8 Sptember, 2026. Binoculars again

 The sky started out tonight with about 40% cloud cover but was completely clear by 21:30 MDT. This was one of the better nights I've seen in a long time. Some showers have cleared a lot of the smoke. Transparency was good and seeing seemed very good, especially at zenith. The Teapot of Sagittarius was easily visible low in the south. I was pleasantly surprised. Between the smoke and sky glow I had not expected to be able to see it again before it disappeared for the season. NELM was probably approaching 6. After my eyes were dark adapted, all seven stars in the Little Dipper were visible. Star clouds and dark lanes in the Milky Way were clearly visible.

Since I got a late start after dark, I didn't bother with setting up a telescope, just used the binoculars. These are a pair of Nikon 12x50 Action binoculars with a 5.5 degree FOV. I also set up the zero-g recliner so I could be steady ( and comfortable). I started by looking at Sagittarius since it.s low in the south and will disappear from view first. As I was looking at it I remembered the "steam" from the teapot. Part of that are M8, the Lagoon Nebula, and NGC6559. I was able to verify them in the Sky & Telescope Jumbo Pocket Star Atlas that I had with me. Chart "I" shows details of this area.The nebulosity in both M8 and NGC6559 was faint but definitely visible. M8 was readily identified by the bright stars in it. That made it a good reference to locate NGC6559 and its complex.

Next was M13, the Great Hercules Cluster. It was already in the western sky above the trees. I used Arcturus to orient myself and locate the "keystone" of Hercules. I then used Eta HER and Zeta HER to locate M13. In the binoculars it was a small fuzzy ball with a slightly brighter core.

I then went to M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. I was surprised that the sky was good enough that it could actually be seen naked eye as a small fuzzy area just above and right of Nu AND. This is the first time I've done that. 

 I've looked at M31 a few times with the binoculars. Always before it just appeared as a small fuzzy halo with a slightly brighter core. Tonight I saw the entire width of the galaxy, covering over half of the 5.5 degree FOV. Could still see the brighter core area. Seeing it in it's  entirety is amazing. I could also just make out M110 as a very small fuzzy spot, and M32 as a stellar appearing object on the rim of M31.

I started scanning the area under Cassiopeia.  I located what I verified as the Double-Double Cluster in Perseus.It is a very nice looking pair of open clusters about 7500 light years away. They are also known as Caldwell 43 and NGC 869 & 884. It would be interesting to sketch them. Maybe in the telescope with a low power eyepiece? It would challenge me with the number of stars in the FOV. The stars are just diamond like tonight.

In scanning around, I think I may have seen the ISS, or possibly the Chinese station. I also saw a couple of meteors.

At about midnight the transparency started to get a little worse as humidity in the air increased. I was starting to see halos around lights except for zenith the Milky Way staed to seem dimmer. I called it a night.