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Started: September 24, 2011
Completed: December 23, 2011
Certificate Number: 932
The binoculars used for observation unless otherwise noted were 1978 vintage Orion 11x80s given to me by my parents in the 1970s. They have a 4.5o field of view and were used with a home made parallelogram mount. See mount information.
I hit the brakes for quite a while after I completed the required 50. Later I realized how enjoyable it was to find things with binoculars. I decided to see how many of the Messier objects could really be seen with binoculars. The objects below in the table were submitted for the program. All the Messier Objects I saw with binoculars are in the Google Spreadsheet below the table. Seeing more than 70/110 is difficult.
To qualify for the Binocular Messier Certification, observe 50 or more Messier objects using only binoculars. Any 50 of the 110 recognized Messier objects may be observed. Any pair of binoculars may be used, but those with objectives between 20MM and 80MM in diameter are recommended. To record your observations, you may use the log sheets found in the back of the Astronomical League's manual "Observe: A Guide to the Messier Objects", or any similar log sheet. The required information for each observation is:
the name of the object
date and time
latitude and longitude
an estimate of the seeing and transparency
the size and power of the binoculars used
and perhaps, a brief description of what you saw.
Chart Number refers to Messier Telrad Map number. See Telrad Maps for one of many Internet sources.
All objects were personally found without outside help or assistance and by either direct viewing, scanning the approximate area, or star hopping.
Below is the spreadsheet I used to track my progress on the Bino Messier Program.
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