lunator

Excellent pics. It is a lovely part of Wales

My 3 scopes are F5, F6 and F9 They all have their place but for being the best all rounder I have found anything better than my F6 newt. Cheers Ian

The book will be be available soon at FLO. 🙂 I haven't looked at these 2 Struves. I have about 3-400 struve doubles left to view. So I can add these in. Cheers Ian

I have just checked my Double Star Astronomy book by Thomas Lewis Who was Secretary of the RAS. Strive started observing in 1813 and published his first catalogue of 795 double stars in 1822. The Catalogue covered the period from 1813-1820. Using a 5 foot Broughton. The aperture was not noted. It was called Catalogue 795 stellarum Duplicium. Apparently 500 pairs were closer than 32" In 1824 he got the better Fraunhofer that.allowed him to really take things further. He produced another catalogue in 1827 'Catalogue Norvus' All this work was included in the main catalogue "Mensurae Micrometricae" produced in.1837. It contains 2640 double stars. Numbered upto 3134. 494 were rejected for various reasons. Hope this helps. Cheers Ian

Also some struve doubles had been observed by others such as William Herschel so it may be a reference to that. The the Strives the WDS has them as As STF, STFA, STT and STTA. They are generally visible in RA order ( Proper motion not withstanding ) although the STF3XXX range are more spread around. Cheers Ian

I am mostly a visual astronomer and I still very much enjoy finding objects and teasing out details. I do have astro cameras but have never wanted to image faint fuzzies, I do enjoy trying to tease out planetary detail. I would recommend starting with visual but imaging with a colour camera is a good way to see if it is for you. Cheers Ian

I have just checked my Uranometria 2000 star Atlas and STF 2021 is marked as a double but no other designation is given. Cheers Ian

Here is the information from Herchel's double star catalogue from the Cambridge University Archive. H I 82 49 Ser 16133+1332 STF 2021 AB 3/7/1783 1783 2009 402 292 356 64 2.5 4.1 1.6 7.43 7.48 0.05 16 13 18.45 + 13 31 37.2 Data from WDS2010 Herchel Notes Double. The most north and following of two stars. A little unequal. Both pr. Bruce MacEvoy Note Precessing Flamsteed's 1690 coordinates places 49 Ser just inside Hercules: it is labeled in MSA (Millennium Star Atlas) My note It appears it was considered part of Serpens but when the boundaries were officially agreed in the 1930's it was in Hercules. It has quite high proper motion and is heading towards Ophiuchus but it won't get there for another 90,000 years or so Cheers Ian

Superb video well done on getting the images. cheers Ian

Steve, very good pics, especially if the seeing wasn't great 😃 Cheers Ian

I was inspired by the Sissy Haas book. My only frustration with the book was wasn't good at linking the WDS label with SAO or Bayer/Flamsteed designation so I have tried to provide this information.

I have compiled all my double Star observation into a single book. I cover some basic concepts of observing double stars and why I observe them but the main resource is my observations of over 2000 doubles. The book includes: • A brief overview of double star observing • A catalogue of 2000+ doubles listed by constellation and them Right Accension. • Inclusion of all WDS noted companions • J2000 co-ordinates for handsets • Precise co-ordinates for all pairs • Latest WDS PA & SEP (Theta & Rho) • Brief descriptions to aid identification • SAO, Bayer, Flamsteed identifiers • Spectral classes (if known) • Telescope aperture and magnification used • A toughness grading allowing you to decide which pairs to observe in the prevailing conditions The book will be available via FLO very soon. Cheers Ian

Good pics Paul., the seeing today was pretty good. The detail on the was impressive Cheers Ian

Sounds a good session. I managed to get out with my PST and the ST80 with the solar film and the number of sunspots was amazin. Cheers Ian

I wouldn't be without my ST80. I use it for grab and go on the horizon tripod. It is my white light solar observing scope. I have used it for terrestrial observing when on holiday. The lightness combined with the flexibility means it's a very useful scope. Cheers Ian

I was viewing Mars last night. The seeing wasn't as good as the 16th but the South Pole definitely had the small white dot. Cheers Ian

Stu I was looking at Mars last night and could definitely see something at the south pole. The seeing was good for a couple of hours. Cheers Ian

Had a short session and thought I would have a try at Jupiter. I am a very occasional imager. The seeing was poor to begin with but just before the fog rolled in it did improve. OMC250 ZWO asi120 MC-S Sharpcap/AutoStakkert and Registax 6 This is a first pass. Cheers Ian

I was out today but thanks to a reminder I took the hand held solar filter I have with me. I was able to show my wife the eclipse whilst we were out. For once the weather was well behaved ☺️

I had a good view of Jupiter last night. Started with the ST80 and as the seeing was finally good I decided to get the 8" dob out. I took the mag up to x240 using the 5mm ortho. The GRS was clearly visible. Several belts were visible. The NEB had a very distinctive darkening to the south of belt. Cheers Ian

Hi Stu I would classify them as split. There will always be some black space between the 2 discs of stars as this scenario is at the Raleigh Criteria so the eye can detect a black space as long as seeing permits. Cheers Ian

Over the years I've observed doubles I have found that you can generally apply 3 descriptions . Round/not resolved Resolved - clearly 2 stars but no black space between them Split - A clear black space between them. Obviously seeing can make the black space appear and disappear 😊. If the pair you are looking at is below the Raleigh Criteria which is 138/D at peak response for the human eye then you will not see any back space, but it is still possible to resolve the pair. Cheers Ian

Hi @Jimboscotland, I would just like to add my experience with observing doubles. At present I have 3 scopes. OMC250, Orion Optics 200mm F6 Newt. and an ST80. The OMC250 gives the best resolution but lives in an observatory I wouldn't want to have to drag it around, it is pretty heavy. The Newt was originally on an EQ5 and was portable around the garden but was a little unwieldy. It is now on a dob base so is very easy to move around the garden and set up to avoid obstructions. This scope gives fantastic views and combined with a quality eyepiece like an orthoscopic will provide a true colour view. The ST80 is on a photo tripod. It is very portable, a true grab and go. The colour correction is ok. It does limit the fainter stars in light polluted skies. Each of these scopes has it's place but if I had to choose one it would be the Newt. I have had it since 2005 and will never sell it. It is a great all-rounder. Cheers Ian

Hi Michael, the WDS is accurate for the brighter doubles e.g. Herschel, Strive and South. The later discoveries such as the Jonckheere pairs can be less accurate when it comes to magnitude. I was investigating J252 (if memory serves) and found exactly the same issue. The pair attributed to J252 were faint and quite hard to observe in my 8" scope from London. Brian Mason at Washington confirmed that Jonckheere doubles are much fainter than listed in the WDS. I don't think that they are updated unless the magnitudes are measured and then published in an accepted Journal. For these pairs I add a minimum of 2 magnitudes to the WDS figure. Cheers Ian