Hello, everyone.
On Saturday night 7th April 2018 between 9 and 11 pm, I was observing in the northern part of the constellation of Bootes with my William Optics 158mm f/7 apochromatic refractor. Instead of starting at Arcturus, I had discovered that it would be far better to star hop my way down from Alkaid (Eta Ursae Majoris). 2" mirror diagonals are fitted at all times. Here is my list:
1. Before I checked out doubles in Bootes and as the sky was beginning to get dark, I observed Mizar and Alcor. Back in 1977 I had my first opportunity to observe Mizar. It was my very first double star and ever since I have been hooked on doubles. I only require 40X to see A and B which have a separation of 14.4" and a PA of 152 degrees. The whole area is alive with Alcor (mag 4) and TYC 3850-257 (mag 7.6). All 4 stars are white. There was no need to go higher in magnification.
2. Is it possible to observe 4 doubles and a carbon star in a 2.25 degrees field of view anywhere in the sky? The answer is YES! Some of you may know that I have a 28mm 2" eyepiece. It gives me 40X and 2.25 degrees FOV. Using stelledoppie.it I also discovered I could observe some nice doubles in northern Bootes. So with all that in mind, I began splitting Kappa Bootis and Iota Bootis. Putting them both split to the right hand side in my fov, I observed Stf 1829 at the bottom, Stf 1814 at the left hand extreme edge and lastly TYC 3471-762-1 at the top centre which is a nice orange carbon star of 8.6 mag. What a momentous occasion! I never thought I would ever do this. All 4 double stars are split at 40X. The tightest is Stf 1829. The separation is 5.5". The carbon star is the icing on the cake.
3. I also observed the only 2 other carbon stars in Bootes. TYC 3868-796-1 (9.2 mag) and very orange TYC 3483-1327-1 (9.7 mag). I have now observed 64 carbon stars
4. Finally has anyone observed the binary 39 Bootis if ever? Please check your records. It is very pretty. A is 6.3mag. B is 6.7. The separation is 2.7". The PA is 47 degrees. It is stunning at 112X and even better at 140X. Both stars are yellow -white (Class F). A wonderful almost perfect pair of twins!
As the dew was beginning to attack my optics at 11pm, I thought I should call it a night.
Needless to say I had some trouble getting to sleep with all the excitement!
Thank you for reading. Please feel free to ask any questions.
Clear skies from Aubrey.
  