Hello everyone.
Thursday night 6th September was a very clear night with some wind.
Here are my highlights with my William Optics 158 mm apochromatic refractor.
1. Before any of the bright stars appeared I had the great pleasure of using my own eyes to see a -8.5 Iridium Flare 45 in the constellation of Cygnus. It sure was spectacular! It is nice to know one or two of these satellites are still active.
2. 17 Lyrae is a yellow and blue double star. Magnitudes: 5.3 & 9.1. Sep: 3.2". PA: 286. Split at 112X -but is very nice at 140X and 167X.
3. A new triple star for me is Stf 2483 and I do find it rather charming. Mags: 8, 9.1 and 9.7. Seps: 10" and 70.7" PAs: 318 and 235 degrees. All 3 stars split at 40X.
4. KU 119 is a double star with mags: 9.9 and 10.9. Sep: 20.5". PA: 86 degrees. Both stars observed at 40X.
5. Not many of us have observed a triple double. Well there is such a group in Lyra. It is very near the Hercules border. The easy double is KU 118. Mags: 9.2 & 9.3. Sep: 50.2". PA: 323 degrees. you can see this at 40X. South of it is Stf 2328 which is a lovely double. Mags: 9 & 9.5. Sep: 3.8". PA: 71 degrees. Split at 112X. Thirdly we have Stf 2328. Mags: 8.5 & 12.2. Sep: 19.6. PA: 315 degrees. Split at 112X. You can push the magnification up if you wish. At 167X I could easily fit all 3 doubles. Why not give it a try? 2 other observers have done so on
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6. Stf 2349 is easy to split at 112X. It has a blueish white star as its primary. Mags: 5.4 & 9.4. Sep: 7.2". PA: 204 degrees.
7. Stf 2352 is also easy to split. 40X is all that is required. Mags: 8.1 & 10.6. Sep: 15.9. PA: 287 degrees.
8. Pi Aquilae is a very nice double. I can see A and B split at 140X. Mags: 6.3 & 6.8. Sep: 1.4". PA: 106 degrees. The 2 stars look like 2 eyes looking at us. The B star is yellow white and A is white.
9. I noticed Aquarius was rising over my neighbour's house. So I found Zeta Aquarii which has a name: Sadaltager. A and B continue to widen year after year. Their separation is now nearly 2.3". Mags: 4.3 & 4.5. PA: 157 degrees.
10. Lastly I observed the tight globular star cluster M2. I fully resolved its core at 225X. I recommend it to you all.
Thank you for reading.
Any comments are always welcome.
Clear skies from Aubrey.
  