with so many hitherto unseen stars visible. And the colours with the binocular vision! Of course, this was light polluted sky but it should still be potent for your clear skies too. Just look at everything. It all looks great.

[doma]

Last night I couldn't sleep so I walked past the telescope, picked up my 10x50 binoculars, and headed to the porch. 3am, west coast.

Saw the Pleiades (pretty), then went looking for, and found, the Andromeda Galaxy. Just spot the 'W' (Cassiopeia) and look to the south of it. Looks like an oval haze.

Very nice! Binos are cool. Would have taken much longer to see those sights in the scope.

[Kaptain K]

Another good binocular sight in that area is the double cluster - H and Chi Persei, between Cass and Per.

[redshifter]

Loads of open clusters in Casseopeia and the surrounding area, very good for binoculars.