Friday, November 9, 2001 Tonight was, if anything, better than this Wednesday. The sky was very clear and dark. The temperature was below freezing. I went out around 10:30pm with my binoculars to have a look around. There was no moon. I took a good look at the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and I definitely saw the associated galaxy M110 (NGC-205). It was rather close to the main galaxy in the binoculars and looked almost like a slightly detached blob of the main galaxy. I'm used to locating NGC-205 in a telescope where it is difficult (with my 'scope and eyepieces) to keep both NGC-205 and M31 in the same field of view. Thus the binocular view was a bit different than I expected. However, consulting my atlases showed that I was right on target. M32 was also easily visible but it looks stellar in the binoculars. I would have never recognized it as a galaxy unless I already knew exactly where it was. I tried again to see M33 with my naked eyes. I was able, I think, to catch a few glimpses of it. The nearby magnitude 6.0 star that I observed on Wednesday was relatively easy to see tonight. I could hold it steadily with averted vision. I don't recall it being that easy on Wednesday. In Aur I took another look at the region just to the east of stars 16, 18, and 19. There was definitely an interesting looking binocular cluster in that region. Norton's 2000 does not plot an object at that location, however Sky Atlas 2000 shows NGC-1893 embedded in the nebula IC-410. The object I saw seems like it was bigger than the size implied by the Sky Atlas 2000 plotting of NGC-1893 but the position is exactly right so I guess it's the same object. What I saw looked more like the size of IC-410 although I'm sure I wasn't seeing the nebula in my binoculars. I note that NGC-1893 is listed as having a combined brightness of magnitude 8.0 so that would probably be visible in my binoculars. This area warrants further investigation with a telescope. I noticed that NGC-1907 just south of M38 was clearly visible. In Gem, M35 was an amazing sight. What a glorious object it is! The cluster is rich and interesting. Since I know that there is also the globular cluster NGC-2158 involved with M35 (really behind M35) I studied M35 closely to see if I could see NGC-2158 in my binoculars. I wasn't expecting to see it. However, I did notice a small fuzzy blob on the outskirts of M35 to the south-west. Later I checked Sky Atlas 2000 and found that was the location of NGC-2158. Since I was not aware of the exact location beforehand, I'm inclined to say that I spotted the globular successfully. Jupiter is in the heart of Gem now and it appeared very brightly in my binoculars. I noticed several of the moons, but the glare from the planet was so great that it was hard to get a satisfactory view. Binoculars are not good instruments for planet work! I walked down the road a bit from my house to a place where I can look over a field and get a much better south-eastern view than is possible from my yard. There I studied the Orion Nebula (M42). It is one awesome object. With averted vision the characteristic shape of the nebula, so apparent on photographs, was visible in the binoculars. I could resolve a couple of the Trapezium stars but not all four. It is cool to realize that the Trapezium is the main source of light that is illuminating the nebula. The effect is a lot like the look of car headlights coming through the fog. Just before going in for the night I decided to give M1, the Crab Nebula, another try. It was much higher than it was the other night and the sky was darker. Also my eyes were well adapted after my time spent observing M42 (no need to consult the atlas to find the Orion Nebula!). As I examined the field of M1 I noticed right away that more stars were visible to me than during my earlier observations. In fact, the field had a pleasing richness to it that I hadn't noticed before. Then, at the exact spot where the nebula was located, I clearly saw a small fuzzy blob with averted vision. Although groupings of faint stars can often give a similar view, I'm included to say that I was able to observe the nebula in my binoculars. All in all it was a good night. Peter