Venus + double star

Get out quick!

Venus and Zeta Piscium are less than 2 degrees apart.
Zeta Psc is true binary.
I can split it at 11X.

Aubrey.

You're kidding me!

I'm just seeing this now...it might be too late for me.

Not to worry...thanks for notifying us Aubrey, and I'm looking forward to reading your report on the event.

Clear skies,

Darren.

Couldn't see a thing with the driving snow.....

Good evening, one and all.

It was such a biting wind on Tuesday night.
The temperature was 2 degrees Celsius.
But because of the severe wind chill, it turned out to feel like -2.
I had 6 layers on.
The William Optics 158 mm apochromatic refractor was reasonably sturdy - but not always.

1. A 2 day old Moon was sinking behind some distant leafless trees and I could not name one crater. They were all too small - even at 40X. The Moon's magnitude was -4. It was gone by 6.30 pm.
2. Then there was Venus whose magnitude was -4.3. How about that?? Venus brighter than our Moon!! Venus was sporting a gibbous phase - 65% illuminated. It was 18.1" wide. (This information is from Guide 9.1 DVD). 112X was sufficient to see her gibbous phase.
3. And then I could see Zeta Piscium split at 11X and 40X. The magnitudes are: A = 5.2. B = 6.3. Sep: 23.2". PA = 63 degrees. I had observed this true binary before; but never with Venus so close to it. Both objects were 1.5 degrees apart.
4. I spent some time on the triple star Castor (Alpha Geminorum). I was nearly splitting A and B at 40X. But 112X is excellent to seeing A, B and C. The magnitudes are: A = 1.9. B = 3.0. C = 9.8. Sep = 5.3" and 70". The PA's = 52 degrees and 163 degrees. There is a wider D star, but it is not part of the system.
5. I was waiting to head into Cancer the Crab which is further east of Gemini. M44 - the Beehive open cluster was nice at 40X.
6. Tegmine (Zeta Cancri) is my favourite triple star. The scope manged to split it at 225X even in the blustery conditions. Indeed at 167X I could see 3 stars; but A and B were not quite split at that power. At 40X there was no problem seeing A and C. Stelle Doppie informs us that A and B are getting tighter bit by bit as every year goes by. The magnitudes are: A = 5.3. B = 6.3. C = 5.9. Sep's = 1.142 and 5.9". PA's = 8.4 degrees and 64 degrees.In 2021 A and B will be even tighter: 1.14".
7. I headed south to Epsilon Hydrae. The star doesn't have a name. But a fine true binary it is. Magnitudes: A = 3.5. B is not visible (It is too close for us).C = 6.7. Sep = 2.8". PA = 310 degrees. I needed 140X to split it. 167X was even better. A is yellow white. B is slight blue. I had no split at 112X. Maybe on a less windy night I could.

The rest of these are on Cancer.

8. A 2963 is a charming true binary. Magnitudes: A = 9.3. B = 10.9. Sep = 3.5". PA = 264 degrees. A is yellow white. B is orange. My scope had a successful split at 112X. There was no need to go higher.
9. J 735 is my very first Jonckheere double star. It is a true binary and very faint too. Magnitude of both stars is 10.2. Sep = 2.8". PA = 339 degrees. Clean split at 112X, 140X and 167X; but only when the wind tried to die down. A is yellow. B might be a bit red. I need to revisit it.
10 My carbon star of the entire evening: TYC 223-509-1. It is seriously faint at magnitude 10.3. Its spectral class is C. I could just about see a reasonable but definite orange - not too strong. It is my 3rd carbon star in Cancer after T and X Cancri. Those 2 are far brighter. I have now observed 81 carbon stars in the whole sky. There are more carbons in Cancer to come. 

Thank you for reading.

Comments are very welcome.

Clear skies,

Aubrey.

Hi Aubrey,

I very much enjoyed reading your report from last night's session. Unlike me, it seems that you had a good night: Not one Galaxy, but I did get to observe Mizar and Alcor before the clouds blew in. So, I was delighted to read your report.

Your description of Venus was intriguing insofar that it was brighter than the Moon yesterday. 

I did not realise that Castor was a triple star - thanks for that Aubrey! Also, Zeta Cancri is new one for me...you never fail to enlighten us. 

The colours of A 2963 sound lovely, as do J 735 A and B. Thanks to you I did a little reading on Robert Jonckheere: what an interesting story!

And congratulations on observing you 81st carbon star; I'm looking forward to hearing what ones you observe next.

Until then, clear skies,

Darren.

Have you a specific goal to observe as many carbons as possible Aubrey, or are they just an attractive target as you're starhopping? There's a nice list of 'easy' carbons here but I'm sure you're aware of it:

www.astrosurf.com/buil/us/peculiar2/carbon.htm

Finbarr.