lunator

Been at my local astro meet tonight but had a look at the Moon in the binos Clavius was clear to see.

Also checked R Virginis I put the at ~7.8

Cheers

Ian

It is  a very good sketch. That is a very interesting part of the Moon to observe and you have captured it well.

Cheers

Ian

2 hours ago, Paz said:

I've had a number iof recent observing opportunities called off at the last minute so I got my 8x42 binoculars to hand last night because even the clouds can't move in faster than I can walk 5 paces out of the door and hold up my bins!

The moon was what I was looking at but I could immediatley see something nearby. I hadn't checked the map before I went out so I wasn't sure what it was initially. It turns out to be M44! Anaemic and washed out with only rhe brightest  of its members visible but clearly there, right next to and in the full glare of the moon, but it looked more like a handful of field stars than  than a cluster.

Inspired, I looked across to Leo for the triplet, why not?... no chance!

M44 can look really good in binoculars when not washed out by the Moon🙂

I have the joys of an early start but had a quick at the Moon and a variable R Virginis. It is due to increse in brightness  from 8th to 6ish mag over the next few weeks. So I am going to try and follow it.

Cheers

Ian

I have taken quite a few images of Double Stars. I haven't done anything recently as I have been focused in other areas. They are not super hard to image but the biggest challenge is getting the balance right if you want to catch fainter field stars as well.

I was working tonight but managed to get outside for a short session with the 15x70's. The Moon looked spectacular  (again) 😀 with plenty of detail on the terminator. M44 was more washed out by the moonlight. I did manage to spot M67 and M53. I think I also spotted NGC5053 which is a Globular Cluster very close to M53. 

Cheers

Ian

It did clear up here for a bit but I only had time for a short Bino session. The Moon did look spectacular and I enjoyed observing the craters. I quick sweep of Auriga picked up M38/36. I then popped over to M44 as it always looks good in in Binos. I wasn't able to split Zeta Cnc 🙃😊.

A final sweep through Leo and Hydra where I enjoyed looking at some of the more strongly coloured stars. 

Cheers

Ian

Had a quick look through the 15x70's this evening. There was quite a lot of fast moving cloud.

The Moon terminator and craters looked very good and I got a glimpse of M38.

I tried for some Galaxies in Leo and Virgo but I am not sure I could be certain of seeing anything.

Cheers

Ian

Very nice report . I am slowly getting into galaxy observing myself.

Cheers 

Ian

I have responded.

Cheers 

Ian

Paul, 

Great report. There are some excellent doubles in this area

cheers

Ian

Very nice report. 😀

Looking through a large aperture scope in decent skies is an amazing experience.  

Cheers

Ian

I have the 24mm Hyperion and am very happy with it. I have used it in F6 and F9 scopes.

Cheers

Ian

Hi Mark

That is certainly doable in the 8". 

The closest pair I have resolved in the 8" was around 0.5"  I think. I will have a check back through my records. 

A good example zeta Cancri AB it is about 1"  and it can be clearly resolved at x150 and split at x200. 

Cheers

Ian

I have used upto x300 on my 8" f6 OO newt. I could probably go higher but the shortest FL eyepiece I have is a 4mm ortho and I don't like to Barlow them. Also as it is on an undriven Dob base It can get tricky tracking. 

As I have said before Paul Couteau said that "resolving magnification" on double stars is 2x aperture. I would use this magnification if I was on a driven mount. 

As said above seeing is key and if I can add patience is the best way to get the best seeing.

cheers

Ian

5 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

Ah, but when seeing is excellent... With the C9.25 I split 0.7", and 0.5" with the 12".

I always like a challenge. At the moment I'm doing a chart for the bottom of UMa surrounding ν and ξ. I note several close doubles, including TDS 8009 at 10.7, 10.7, 0.4". It's worth a try.

Hi Michael TDS8009 is listed as a dubious double (or bogus binary) it has an X in the notes. Have a look but it might be in vain.

Cheers

Ian

I've has a crack at cleaning up the 2007 image. I have scaled the 2022 image to match the 2007 one. I have put together a gif.

I might try and improve the 2007 image more if I can.

Cheers

Ian

My oldest book is "Half Hours with the stars" by RA Proctor. 3rd edition 1871. 

Cheers

Ian

Hi Mark, not sure I can answer the question you have asked,  but from experience when I have put the effort in to getting collimation absolutely spot on. If the seeing is steady the level of detail can be exceptional on the Mmon, planets and splitting tight doubles. The sky always seems to be the limiting factor.

Cheers

Ian

Very simple but effective solution. 😀

Will have to give it a try.

I don't  tend to use one on the moon. I have kept the one that came with the ST80 for terrestrial viewing. I think being someone who started my observing journey with a Newtonian I am used to an upside down Moon 😁.

Stu is right a good quality diagonal will give a better view and books or software can give you the information you need.

Cheers

Ian

I've had a look through my imaged and had dug out 2 pics, one from 2007 and one from 2022. It amazing to see the orbital motion over 15 years. The image scale is very different but hopefully it is clear.

Cheers

Ian

Very nice report Peter. 🙂

Glad you found the issue and resolved it. 

Cheers 

Ian

Hi Paul

Here are the Sextans co-ordinates 

10043-0142 STF1404

10097+0310 STF1412AB

10097+0310 STF1412AC

10262-0403 STF1433

10298-0355 STF1440

10416-0016 STF1464AB

10416-0016 STF1464AC

Here are the Auriga ones

04511+4458 STF 599AB

04511+4458 STF 599AC

04511+4458 STF 599BC

05167+3903 STF 658AB

Cheers

Ian

Hi Paul 

Not a problem. I'll dig them out. 

Cheers

Ian