Almach vs Albireo .....you decide

[Moonshane]

Hi all

Here's the latest of my little observing snippets of a new object seen during a recent observing session.

I was encouraged by Sir Patrick et al (after watching TSAN the other night) to have a good look at Gamma Andromedae, Almach. This is the bright star at the Perseus end of the constellation and the one (brighter star that is, there are other stars in between) after the 'turn off' for Messier 31.

I was amazed and surprised at how incredible a double star this is. Having never looked at it properly before I noted that it's like a closer version of Beta Cygni, Albireo, with a bright orange primary and a smaller less bright blue/green secondary. In a way it's more like a less close Epsilon Bootis, Izar (another of my favourite doubles) and really worth a look. I suspect that any scope at over 50x magnification will be able to split this and at 100x it was really quite lovely.

Cheers

Shane

[mdstuart]

It is nice. I was imaging it last night!

ya0230.bmp

[West End Wendy]

Yes I was pleasantly surprised to find out how similar Almach was to Albireo. Particularly as Albireo is behind my neighbour's magnolia trees.

Tim

[swamp thing]

Sure is a beauty.

Personally prefer it to Albireo being closer together.

Steve

[g0ibi]

What's Albireo doing behind the Magnolia trees? It's supposed to be in Cygnus!!

[West End Wendy]

Magnolius - a large and little known constellation that appears in the South all year round.

Exhibits colourful flower-like nebulosity in the spring.

[RikM]

I viewed Almach for the first time last night as well through the little 150P at 107x. The colour contrast really was lovely. I am not sure if I prefer it to Albireo but they are both good.

[imarcs]

Coincidentally i was reading about this double last night in 'An illustrated guide to astronomical wonders' I had a little look on Stellarium afterwards but i cant figure out which is the partner star. Any clues?

[imarcs]

And i meant almach :-)

[Astro Imp]

Magnolius - a large and little known constellation that appears in the South all year round.

Exhibits colourful flower-like nebulosity in the spring.

:)

[Nexus 6]

Had a look at it around a month ago, amongst a few doubles, first impression was how Albireo like it looked, although I still think its not quite as nice an object to observe even with the components being closer than Albireo which if I'm honest has always been a favourite being one of the first doubles I observed.

Another similar double star is 95 Her with very close components again.

[Stu]

Gamma Andromadae is one of my favourites Shane, has been since reading about it years ago.

One thing that has always confused me, what makes a star greenish? I get going from blue to red with temperature, but what causes the green?

Cheers

Stu

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[James]

I don't really have a favourite between the two, they're both lovely to look at although perhaps Almach being slightly closer does it for me a wee bit more.

But.. in Almachs favour, once centred in the eyepiece if you turn off the tracking, go and make a cup of tea, sit in the garden watching the sky etc for 17 minutes then look into the eyepiece you've see NGC891 (edge on galaxy) sitting there I should point out that it's a faint object so probably won't be visible unless you're in a dark sky or have a beast of a scope.

James

[Moonshane]

cheers James - what a fab way to find NGC891. I struggle with this sometimes and this will hopefully give me a better chance!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I also generally find NGC 891 from gamma And (what am I saying, I only got NGC 891 twice), but without having the patience of making a cuppa. I just rotate along the polar axis until a little "house-shaped" asterism is in the finder. To my shame, I have only really seen Almach through the finder, so I should look at it through the scope itself.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Had a look yesterday, and I really like Almach, I must say. I do not think I can really choose between them, nor do I have to.

[Moonshane]

An old thread but the same applies. Almach was one of only a few stars managing to peep hrough the murk last night and it's as stunning as always. Looked with the 80mm Vixen last night and was a really spectacular sight. one of my favourite doubles for sure.

[cotterless45]

Whip across to Aries, plenty bright doubles there,

Nick.

[Matthew]

For me I think Albireo just edges it but their both equally beautiful and a pleasure to observe.

[cotterless45]

I'd go with Albireo. It's a great double to show newbies. I'd go with beta Monoceros and iota Cassiopeaie for starter triples,

Nick.

[Perseus_m45]

Magnolius - a large and little known constellation that appears in the South all year round.

Exhibits colourful flower-like nebulosity in the spring.

And a lot of branches on the ground for you to pick up after.

And I give a vote for Almach here here..

mike h

[Special K]

Both doubles get my vote for sheer theatricality and amazing contrast!  I'm color blind, so not sure what they really look like, but I do see Almach as Orange with a nice greenish companion, so not far off that one   I was staring at Albireo last night and admiring the yellow hue.

[Scooot]

I made a point of looking at both of these tonight before the murk set in. Both lovely but I think I'd side with Albireo if I had to choose. Albireo looks like a lovely golden yellow paired with a diamond to me. I think the spacing, a more similar brightness, together with a darker sky being so high, makes it stand out a touch more.

The colours of Almach look almost identical but the the golden yellow is much more prominent against a smaller carat.

[avtaram]

Here's my sketch from last year.

Avtar

[ely_ellis]

I know this thread is a few weeks old now, but this is the first time I have had the scope out (properly) since about May, due to work and the awful weather (cloud that is).

Anyway, never really looked at Almach before so thought I would have a look tonight.

With the 120mm refractor and a BST 12mm it looked unimpressive being a very tight (in my equipment) double and not really noticable colour.

Looking at Avtar's sketch above and notice he used a 120mm and I think a 5mm BST, I thought I would push my scope to pretty much its limit.

So, with the 12mm BST I stuck in my Tal 2x Barlow and re-focused.

Now that looks more like it, the colours stand out much better with that extra bit of separation. I think this does have the edge on Albireo, the colours seem more vivid and the fact that I don't have to lie on my back in the grass to view it helps.

Anyone had a look at 145 CMa ?  I know its not up right now, but I came accross this one a few years ago, low on the Southern horizon and thought the colours stood out much better than Albireo too.

Cheers

Martin