Sirius B plus some other nice sights

[John]

I've had a nice session with the 12" dob this evening with Orion and surrounds the main interest but with the occasional venture into Ursa Major and Gemini for some sightseeing there.

M42 was looking particularly wonderful with 6 Trapezium stars very clear from around 100x upwards. My eyes don't usually see much colour in DSO's but M42's lime green tint was really obvious tonight and I seemed to see very delicate hints of pink too in patches of the nebulosity. So much detail in terms of dark and light rifts and eddies at 199x in the central area of the nebula to one side of the Trapezium. Best views of this great DSO this season.

After studying the extensive M35 and the adjacent shimmering condensed puddle of faint stars that is NGC 2158 in Gemini for a while, I chased down M81, M82 and a number of other nearby galaxies in the Great Bear while Sirius cleared the neighbours roofline.

Last year I was able to split Sirius for the first time with my 12" dob and found that a 6mm orthoscopic eyepiece with it's low light scatter characteristics was the best tool for the job. This time around I found spotting the Pup star, Sirius B, glimmering as it closely trailed the far brighter A star, relatively straightforward with an 8mm Tele Vue plossl (199x). Using the Powermate 2.5x and a 15mm TV plossl gave me 6mm (265x) and again the B star glimmered distinctively within the halo of light surrounding Sirus A. For old times sake I had a peek with the Baader 6mm Genuine Ortho and there was that little Pup again. Good show from the TV plossls and Powermate though - real quality optics without needing to rob a bank !

Clouds starting to intervene so I'll leave Jupiter for another occasion and I've packed up for a warm drink now.

Very enjoyable stuff

[Stu]

Sounds great John, I was doing similar things but only had 85mm to chuck at it as I'm staying at my parents tonight. The skies are darker than at home, but the 12" doesn't fit in the car very easily!!!

M42 still looked very nice, though only 4 stars for me and a mono nebula. I do recall being surprised to see a quite strong green tint to it last year in the 12" though, very nice isn't it?

Split a few doubles using the Leica and 2.5 x PowerMate, though I had to content myself with Rigel rather than Sirius.... Need to get the 12" on that very soon.

Impressive stuff from the TV Plossls as you say. I assume easier this year because the separation has increased?

Cheers

Stu

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cotterless45]

Similar night here, packed in after wind brought in heavy clouds about 1. Real fuzzed seeing, although some great views of Jupiter when two moons separated . Some wonderful views of M42,

Nick.

[Jim Steele]

Great report John, though reading it gives me aperture fever...

Ben

[Special K]

Nice report, and I'm regretting going to bed early now! Caught a nice view of M81 and M82 the other night, so echo your enthusiasm.

Clear skies

[lunator]

Good spot John , I managed to get a glimpse of M33 last night. For Double star viewing ortho's. always seem the best, but it sounds like the TV and power mate is good.

[John]

The split of Sirius should be getting a little easier as the A and B stars are gradually drawing apart at the moment. It's not really a close pair at around 8-9 arc seconds but the huge brightness difference (10 magnitudes) between the two stars and their relatively low altitude in the UK creates the challenge.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Great report, John. I should perhaps try the Pup with the SLV 5 (XW7 gave best result so far)

[John]

Great report, John. I should perhaps try the Pup with the SLV 5 (XW7 gave best result so far)

Last year I found the SLV 6mm was as good as the Baader 6mm GO on the Pup Michael

[AndyWB]

I think I managed to split Sirius on Friday with a Vixen SLV 6mm in my 10" dob. I say think because it wasn't as definite as, say, Rigel, but I sat and watched and every so often this little star of light appeared out of the glow of Sirius. It wasn't as dim as I thought it might be, and it wasn't visible for most of the time - but every so often it appeared. Looking at the Proper Angle afterwards, it would appear to be in the right place.

I'm not sure if I should record it as split as it wasn't as definite as, say, Sarin or Beta-MON - but it was in the right place, and Friday night was the most stable sky I've had in a long time (Jupiter was crystal clear!)