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Thursday, May 17, 2007

Astronomy binoculars for M7

One of my favorite times of the year to do astronomy with a binocular is in the summer. This season offers not only variety, but also abundance for the binocular observer. It is hands down the best time of year to collect globular clusters with all these beauties a person could want in and around Ophiuchus and Sagittarius, alone. Of course, no discussion of globulars is complete without mention the most famous one of all, M13, in Hercules and, hey, don't forget M5 and M4. How can you even pick a favorite, here?

My first love, though, in the summer sky in a binocular is the grand open cluster M7 in Scorpius. The first time I saw it glimmering, low on the horizon in Scorpius, it took my breath away. Yes, the Pleiades in fall and winter are stunning in their brilliance, but I've always thought M7 has a majesty and sweep that fills the field of binocular like no other open cluster. To me, it has always seemed somewhat mysterious as well, located as it is not far from the great Sagittarius star fields. The problem is, that M7 is too low on the horizon for many northern observers to get the full effect.

Would I travel south just to see it? Offer me a dark sky, a gentle night breeze and a tripod mounted Nikon Astroluxe 10x70 binocular and see what happens.

Read Post | 12:42 PM

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