A week ago I showed you M23 as seen through an 18" binoscope, commenting that such a large instrument is probably too big for such an extensive object. So A few days later I re-observed this amazingly beautiful star cluster with my Nexus 100 binoculars at 24x.
I have to tell you that I was somewhat disappointed because appearing so exaggeratively bright in the binoscope, I had expected something more spectacular in the 100mm binoculars. The cluster was, of course, clearly visible at first glance, but it took a while for all the tiny individual stars to reveal themselves and the overall appearance was slightly faint.
What can I say? I admit that I haven't used the binoculars for over two years, at least not since I got the gigantic binoscope, and therefore my mind's probably got used to quite another level of brightness and detail. It's very easy to get used to larger aperture, but downscaling's a different matter.
Does this mean that I'll but the Nexus up for sale? NOT IN A MILLION YEARS! It's simply a different kind of observing, a kind that I've neglected for far too long and that I need to take up again some more. Big binoculars are not meant to bring out tiny details or to show you a star cluster scattered across the entire field of view. Contrary to telescopes, they're meant to take you on a sightseeing trip around the heavens, giving you a taste of every splendour that's up there. From M23 I quickly jumped to M20-M21 (nicely in the same field of view of course), then onto M8, M22, M24 (completely in the field of view), M25 and M16-M17 (almost in the same field of view). All of this without hardly having to move from my comfortable chair. That's the difference.
Anyway, here's my M23 sketch. To the bottom you'll find the sketch I made with the binoscope for comparison.
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