My knees and waist hurt from standing, but it was well worth the effort. I don't think I've observed so many M objects in 3-4 days.
Equipment: 11x80 BCF Chinon binoculars mounted on a 4 kg sturdy professional Chinon tripod. All nights were 4.2-4.5+ up until two days ago, when skies suddenly changed to 5+.
I started sweeping through "Turn Left at Orion", until my waist couldn't stand it anymore.
Results, after > 1-2 hours of night adaptation:
M8 (Lagoon): Fantastic. Certainly wider than M42, or so I thought. I was able to count at least 8-10 individual stars inside the Lagoon area by direct vision, around 14-15 using averted vision. Object was huge in fov. Larger in size than what the book describes.
M27 (Dumbbell): Quite bright but not that impressive. I was able to discern the bowtie shape using averted or at least some opposite parts seemed to be blinking on and off. Approximate size as in the book's sketch.
M51 (Whirlpool): The 11x80 Messier Certificate lists this one as a Toughy, but I had no problem finding it. M51's nucleus was clearly visible, even under direct vision. Using averted vision, I easily glimpsed the core of the companion as well. No surface details whatsoever (of course). Size approximately the same as in the book.
M4 (next to Antares): Quite bright. Larger than what the book sketch shows.
M81, M82: Holy cow! These were probably one of the best sights! I could almost see dark lanes in M81. The elliptical shape was clearly visible and with some effort the upper and lower arms could be seen. M82 was relatively easy. No features, but cigar shape was evident. I couldn't see the star that the sketch has almost in contact with it. Both galaxies in the same fov of course. Not to be missed!
M13: Fascinating! The core almost resolves with the 11x80!!! I could almost count a couple of sparks inside the core! One of the best! Size approximately equal to that in the book's sketch.
M3: fascinating! Almost equal in size to M13. This one's core almost resolved as well at rare times. I haven't had a chance to see this more than once, cause it was exactly above me.
M57: This one really busted my balls. I swept the area between Sheliak and Sulafat at least 6 times. In fact both fit nicely in my fov, but for the life of me, I couldn't see a ring. After 2 hours of night vision (after 1 hour of looking between beta and gamma Lyr), something approximately around the middle of the line connecting the two stars (vertically) and slightly off to the right eventually did show up, but it was very much starlike. I tried all possible tricks of vision I knew, but the only thing I could see was something that "looked" like a faint star, which at random times acquired a slightly nebulous nature. I wasn't quite a star, but then again I am not sure. Conclusion: I did see it, but it was very much starlike. I suspect that 11x is not enough to resolve it into a ring.
M20 (Trifid), M21. M21, no problem. Quite beautiful and bright aggregate of stars. M20 is listed as a Challenge in the 11x80 Messier Certificate lists. Indeed it was. I observed it at least 4 times. 3 times standing up and once sitting on a large director's chair around 2:30 am, after 2 hours of night vision. Yeap! It's there and visible all right, but I'd say it lingers on the very limits of the 11x80. HN40 was visible and the companion star was also visible with averted vision. I did see the pink part of the nebula as a little gray patch and at moments the rest of it appeared, but the blue part kept blinking on and off. It's certainly doable with the 11x80, however. The book's sketch is slightly better than what I saw.
M28, M22: Wow! M22 is scary. It's huge! I'd say it resembles the core of the Andromeda galaxy in brightness. I kept coming back for it time after time. One of the best. Dark areas almost visible by averted vision. M28 was nice, but nowhere as bright as M22 although quite grainy. I could see the star the book sketch has.
M36, M37, M38: Three of the most beautiful. M36 looked like a sea star with spikes projecting outwards. All three were easily resolvable with at least a dozen stars inside each. I only saw them once, before Aurigae set.
M46, M47: Much better views than what the book shows. The book states: "M46 is unimpressive by itself in a small telescope, but it's a nice challenge. In a larger telescope, 6" or more, it's actually more impressive than M47". Well, I'll tell you that with the 11x80 it's certainly much more impressive than M47. Huge patch of nebulosity was clearly visible and it resolved at least a dozen individuals inside. Don't miss it if you own 80's, but the book probably is right for smaller objectives.
M93: One of the best and very bright. Smaller than M46, but brighter and more stars seen inside it. Don't miss it.
M44: The beehive wasn't very impressive because Jupiter had so much glare that it completely overshadowed it. The stars were visible, all inside the fov, but Jupiter was blinding.
M53: I only glimpsed this one once, because it was very high and could not aim there. Core almost resolves in the 11x80.
M71: Much more impressive and brighter than what the book shows. Doesn't resolve, but could be easily be picked up just by sweeping inside Sagitta. I picked this up trying to find the Dumbbell. I'd say it's slightly less bright than the dumbbell itself.
M80: Not as bright as M4, but I swear I could resolve it in its core. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me.
M19, M62: I didn't see these more than once, but swept through the area and later identified them. M62 is on the line to mu Sco, and it was almost resolvable at the core.
M6, M7: I swept through those as I was going towards Sagittarius. Beautiful little star nests.
M65, M66: Ok. These were a little tough, but no problem locating M66. It was almost visible under direct vision. No features (of course). Elliptical shape was very evident however. The time delay between locating M66 (the brighter) and M65, was <3 seconds. M65 required some averted vision. Picture identical to that of the book, with the brighter stars visible as in the sketch.
M56: I had a little trouble with that, because the area around there was so rich, but I located it on the second try. Not as bright as in the book. Probably one of the most overlooked in the area.
M87: I REALLY wanted to see this one (jet anyone?) as it's one of my favorites. The book doesn't have it, but I had its coordinates (12,29,7 and 12,30), so using a very rough chart sketch I estimated it to be approximately a little left of the middle between beta Leo and epsilon Virgo. I scanned the area at least 5 times. I did see a very faint nebulosity around there, but I just wasn't sure if that was it, because I am not very familiar with Virgo and there may be other things lurking in there. I _think_ I saw it.
M24, M18, M17: These are wonderful. Just north of Kaus Borealis arranged in an almost vertical line. One more beautiful than the other.
M67: Not to be missed. Quite bright, some stars resolvable. Exactly as shown in the book sketch, but slightly brighter.
As far as resolution goes, I also checked a couple of stars: Iota-1 Cancri was resolvable, as was 61 Cygni. Albireo was beautiful. The 11x80 limit of resolution is probably around 26-27 arcsecs. Saturn does show rings, but they are really tiny.
Conclusions: This was a really elaborate Messier object test drive of my 11x80 Chinons. My dad had bought these back in 1985. I never had a chance to drive them long enough and I was only stealing sweeping moments using short trips when I was younger.
I only had trouble with M57 and this was probably because of the low magnification. The rest of the objects were all easy targets.
To those wishing to buy binoculars, don't settle for anything less than 70-80mms. These things are incredible (but don't even try without a heavy tripod). They continuously keep me postponing buying a larger scope. But even when I do, I will probably mount them along with the scope and use them as a finder.
Also, to those wishing to buy large binoculars: Carrying large binos around in long trips to isolated islands and observing for longer periods at night, may cause several unwanted side effects, like:
For digital sketches, consult this page.