Aubrey, how did you get on,I did not do so well I had to go to
the airport to pick up my sister, the plane was delayed by 1 hour
so by the time I got back I was too tired to change the scope on
the mount(maybe to lazy) so I just tried the 80mm with no luck of
course. Will have another crack at it tomorrow night. Hope you get
to split it tonight.

Pat.

Ah yes, Pat, trips to airport can happen at any time. Sorry you couldn't get the opportunity to do any observing last Saturday night. It was extraordinary that the skies cleared wonderfully after 6pm.
I set up the refractor at 8.30 and observed Venus yet again. This time, the planet is 31,000,000 miles away, magnitude -4.3, and a huge 50" wide. What was particularly stunning was the 9.5% lit crescent. I observed it at 167X with a little shimmering in the Earth's atmosphere.
We had to wait a whole hour before Arcturus appeared, and it had its own familiar golden orange colour.
Finally at about 10.30pm, Izar, appeared, and we split at 167X.
So we kept the best till last. I starhopped from Beta Bootis (Nekkar), and came to 44 Bootis. I started at 40X, then went to 112X, and at 167X, 44 Bootis was beginning to separate, but not quite. So out came my 5mm Nagler which gives 225X, and with me kneeling on a garden pad, I split 44 Bootis. Component A is a little brighter than B alright, and its position is about 4 o'clock. It was very spectacular sight, and I would not have seen it only for you, Pat. Thank you so much for introducing this glorious little fellow to me, Pat. I had never observed it before. I couldn't make out any colours, by the way. I didn't mind.
Funny, just as I had finished observing 44 Bootis, I was planning to finish, clouds covered the whole sky. It was enough excitement for one evening.

Aubrey.

Aubrey, sounds like you had a good night, great split of 44 Bootes
I am jealous just hope that tonight clears up like last night.
I will swap the scopes over on the mount to be ready.
Will let you know how I get on, fingers crossed.

Pat.

Last night was very calm with seeing better than usual so I took advantage of the mild weather to do some observing from the back garden. Transparency was good, though the sky never got really dark because of the time of year.

Took a tour through Bootes, Serpens and Ophiuchus and finished in Hercules, taking in a couple dozen doubles and globulars. Here are a few of the highlights. With the good seeing I was just able to split some difficult doubles, including Izar and 44 Boo, the latter is indeed a nice system. I then took at crack at λ Oph, which has a separation of just 1.44". Somewhat, to my surprise it was split at 257 X. (I checked the position angle to be sure that I wasn't kidding myself.) Anyone else have experience of this nice bright binary which has a definite hint of yellow in the secondary. One small puzzle - the secondary of STF2031 was much fainter than expected, must investigate further. For good measure, no less than three satellites whizzed through the fov during the session! M13 and the beautiful yellow/greenish double Rasalgethi were great targets to finish the night's observing.

Looks like there might be some more nice nights to come this week (fingers crossed).

Mike

Hi Mike. Congratulations. You have joined the 44 Bootis fan club. Valerie and I have just come in from having a 2nd look at 44 Bootis. And we both love it. It takes my 5mm Nagler to split it. That is 225X. Funny, even at 140X, my 6.2" scope is trying to separate it. What I didn't realize is that there is another double just west of him -Otto Struve 291. It is a wide double -35" separation and magnitudes 6 and 8.5. Very pretty at 30X for me.
I must have a shot at Lambda Ophuichi at some stage. My house is in the way at present. I did split him back in 2001. But I greatly admire Raselgethi -I have seen him many times. Thank you for your splendid report.

Aubrey.

Hi Mike and Aubrey, I too was out last night having a look at
44 Bootis and I have to report no split. This was at 200x in
the 100mm Tal and for some reason I could not find my barlow so
I was dissapointed. I did split Izar and Porrima two of my favourite
doubles and Raselgethi is a beauty nice colour contrast.
I think the good weather is to last a few more days so we should
get a few more clear nights, to try and split 44 Bootes.

Pat.

Forgive me, Pat, but have you not got a bigger scope? Perhaps I'm wrong. It's great that Mike has split it, I think, with a 200mm Newtonian. Its separation is less than 1.4".
I won't be observing tonight -as Valerie and I are eating Japanese for my birthday. Speaking of each, Valerie bought me a new 28mm 2" eyepiece made by Skywatcher Nirvana.
And I hope to be using it for the 1st time and observing once again on Saturday night.

Aubrey.

Hi Aubrey, first of all happy birthday thats a nice present you got
hope you get a chance to use it soon. I have a bigger scope a 150mm
Newtonian but no mount for it at the moment, my G11 is set up for
the refractors at the present maybe sometime I will get a Dob. mount
for it. I did go out for awhile tonight but it was pretty windy the
seeing not so good so after 50 minutes I give up, I did get a quick
look at Izar split but a bit soft and the Double Double just split at
120x again a bit soft.
Anyway enjoy your birthday.

Pat.

Hi Aubrey and Pat,

First, Happy Birthday Aubrey, I hope you enjoyed the occasion.

In anticipation of the good conditions persisting tonight "The Night Sky Observer's Guide" provided two more challenging binaries:

ID RA Dec Const Mag Mag 2 Sep Notes

STF2289 18:10:09 +16°28'35" Her 6.7 7.2 1.2 Deep yellow/pale yellow

ζ Her 16:41:17 +31°36'07" Her 3.0 5.4 1.3 Very close yellow/greenish binary


I'll be up at Sugarloaf tonight and will have a look - I suspect they are close to the limit of what my 200mm and the seeing will allow.

Cheers,
Mike

I havent gone double star hunting in a very long time, but your discussion on 44 Bootes has got me interested, I must give it a go next time I'm out,
btw, happy birthday again Aubrey, I didnt get a real chance to talk to you at cosmos about the doubles that interest you, have you made a list of ones you like the most ?

I am afraid I probably won't be double star splitting tonight (26th). There is a rare event happening witht crescent Moon. According to the May issue of the Sky at Night magazine. The star cluster M67 in Cancer will be reappearing on the eastern side of the Moon -that is the bright side from about 10.30pm. Valerie and I wish to observe this extraordinary event. I haven't seen any star cluster do this for many years -not since the 70's when the Moon occulted the Hyades.

Thank you all for your best wishes for my birthday.

Aubrey.

Gosh, Dave. Where do I begin? I suppose I should list ones I have observed with my 6.2" apochromatic refractor since I acquired it in November 2009.

1. Mesarthim double is Aries.
2. Castor triple in Gemini.
3. Mizar double in Ursa Major.
4. Dubhe double in Ursa Major.
5. Rigel double in Orion.
6. Alnitak triple in Orion.
7. 52 Orionis, my tightest double in Orion. (1.2")
8. 24 Coma Berenicis, double, yellow and blue.
9. Algieba, yellow double in Leo.
10. Polaris, double in Ursa Minor.
11. Albireo, double in Cygnus, orange and blue.
12. Alrischa, double in Pisces.
13. Meissa, double in Orion.
14. Sigma Orionis, quadruple in Orion, and Struve 761, triple beside it.
15. Iota Cancri, double.
16. 66 Cancri, double.
17. 57 Cancri, triple, deep yellow double.
18. Epsilon Lyrae, double-double.
19. Theta Auriga, triple.
20. Porrima, double in Virgo, both yellow.
21. Izar, double in Bootis.
22. 44 Bootis, double.

Of course, Dave, there are others I have observed in recent times. Generally, I often observed these systems if the Moon or a planet are in the constellation, eg, I hope to see triple star Theta Virginis, simply because Saturn is nearby.

Aubrey.

Hi Mike, hope you have fun tonight those two doubles you picked
out will push your scope to the limit. According to SISSY HAAS
STF 2084 is right on the limit for a 200mm scope. Be interesting
to see how you get on, good luck.
Aubrey lovely list of doubles Alnitak is a beauty I have managed to
split it this past winter, I have tries 52 Orionis with no luck so
far.

Pat.

Ah yes, Pat, 52 Orionis surely is the mort difficult double I have split. Both components are magnitudes 6.0, separation 1.2", and needed a 3.5mm giving 320X and a 3mm Radian (374X) to cleanly split it. Whereas Alnitak, I just needed 112X.
I am about to go out now to look at the Moon.

Aubrey.

wasnt the moon excellent last night,
Thanks for that list Aubrey, it'll come im handy