The laws of nature were violated, and I had excellent skies last night even though I received 2 new pieces of astro equipment that day. One of them was a pair of Swift 8x42mm Ultralight binos (the other was a 5mm eyepiece that saw only a little use last night; intended for planets). My old 10x50s are just a little too cumbersome for me, so I thought I might use this little pair more often. Reviews were good, it was on sale (I think an updated version is coming out, so current stock is discounted). And dang, they were nice! Sharp and contrasty and easy to hold, I decidedly prefer them to my low-end Meade 10x50s (which aren't bad, but are heavier and are outclassed optically by these Swifts).
Anyway, with the new binos and the great skies at Lake Hudson in SE Michigan, I discovered a new observing pleasure - Dark Nebulae. I was amazed at how clearly visible some of these were last night in the binos. B142 near Altair was a beautiful dark streamer. B168, the dark nebulosity associated with the Cocoon Nebula, was almost as nice. B92/93, the two prominent dark nebulae associated with M24, were a little small to be distinct in the 8x binos, but switching to my scope at 50x (~1.35 degree field of view) displayed these nicely. They also share the same field with NGC6603, the tight little open cluster within M24. Funny how I've viewed M24 and NGC6603 a bunch of times in the past, but never noticed the prominent dark nebulae right there.
Which is why dark nebulae are fun. Visually, they're not something, they're the lack of something. It takes a certain perceptual shift to notice them, but once you see them, they're incredibly obvious and snap into view - suddenly "negative space" becomes "positive space". (Of course, dark/clear skies help immensely.)
Anyway, with the new binos and the great skies at Lake Hudson in SE Michigan, I discovered a new observing pleasure - Dark Nebulae. I was amazed at how clearly visible some of these were last night in the binos. B142 near Altair was a beautiful dark streamer. B168, the dark nebulosity associated with the Cocoon Nebula, was almost as nice. B92/93, the two prominent dark nebulae associated with M24, were a little small to be distinct in the 8x binos, but switching to my scope at 50x (~1.35 degree field of view) displayed these nicely. They also share the same field with NGC6603, the tight little open cluster within M24. Funny how I've viewed M24 and NGC6603 a bunch of times in the past, but never noticed the prominent dark nebulae right there.
Which is why dark nebulae are fun. Visually, they're not something, they're the lack of something. It takes a certain perceptual shift to notice them, but once you see them, they're incredibly obvious and snap into view - suddenly "negative space" becomes "positive space". (Of course, dark/clear skies help immensely.)
