lunator

Just has a short session with binoculars tonight. After the rain the milky way really stood out. As the transparency was excellent. I was only using the 12x42s but all the winyer brighter clusters were visible. Out of all the Messier clusters I observed M35/36/37/38/44/45 the one I enjoyed viewing the most was M35. I think it was because it was just beginning to resolve into stars from a misty patch. Cheers Ian

I think both labels apply to me. Tonight I have been out with Binos to look at the the Milkyway and some clusters. I think of this as stargazers. At other times I am making in depth observations and having conversations with other astronomers both amateur and professional I think of myself as an amateur astronomer. cheers Ian

There is a simple relationship in my experience.. The Dawes limit means you will not cleanly split the pair. If you want to cleanly split the pair the Raleigh criteria is more relevant. For white stars e.g 5500nm light it is 138/D. From experience if you substitute the magnification M for D you will get a pretty close result. So it becomes 138/18 ~ 7.5" Also from experience you can split pairs with a delta M of upto 2 magnitudes. I hope this helps. Cheers Ian

A very nice report 😀, as a fellow double star enthusiast I agree that on nights of exceptional seeing the stars really do look amazing. Even though I have moved to darker skies I still observes some doubles on every session. Cheers Ian

Hi Agnes I think the website for star analyser can tell you if the scope/filter/camera are compatible. They say it works with a webcam so the 485 should be ok

It was good to catch up with some friends I haven't seen in a long time. The exhibition side and the retail side does need addressing. I didn't go to the talks as I baulked at £50 where I was only interested in 1 or 2 of them. I think FLO were there in conjunction with Pulsar, rather than I their own right. One thing that caught my attention was the OO scope on the FLO/Pulsar stand. Cheers Ian

I think with Aladin desktop you have to load the catalogues in. From my quick look the best image is PANNSTARSDR1. The object looks like a spiral galaxy tilted at an angle to us a bit like M31. Cheers Ian

I think it is a galaxy, it is in GAIA DR3 and 2MASS. Have a look at the desktop version of Aladin. That will hopefully give you more data. Cheers Ian

A classic case of the invisible double is STF1143. It has only been observed once but is still in the WDS. I have spent a few hours just scanning that area of sky to see if there might be something nearby. The current view is written up in the notes. Some error in position. See note in BDS II. Bu_1906. This may be STF1134AB with a larger error than is typical for a FGW Struve measure. Alternatively, this may be the same as STF1141

Hi Richard The WDS is a brilliant resource, but it is not perfect 😀. I have been involved in correcting a dozen or so errors. I quite enjoy this aspect of the hobby. If you look at the notes column in the WDS the spurious pars have an X in the column. Cheers Ian

Hi Richard, I always check the notes file in the WDS. It looks like SEI895 is a spurious double. 20075+3236 SEI 895 Neither component seen on POSS plate; may be flaws on AC Potsdam plate . Cheers Ian

We might sound like a broken record but of the 3 scopes I have an 80mm refractor, a 250mm Mak and a 200mm Newt which is now on a Dob base, the 2000mm newt is the best all-rounder. Each has their individual strengths but the Newt is the best compromise overall if you want to try several aspects of the hobby. Cheers Ian

Hi Richard Reduc is a good bit of software. I have used it in the past and once my obs is up and running I jhope to use it again. If you feel you getting proficient then I would recommend contacting Bob Argyle. He is President of the Double Star section of the Webb Society and I am sure he would be happy to publish your measures. Kind Regards Ian

It looks an excellent piece of kit and certainly performs well enough for astro photography. 🙂 Cheers Ian

Very nice website. Hopefully you can catch the aurora and meteors Cheers Ian

Michael Nice report 😀 It is amazing what can be split when the seeing is excellent. Cheers Ian

I had a short session last night. The seeing was variable and Moon glow was significant. Some of the views of Jupiter were good. I also looked at a few doubles. I finished off with the Moon, where in one crater on the southern limb only one edge and the peaks were visible. This gave the impression that the lit peaks were detached from the Moon. Cheers Ian

Stu As a fellow Somerset incomer I can confirm the seeing is better, i hadn't realise quite poor things were in London and Buckinghamshire. Cheers Ian

It sounds an amazing journey, thanks for posting. cheers Ian

Just add a bit about my process. I have a list of target doubles and their last recorded separations. Thee WDS is good for this but not perfect. I sometimes have to check the 6th Orbit Catalogue to get more accurate information. I observe the pair and note the direction of the companion. Only after the session do I check the PA and if it is in the right quadrant I can feel that I saw it and not just "averted imagination" There are many times where I may have seen something but the location doesn't match so I don't count that as a successful observation. Cheers Ian

I still tend to use my Norton star atlas. I managed to see Mare Humboldtianum due to the favourable libration. Cheers Ian

That is a very good pic Paul. I am enjoying seeing it visually from my back garden. Never been able to see it through my scope from where I used to live. Cheers Ian

Hi John I was using my 200mm F6 newt. It can do sub-arc second doubles as long as seeing co-operates. Cheers Ian

I had a look at some doubles in Casseiopeia and Cepheus. The Moon was quite bright and made a nice pair with Jupiter. Tye seeing seemed fairly good. Cass STF121AB y/y A wide pair with a small difference in magnitude. The primary is yellow. The secondary is yellow but has a warmer tint. A third component CTT13AC lies some distance way and is a blue-grey colour. It is also a close double TDS1882CD which is an unconfirmed pair. I didn't try for this pair 😀 Cass STF123AB w/w A fairly wide pair, both appear white and of even magnitude. Cass STF123CD w/nc A fairly close pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. Took x150 to split. Cass STF128 y/b A neat pair of yellow and blue. A fairly wide pair but the secondary is faint. Part of a triangular asterism at low powers. Cass STF130 y/b A fairly wide pair of uneven magnitude. The primary is yellow, the secondary is pale blue. Part of a triangular asterism. Share the field with 38 Cas at low powers. Cass STF148 w/w A very tight pair not split cleanly. The secondary appears slightly to the north. WDS has 0.1”, 6th orbit Catalogue has 0.37” sep. Go for this one if the seeing is good and you are feeling brave 😀 NGC 663 is a nice open cluster with many visual doubles. I had a look,at 3 bright struve ones. Cass STF151 w/w A fairly close pair in NGC663. A small difference in magnitude. A rich field Cass STF152 w/nc A fairly wide pair of uneven magnitude in NGC 663. A rich field Cass STF153 w/w A wite pair of stars with moderate difference in magnitude. In NGC 663 Cephus STF127 w/b A wide pair of uneven magnitude. The primary is white, the secondary is pale blue. A moderately rich field. Cheers Ian

Only popped out briefly tonight as we had guests round. I did offer to take them out but they were concerned about the cold. I had a brief look at the Moon, Jupiter and M42. I did get out for a session last night which was very good. Plenty of detail on the Moon& Jupiter. I also observed the companion of STF148 a rather tight double. Feeling quite chuffed about that ☺️ Cheers Ian