Ophiuchus challenges.

[cotterless45]

Ophiuchus is a wonderful constellation. This snake handler has Serpens at each side and sits under Hercules. It's just packed with targets. Rasalhague is pretty bright, but I look to the Yeds and trace back to the main body.

Here are some tight , but achieved binaries. The C6r being collimated and pretty clean , certainly comes up with results. All these were with a sub £20 Antares 6mm Plossl, one of the sharpest eps that I've used.

(Marfik ) λ Ophiuchi two bright stars separated by 1.6"

Σ2114 gave a clean 1.3"

τ (69) Oph. 1.5"

There are also wonderful views at 61 Oph. and Σ2276.

I'll be back to try and sketch some of these, but as you can see there is so much here to observe !

Nick.

[alan potts]

Great report Nick, I must think of something different to write. One of my favourite globulas is in this neck of the woods, M107, I love the way you get the cross of 11th mag stars around it, I am looking forward to seeing it in the 18 inch as it is not the brightest thing in the heavens.

Alan.

[ronin]

While looking for something else I only just found that this constellation exists, somehow I had never registered it previously. Will have to go and do a bit more searching within it and just generally looking at it so that I get more familiar with it.

[YKSE]

This is the Constellation of Globula clusters too, some 23 bright globulas compare to the Sagittarius, which is next richest with globulas.

[Owmuchonomy]

Nice report Nick. I had the Dob out two nights ago for Saturn as it now sits in the gap in the trees. I got bored with it due to the terrible seeing and turned on to Ophiuchus. Wow, I spent a couple of hours here and want to go back again. It inspired me to write more about globs in my monthly column. Then I stumbled on NGC6572 and was stunned by how vivid it appeared. It just poured out emerald light. I think I have it permanently recorded on my retina!

[John]

I missed this report when you posted it Nick.

Found it now though (thanks  ) and I've just managed a clean split of Marfik with an old TAL 100 refractor which I'm star testing. The collimation is just a little off (diffraction rings slightly offset from concentric) but even so it's proving a great star splitting scope. Marfik was just divisible at 155x but clear at 286x and even a rather silly 333x !. These Russians certainly know how to make a good objective lens

[chiltonstar]

I missed this report when you posted it Nick.

Found it now though (thanks  ) and I've just managed a clean split of Marfik with an old TAL 100 refractor which I'm star testing. The collimation is just a little off (diffraction rings slightly offset from concentric) but even so it's proving a great star splitting scope. Marfik was just divisible at 155x but clear at 286x and even a rather silly 333x !. These Russians certainly know how to make a good objective lens

Marfik is a nice one, isn't it! I can see why Sissy describes the pair as stunning, although I see them as blue-white, rather than lemon yellow. A bit like either of the Epsilon Lyrae pairs, but closer.

Chris