Mr Spock

The whole of Boötes / Hercules / Corona Borealis / Serpens / Draco are well placed at this time of year.

Ser / CrB doubles 

Region    Serpens / Corona Borealis
    
Date    12/06/2024
Scope    Takahashi FC-100
Eyepieces    42mm LVW x19, 17mm LVW x44, 8mm LVW, x93, 5mm LVW x148, 3.5mm LVW x211
Conditions    Good seeing (no clean airy disks) and poor transparency - mag 4.0 in the direction of Serpens - worse late on due to high cloud.
Note:    All PAs are rough estimates.
    
β Ser    Very bright primary, very faint secondary. Seen at x43 but better at x93. 270°.
Σ 1978    Easy but faint uneven pair at 200° and x44.
AHD 9    Wide, even and faint pair. X43 and 60°.
OΣ 300    Bright with a very faint secondary at 270°, x93.
δ Ser    A bight uneven pair, a lovely sight at x148. 180°.
Σ 1993    A fairly even pair at 60° and x44
κ Ser    Bright and uneven pair at 40° and x44.
Σ 2007    Uneven and wide pair seen at x19. 320°.
OΣ 303    A tight, slightly uneven pair. 180° ok at x 148 but looked better at x211. Would have looked better with clean airy discs.
Σ 1995    Two similar stars close together, the top one of which is double with a faint companion at 320°, x93. I believe the lower star is not related.
Σ 1950    Uneven pair at 90°, easy with x93.
Σ 1932    Close, even pair. WDS says 1.6" but I thought it looked closer - took x211 for it to look a clean split.
Σ 2022    Not seen. A real challenge in these conditions at mag 6.5 + 10.0 and 2.2". Should be doable in better seeing.
Σ 2029    Uneven pair with a faint secondary at 170° and x148. Secondary is 9.6 so shouldn't be faint - noticed high cloud taking the edge off.
Σ 1963    Even pair at either 60° or 300° depending on which is the primary! X93.

I wanted to go on longer but high cloud drifted in and was spoiling my already naturally poor transparency.

I also had a look for T CrB but it was too faint to see.

I might stop estimating PA as I get confused with using a diagonal. For example I recorded Σ 1950 as 270° when it's actually 91°. About 50% are opposite to what they should be, sigh.

It's a great time for doubles! The summer constellations have so much to offer.

I just use a normal eyepiece in my 60mm finder. I don't find it difficult to estimate where the centre is.

Some of the cheaper finders have crosshairs so thick they could almost hide the moon!

8 minutes ago, Ags said:

With a green continuum filter, the chromatic aberration of the Startravel would be irrelevant,

That's what I've found, my 120 achro being incredibly sharp. One thing to think about though is how much SA a Startravel has.

1 hour ago, ONIKKINEN said:

Its just wrong to tell 67% of your customers to pay up for the new version

The upgrade is free. 
https://uk.pcmag.com/migrated-3765-windows-10/136412/how-to-upgrade-to-windows-11-for-free

51 minutes ago, lunator said:

Michael STF2022 should be doable in your scope but it is right on the limit based on my general formula. Let us know how you get on if you give it another try

Seeing wasn't quite perfect last night, so maybe it's worth another try. Plus around 10.0 is close to my limit here anyway due to light pollution. I did grab a couple around 10.1 last night but they aren't easy.

SCTs are very stable. I had a C9.25 which hardly ever needed adjustment.

Not had a look at this yet. Just ran myself a chart off AAVSO chart plotter though. 3° is perfect for the 4".

I've modified this so you can't copy it (copyright) - go to the AAVSO website to get one. Link is on the chart 

You don't need collimation tools for an SCT. Star test is the way to go. What you have looks fine. Next is to fine tune with an in focus star at high power - seeing permitting. You should have an airy disc with a concentric and evenly lit diffraction ring.

All done. There's a thin layer of high cloud come across spoiling things. It's also very cold for June. Just 4.4°!

15 doubles in total and only one miss - Σ2022. At 6.5 and 10.0, 2.2" the magnitude difference probably makes it too tough for the scope.

Taking in quite a few doubles in the Serpens area. Very easy, clean split of OΣ303 at 1.4"and x148. WDS says mag 7.7 and 8.1 but secondary looks a little fainter than that.

16 minutes ago, GordonD said:

Crater Armstrong easy but struggled to pick up Collins and Aldrin

I can see Armstrong quite easily. Confirmed Collins in moments of steady seeing - Aldrin is a no show. Collins becomes easier when you realise it's at the bottom of a light streak which sort of points to it.

FC-100 at x264 (x2.5 Powermate and 7mm ortho).

Lunar is over for tonight. It's just gone behind a neighbour's tree. It's only a small tree, but just in the wrong place 😡

Those peaks on Palus Putredinis are quite spectacular.

Moon is looking lovely at the moment. It's still a bit light but Theophilus is really standing out.

I've been using W11 since it came out. All my software works perfectly. Though I do understand users who are not PC savvy being apprehensive.

54 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

So you want to get more marketing shoved down your throat ?? 

Such an angry comment. Perhaps you'd like to explain what you mean by marketing.

I told you to get some bins... 🤣

Looks like a good start. You will definitely need more data to cut down the noise and bring more detail out. Flats will help even things out too.

Magnification depends on seeing, aperture and target.

Assuming perfect seeing, my 4" apo is best on the moon at x211, and my 12" at x461. Jupiter on the other hand, is best at around x180 regardless of the scope I'm using. Note: with the 12" on Jupiter I use a variable polarising filter to bring the brightness down otherwise it's a 'white out'.

For an 8" f5.9, I'd recommend two Morpheus. A 6.5mm will give x185 and a 4.5mm x267. So x175 for Jupiter, and x267 for moon and other planets.

I wouldn't worry about your scope. Just be patient 

I've brought everything in. Not only is seeing poor, transparency isn't so good either.

There's also a howling gale blowing. Forecast says 'a gentle breeze from the west'. Seriously, are they having a laugh?

Here's a representation of what I'm seeing at x211.

Airy disc and faint diffraction ring replaced by a fuzzy mess.

I can't get an airy disc, on any star...

The keen eyed will notice the RDF is back to front...  Now fixed.

I won't be out long - seeing is horrible. Just tried STF1932 which is 1.6" but even, and it's a fuzzy mess, even at medium powers.