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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Binastro" data-source="post: 3500326" data-attributes="member: 111403">The only other possibility I can think of regarding the 4 Trapezium stars is that I picked up a flaring geosynchronous satellite in the Trapezium.I have seen two of these near the Trapezium. Firstly with 18x50 IS then with Russian 12x45.These satellites are normally around magnitude 13, maybe 14, well beyond binocular detection, but the flares I saw were bright enough to be certainly seen.But these are rare and I think it more likely I saw  the 4 stars, especially in view of the careful observations reported with artificial stars in daylight, where the separations were half of what I thought possible, I think because of the optimum pupil size and illumination.During the Dec 22 observation the Orion nebula was rather faint in the extreme light pollution.The smallest star images that I have seen in binoculars are those with the Canon 18x50 IS and the 10x42 L IS.</blockquote>