Torchepot
Well-known member
Happy New Year and Good Birding to one and all.
Maybe someone here can solve a mystery for me. A couple of nights ago I went out with my binoculars and tripod to see if there was any distortion noticeable when looking at a single distant star (reassuringly they appear as they should - I think).
I happened to notice the Pleiades high in the sky (without using the binoculars) but when I looked directly at it it disappeared - all I could see was a faint blur.
By looking away in any direction by about 10-20 degrees the little constellation reappeared. This was the same using either eye (or both). I was a bit worried, thinking that this might be further evidence of advancing decrepitude, but my wife experienced exactly the same thing and her eyes are much sharper and a fair bit younger than mine.
We tried it again tonight with the same result - as you can see we have a pretty wild New Year's Eve out here in rural France
Anyone have any idea what's happening?
Cheers,
Phil
Maybe someone here can solve a mystery for me. A couple of nights ago I went out with my binoculars and tripod to see if there was any distortion noticeable when looking at a single distant star (reassuringly they appear as they should - I think).
I happened to notice the Pleiades high in the sky (without using the binoculars) but when I looked directly at it it disappeared - all I could see was a faint blur.
By looking away in any direction by about 10-20 degrees the little constellation reappeared. This was the same using either eye (or both). I was a bit worried, thinking that this might be further evidence of advancing decrepitude, but my wife experienced exactly the same thing and her eyes are much sharper and a fair bit younger than mine.
We tried it again tonight with the same result - as you can see we have a pretty wild New Year's Eve out here in rural France
Anyone have any idea what's happening?
Cheers,
Phil