Gary Seronik Binocular Highlight When Facing Late May Early June Late June Early July Late July 5h 5 CAMELOP 8h 2 a.m.* 1 a.m.* Midnight* 11 p.m.* Dusk *Daylight-saving time. c Fa in g N W LY N X 2 1 M8 O LE Facing West M Jul oon y2 0 M5 M3 O DRACO 1 S NE CI C A AT I N VE Little Thuban D ipper CO BO RONA REA LIS BOÖTES Arcturus An observing friend of mine has a particular fondness for what he calls "pizza objects." These are celestial two-for-one deals - a pairing of targets lying in the same field of view. Two objects for the effort of finding one. And if they're different from each other, so much the better - variety is the spice of life! So in his honor, let's enjoy a two-forone binocular field northwest of Antares that gives us an easy triple star and a much more challenging globular cluster. The triple star is Rho ( ρ) Ophiuchi. It might just be the most famous star you've never seen. In long-exposure photographs of the region, Rho is surrounded by a colorful fog of nebulosity. Indeed, the Rho Ophiuchi Nebula is so well-known that few seem aware that Rho is also a striking binocular triple. It comprises a 5th-magnitude primary with an equidistant duo of 7th-magnitude companions forming a tidy triangle. I can easily see all three component stars in 7×35s. Half a binocular field west of Rho, we find our bonus object, globular cluster M80. Most globulars are tricky at the low magnifications of typical binoculars, but M80 is doubly difficult because it's so small. What you're hunting for is something that looks like a slightly out-of-focus 7.3-magnitude star. Even in my 15×45 image-stabilized binoculars, M80 doesn't exactly jump out of the field. Fortunately, it's the brightest point of light in that spot. It also serves as the westernmost tip of a triangle that includes Rho Ophiuchi and Omicron (ο) Scorpii. M80 is one of those binocular targets that's not difficult to see but is a challenge to identify. ✦ V IR G URSA MINOR D B ip ig pe r M & iza Al r co r COMA BERENICES M8 S N ) E T P U R P E S CA ( ° O LE OR IN M U M R A S JO A R M13 ES h 11 A Triple and a Globular 5 O R A T E Q U C H U S 17h g South S PU LU C E N SW ie w CORPIUS 14h U S R U TA rv 2 ula M4 Antares A BR LI g oon y 27 -20° M80 rn 5° binoc Satu RV U on Moly 23 Ju 0 S OPHIUCHUS CO M12 a ° Sp ic M c Fa in -1 0 Antares M4 SCORPIUS 1 2 3 Star 4 magnitudes Sk yandTelescope.com July 2015 45http://www.SkyandTelescope.com