Sky and Telescope - April 2016 - 32

Binocular Observations

NOAO / AURA / NSF

M58

I JUST NEED MY SPACE Binocular observations of M58 can also be hampered by nearby
field stars. Edging 8th-magnitude HD 109771 just outside your field of view may help; look
for an oval condensation about 8 arcminutes east of the star.

at low magnifications it can be difficult to
separate the two. M98 is off by itself, like
M100, but it's fairly dim for a Virgo Messier galaxy, and I find it a challenging target
under all but the best circumstances.
The northernmost star in the arrowhead, HD 107415, is also the base of a
tall, narrow diamond, capped by 5thmagnitude 11 Comae Berenices. Just over
1°° east-northeast of 11 Comae is M85, a
large lenticular galaxy. M85 is the northernmost outpost of the Virgo Cluster, at
least for observers using binoculars or
small telescopes.
Now go back to the arrowhead asterism and follow a line from 6 Comae past
HD 107288 (the bottom corner star) and
on about 1½° to the large lenticular galaxies M84 and M86. Of the two, M86 is the
more easterly, as well as being larger and
brighter. Out of all of the Messier objects,
M86 has the highest blueshift - it's actually getting closer to us as gravity pulls
it toward the center of the Virgo Cluster

from the opposite side.
M84 and M86 comprise the western
anchor of a famous line of bright galaxies
called Markarian's Chain, which swoops
off to the east and north. Should you
attempt to catch the other members of
the chain in your binoculars? Of course!
The other members are spaced fairly
regularly at intervals of 1/3°. If you see
any of the non-Messier members of
Markarian's Chain, the most likely will
be NGC 4435 and NGC 4438. This close
couple is known as "The Eyes" for their
eerie appearance in small telescopes.
In binoculars they tend to merge into a
single diff use glow, but their combined
light makes them a little easier to spot.
Now go back to the arrowhead asterism
anchored at 6 Comae. This arrow has a
crooked shaft that runs almost due east,
composed of five 8th- and
9th-magnitude stars. The
spiral galaxies M88 and
M91 lie just southeast

Best Deep-Sky Binocular Practices
These observing tips will help
you see more with your binoculars no matter what the quality of
your skies.
Go high in the sky. When
objects are transiting, you'll
experience less atmospheric
interference. This helps even
under dark skies, but it's crucial
if there's light pollution.

32

Get comfortable. For observing well above the horizon, this
usually means reclining or lying
down. A chaise lounge, inflatable pad, sleeping bag or blanket
thrown over a picnic table, or
the hood of a car, or just on a
clean, dry patch of grass - all
of these can serve as observing
"platforms."

April 2016 sky & telescope

of the third and fourth stars in this line,
respectively. M88 is one of the closest
galaxies to us in the Virgo Cluster, at a
"mere" 47 million light-years away. It's also
strongly tilted to our line of sight, which
helps concentrate its light. As a result, it's
one of the brighter and easier members to
pick up with binoculars.
The same cannot be said for M91. This
barred spiral galaxy lies almost face-on to
us, and at 63 million light-years it's one
of the more distant Virgo Messiers. Both
factors make it a challenging catch -
M91 joins M98 as the Virgo objects that
have foiled me the most often. If you do
manage to spot it, consider this: the light
that you're seeing left the galaxy only a
couple of million years after the asteroid
impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.
Without that cosmic accident, we'd probably still be living in holes and trying not
to get stepped on, instead of contemplating the universe.
At the end of the arrow we've been
following, an arc of dim stars curves
around to the south. Another gaggle of
8th- and 9th-magnitude stars in a nested
double-V formation will help you spot
four additional Messier galaxies. Easiest is
M87 at the west end of the larger V. M87 is
the brightest galaxy in the Virgo Cluster,
and not just from our point of view. This
monster elliptical is legitimately huge,
with an estimated mass of anywhere from
2 to 200 times that of the Milky Way, and a
vast population of 12,000 globular clusters,
compared to the Milky Way's 200 to 300.
The other three galaxies in this stretch,
M58, M89, and M90, are all about one
full magnitude dimmer. They're a
ful
varied bunch: M58 is a barred
spiral; M89 is an elliptical; and

Brace yourself. Or at least brace
your binoculars against something. I've had good success using a monopod while reclining,
trapping the far end between my
feet. It may seem clunky, but it
works, as will a parallelogram
mount or binocular-go-round
(S&T: December 2007, p. 92).
Be fanatical about dark adaptation. Hooded sweatshirts help.
Pull the hood up around your

face to block incident light. The
hood helps pad the neck strap as
well, if you use one.
Use averted vision, and be
patient. Averted vision gives better results the longer you do it.
This is where all these strategies
start to reinforce one another:
the more comfortable you are,
the more likely you'll wait long
enough for dark adaptation and
averted vision to really pay off.



Sky and Telescope - April 2016

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