Has anyone found all the Messier objects with binoculars?  I know it's possible with hernia binoculars (100mm's).  How about 80mm's or even 70's.  Maybe from a really good dark site.

The legendary observer Jay Reynolds Freeman did several Messier "surveys" with different binoculars, the smallest of which was a 7x50.

http://web.mac.com/jay_reynolds_freeman/AstroPDFs/MessierSurveys.text.pdf

I've observed over 80 Messier objects using a variety of binoculars ranging from an 8x42 to a 20x80.  I've also done some Messier viewing at star parties with a 20x100 Miyauchi and a $13,000 Fujinon 25x150.

Dave Mitsky

I have logged every Messier object with a pair of 8x30 binoculars or smaller except:

Messier 1 (7x50 binoculars)
Messier 40 (15x70 binoculars)
Messier 76 (15x70 binoculars)

/Jake

8X30's!!!  Wow, I'm impressed.  You must have some fantastic skies and great eyeballs.   Here in Rhode Island I can't get through Virgo with my 20X80''s.

With Messier objects, it really depends on the area you live at, and the quality of your skies.  Phil Harrington, who, until recently, wrote a monthly binocular star-gazing article for ASTRONOMY magazine, has told me that he can find nearly all of them with his pair of 10x50's.  Of course, he also has the crystal clear skies of Ireland and the Florida Keys to do most of his observations.

The Irish Federation of Astronomical Societies has a booklet on binocular stargazing, where they swear that all of Messier's objects can be seen with binoculars (though most of them will appear as dim dots or dark ovals) of the same power (10x50).

I have a pair of 10x50's, and being smack dab between Toledo, Fort Wayne, and to a lesser extent, Detroit, I have OK sky conditions for Ohio, but it isn't good enough to experience all of Messier with a pair of binoculars.

Phil Harrington also got me started on his "Messier Marathon" this year, starting when I took a trip to the Nevada deserts.  So, I'm only six months into it, but I have managed 64 so far.  I doubt M1 (Crab Nebula), and a few of the galaxies that Messier observed I will be able to find with the binocs.

Just keep in mind, though.  With the astronomy club I head here in northwest Ohio, I tell them that many of the clusters that Messier found are better observed through binoculars rather than a telescope, because it keeps the integrity of the cluster together, rather than makes it seem like a series of ransomly placed stars.

Keep it up!  Here's to clear skies!

Ireland?  I happen to know Phil.  He lives on Long Island, New York.

http://www.philharrington.net/swo/

M1 is not that difficult a target with a 10x50.  M74, however, is a bit tough.  The same goes for M76.

Dave Mitsky

I happen to know Phil, too, and as Dave said, I live on Long Island.  I saw something like 85 of the M objects through an old pair of 7x35 binoculars back in high school from where I grew up in Rowayton, CT -- not too bad for suburbia.  I've since seen them all -- save for M30 -- through my 16x70s during a Messier Marathon a few years back from Southold, NY, on Long Island's eastern tip.

The trick to seeing the tough ones is to first mount your binoculars on a tripod or other support.  Even if you have image-stabilized binoculars, your arms are going to fatigue -- after all, they aren't weightless!  I'd estimate just by putting binoculars on a tripod, I probably gain a half magnitude because of the fatigue factor.  A lot of people don't get that, but try it and you'll be amazed!

Hello Phil

Did all the Messiers with my 10X50s a few years back. It was on a whim. It took about 1/2 a year because I kept forgetting about the project. Like Phil said, a mount for holding the binos helps alot. You need to add a dark site also for the fainter ones.

Bill