Jump to content

NLCbanner2024.jpg.2478be509670e60c2d6efd04834b8b47.jpg

lunator

Moderators
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    7,966

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by lunator

    Theta Aurigae

    in Observing and Imaging Double and Variable Stars

    Posted

    I have been messing around with the new ZWO ASI178.

    I chose it for the small pixel size as I have taken images of double before but I am hoping I can push the limits further.

    I had a quick session last night after a bit of lunar imaging.

    I have never tried for Theta Auriga but after testing everything on Castor I thought it was worth a try.

    The set up give me 0.22" per pixel which for deep sky imaging is crazy but by reducin the ROI to 640x480 I could get 60 pps and this allow me to stack in AS3 and crop in GIMP.

    I am fairly satisfied as a first pass.

    Hopefully I can get some trickier doubles captured.

    Cheers

    Ian

    19_29_33_Theta Aur 2 12_01_22_lapl5_ap2.Jpg

    • Like 3

    Clavius 12_01_22

    in Imaging - Lunar

    Posted

    Still getting to grips with the new ASI178

    It is an excellent camers but it does make demands of the scope.
     

    Clavius looked good last night. I think I might be able to tease out some more detail but still getting the hang of processing

     

    12_01_22 Clavius.jpg

    • Like 7

    A few Pegasus doubles

    in Observing and Imaging Double and Variable Stars

    Posted

    I had a chance to get out for an our on the 21st so had a quick look at a few pegasus doubles.

    using the OMC250 and the 32mm and baader zoom.

    STF2818AB    Y/B    A wide pair with a noticeable difference in magnitude. The primary is yellow-Orange and the secondary blue-grey. Several bright stars in the field.


    STF2889    Y/B    A tight pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. The primary is yellow-orange and the secondary is a blue dot.


    STF2934    Y/B    A tight pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. The primary is yellow. The secondary is a small blue dot. Best view at x140.


    STF29454    w/w    A very wide pair with a slight difference in magnitude. Both stars appear white. A bright star shares the field (HD216698).


    STF2967    w/b    A fairly close pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. The primary is white, the secondary is pale blue. 


    STF2969    w/w    A close pair with a samll difference in magnitude. Both stars appears white. Part of a 5 star asterism like a dice pattern.


    STF2997    w/b    A wide pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. The primary is white, the secondary is blue-white. 


    STF3000    w/w    A close pair of white stars, fairly evenly matched. Just visible at x70.


    STF3014    w/b    A fairly close pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. The primary is white, the secondary is blue-grey and faint. 
     

    Cheers

    Ian

    • Like 9

    Double Trouble

    in Observing - Discussion

    Posted

    Hi Dave,

    I have always felt the 'colours/hues' are definitely affected by type of telescope.  The most vivid colours were in my ST120.

    The most 'natural' colours were in my 200mm F6 newt. I most definitely peferred the view i the latter :)

    Cheers

    Ian

    • Like 1

    Double Trouble

    in Observing - Discussion

    Posted

    8 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

    As Lunator has said Struve 1695 is doable "Hass" says mags 6.0` and 7.8` with a separation of 3.8°  I have split this in my 4" Hass says Sun yellow and pure Violet whereas Webb says White and Ash. I noted White with the companion having a yellow tinge..

    Paul 

    Hi Paul, 

    I'm  glad we agree on the colours 😃

    Cheers

    Ian

    • Like 1

    Observing Session 21/10/21

    in Observing - Reports

    Posted

    Observing report 21 October
    The sky was fairly clear. The full Moon was hidden behind some trees and there were a few clouds blowing over. 


    Seeing wasn’t great probably 4/5 and Transparency was being affected by the high cloud and Moon glow.


    I had decided to have a look at some more doubles in Corona Borealis and Cygnus.


    Crb Pairs


    STF2044 A neat pair of orange stars. Easily split at x70. The pair show a small difference in magnitude.


    STFA29AB A wide pair suitable for binos or small scopes. Fairly evenly matched strong orange colour. The ‘D’ component is a star roughly between them. very faint -grey.


    STF2011 A close pair of uneven magnitude. The primary is white the secondary is pale blue. split at x70, best view at x150 shares field with orange star (TYC 2041-1219-1).


    STF2004 A close pair tricky to split in the conditions. The primary is white the secondary blue-grey with a noticeable difference in magnitude.


    STF1935 A pair of white stars with a moderate difference in magnitude.


    I was planning to move onto Cygnus but had a quick stop at RS Oph and Jupiter.


    RS Oph very faint now. Felt slightly strange looking at it through the OMC 250 instead of the ST80. I estimated it at Mag 10.4.


    Jupiter was fairly good at x70 but seeing still wasn’t great so I moved on. 


    Heading into Cygnus I thought I would stop off at the showpiece double Albireo.


    Albireo. A gold and blue pair ideal for small scopes. Is it physical or optical, the latest research is optical but I have read what GAIA has reported.


    STF2522 A close pair with a noticeable difference in magnitude the primary is yellow-white, the secondary is pale blue. Quite a rich-field.


    STF2538 A visual triple, 'B’ comp is 13th mag. The A, C&D stars are similar in magnitude and white. Chain of stars to the South  East.


    STF2539AC A close pair with  noticeable difference in magnitude. The primary is white, the secondary pale blue. 'B' comp not visible.


    STF2610AB A close pair with a small difference in magnitude. Both stars appear white, w 'W' shaped asterism to the North East.


    STF2639AB  A fairly close pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. The primary is white, secondary orange. A neat colour contrast. Rich-field
     

    Cheers

    Ian

    • Like 4

    A quick spin around Bootes

    in Observing - Reports

    Posted

    Observing session 16/10/21


    The evening was looking promising. Saturn and Jupiter were high in the south and a fairly bright moon was behind some trees in the east. I knew the moon would be washing many fainter objects out and this was going to be a short test of my re-assembled/re-aligned. mount.

       
    I had a number of fainter Struve doubles in Bootes I wanted to tick of before they disappeared and the moon glow was less intrusive in this part of the sky.
    As this was a bit of a test run I was only really using my 32mm eyepiece to give me x70 magnification. The seeing and transparency were not brilliant probably around 3/5.                    
    STF1982. A pale creamy white pair with a small difference in magnitude. Split at x70.


    STF1961. A wide pair with a small difference in magnitude. Both stars appeared white. Small curve of stars nearby. 


    STF1947. A fairly close pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. The primary is yellow, the secondary has an orange tint.


    STF1946. A fairly close pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. The primary is white and the secondary is a blue dot. Tricky to see at x70.


    STF1934. A moderately close pair of evenly matched white stars. Easily split at x70.


    STF1920. A fairly wide pair of evenly matched pale orange stars.


    STF1901. A wide pair of uneven magnitude. A neat colour contrast of an orange primary and pale blue secondary.


    STF1896. A fairly close pair of white pairs, with a moderate difference in magnitude. The 'c' component is a blue grey dot a short distance away. 


    STF1826. A fairly close pair with a moderate difference in magnitude.. The primary is white, the secondary is pale blue.


    I will put a more detailed report in the double star section. 


    Some high cloud had rolled in so had a quick look at Jupiter
    Jupiter 4 Moons, and several bands. 


    Saturn was not possible to see due to houses blocking the view.


    RS Oph not visible in the conditions it is in quiescence so it will faint now.


     I finished with a look at The Moon using my 15mm pentax giving x150 and got a decent view of Gassendi.


    Cheers
    Ian
     

    • Like 4

    Observing through the contrails 01/10/21

    in Observing - Reports

    Posted

    Observing Session 01/10/22


    The sky was clear in the evening. I had a couple of extra targets to view. When I managed to get out around 8pm there was some high cloud to the south obscuring Jupiter and Saturn. It appeared mostly due to contrails.


    It was clearer at zenith. I estimated the transparency as 3/5 and seeing was a bit in and out. At best it was 3/5. 


    As Cassiopeia was clear my first stop was V1405 Cass it has faded slightly it is of fainter than HD220770(7.81) I estimated Mag 8.


    RS Oph is still around Mag 10. It is fading slowly.
    I moved onto Aquila. My first stop was STF2636 it was tricky split at x80 with no colour noted.


    My next stop was one of my double discovery CSR3 it is fairly wide double and more easily visible  at x80. I was also able to split it at x32. Both appeared yellowish. The secondary is slightly fainter. The primary is the variable V1477 Aql a cepheid variable. It is listed as magnitude 9.6 but it appeared slightly brighter than this. It was brighter than HD192171 which is listed as 9.61 but is also a yellow giant which is not listed as a variable in Sky Safari.


     I checked the AAVSO but the data is limited to a short period in 2010. The data on this star does seem very sparse.


    The final target STF3008  a fairly close 7th magnitude yellow/blue pair with a small difference in magnitude.


    I had a quick look at Saturn + Titan. Titan has moved to the 10 o’clock position. I have followed it for about ¾ of it’s orbit.


    A quick final look at Jupiter 4 Moons clearly visible and 5 bands could be resolved.


    Cheers
    Ian

    • Like 2

    A 1 hour session 29/09/21

    in Observing - Reports

    Posted

    Observing Session 29/09/21
    The weather had looked promising for last night. I had a plan to return to my usual targets and also have a crack at a couple of tricky doubles. 
    When I got up at 5am for work it was slightly surreal seeing Orion high in the South. Not a sight I see until later in the year normally. 


    I managed to head out around 8 pm after doing all the necessary domestic chores. 😄


    Conditions weren’t great with Seeing about 3/5 and  Transparency  about 3/5. 


    Ok check my finder alignment on Jupiter and then went straight to RS Ophuchi.


    RS Ophuchi is around  Mag 10 it is clearly  fainter than HD162449 (9.81).


    I moved onto V1405 Cassiopeia it appears  Slightly fainter similar to HD220770  (7.81) so I am happy to go with mag 7.8.


    I wanted to have a look at WZ Cass. I haven’t looked at it in quite a while. It is a double star of red and blue easily split in a small scope and on quite a Richfield. At low power you could get Alpha Cass in field. Definitely worth a look of you are in the area. 


    I moved South to see if I could split the doubles of Rho and Pi Capricorni. I started with Pi Cap. It is 3.6” but quite uneven at magnitudes 5.3 and 8.5. After a while at x100 a foint dot would appear a short distance away. The primary was white, the secondary grey.


    Moving onto Rho Cap. This is a much closer pair at 1.9” but more evenly matched at magnitudes 4.8 and 6.9 at first I had no joy the the secondary just started to become apparent at x100. It was Intermittent and mostly looked elongated but popped out occasionally.


    I was running out of time with another early start so I finished with a quick look at Saturn and Jupiter.


    Saturn + Titan. Titan had moved to 8 o'clock position. It has been interesting to watch Titan’s motion. It has done close to half the orbit since I first noted Titan’s position.


    Jupiter had 3 moons visible.  IO was in transit but was not clearly visible.


    Cheers
    Ian

    • Like 2
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.