lunator

Great photos, 😁. You have really caught the colours Cheers Ian

Hi Nik, generally a 5"scope will be good for most UK nights but when the seeing co-operates a well collimated 8" newt will split those doubles below 1" easily. It s just a rare occasion 🙂 Cheers Ian

Had a short session out tonight before the clouds rolled in. My step-son and his girlfriend were around so as the scope had been out all afternoon so was well acclimatised. His girlfriend had never looked through a telescope before so I thought I would start with Saturn. I got a very satisfying 'Oh Wow' a well known response to a first view of Saturn. 😁 The next stop was Jupiter. Showing some lovely detail at x150 and I did get a glimpse of the Io transit. The verdict was it was a good as Saturn. I thought something different would be good so swung the scope round to M57. At x100 it showed a clear doughnut shape. They were both pleased to see their first grey smudge 🙂 I couldn't help myself and had to show them a double Gamma Aries. They were intrigued to think that they were a pair of stars in orbit. I also explained they were discovered by Robert Hooke whilst he as following a comet. The final target was Neptune. Apparently it is a favourite planet. It took some finding in the conditions but we finally managed to track down a tiny blue-grey disc. The clouds had rolled in some called it a night. Cheers Ian

Jack, I have to agree with Cosmic Geoff. I have an 8" dob it is a great scope for visual but it would be almost impossible to take images of deep sky objects with it.

The general rule of thumb is a central obstruction of 20% or less will have virtually no impact on the appearance of the doubles compared to a refractor. My OMC250 has an obstruction around 30% and this will have a effect but the aperture means that I can resolve pairs much closer than any refractor I have owned. (All in the 70-120mm range) If you are happy with a sub-150mm aperture I am sure a refractor will give super images but if you want to chase closer pairs then a mak of 150mm+ might suit you better. Cheers Ian

Very nice report. Sounds like a decent location even with some LP on the horizon. 🙂

I saw that as I left for work at 6.30. it was a lovely sight. 🙂

I've looked at a lot of doubles through a variety of scopes from small refractors like the ETX70/ST80 Upto my 8"reflector and 250mm OMC. They have all given me good views of doubles. Generally I can see doubles down to about 1~1.5" on a decent but not perfect night. This equates to an aperture of around 120mm.. I do own an ST120 which on paper is ideal but as it is an F5 the colours can be a little strange. It does come down to the age old question what telescope would get the most use... I guess you need to decide what most important out of resolution, portability or purity of the image. Cheers Ian

Observing report 07/11/2023 Telescope 200mm F6 Seeing II/V Transparency II/V I managed to get a couple of hours observing. Despite an early start the next morning I could still get some observing time. Mr Dobbie had been out on a tarpaulin cooling down. I checked the collimation and it all looked good. My first target was Saturn. It is still quite low but once I had clipped the vegetation I had a fairly good view. Titan was easily visible with Rhea visible occasionally. The Cassini division was also fairly clear. The first new target I had was STF2567 in Aquila. A wide pair of stars with a noticeable difference in magnitude. Easily split at x50. The primary is yellow, the secondary is orange. The best view was at x100. My next target was STF2563AB,C in Sagitta, a fairly close pair with a wide ‘C’ component. All components looked white. The primary is bright and the secondary and tertiary are of similar magnitude. Part of a kite shape asterism. Easily split at x50, the best view was at x75. I moved onto STF2569 in Sagitta. A close pair of white stars with a moderate difference in magnitude. Part of a right angled triangle. My final new double was STF2570 in Aquila. A close pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. The primary is white, the secondary is pale blue. Shares the field with a Sagitta shaped asterism. Whilst I was in Aquila I thought I would check on my double CSR3. So I dropped down to STF2636 which shares a low powered field with CSR3.I am still amazed Struve observed STF2636 but ignore a wider but brighter pair. Jupiter had cleared the trees and using the baader zoom I had a look at x50-x150. The detail on the belts was very good. I decided to get the 6mm ortho out giving me x200. This really brightened the image. I am assuming this is due to fewer elements in this eyepiece. The extra magnification helped to draw out detail in the belts and I could see Ganymede as a disk not just a dot. After some time I decided that as the transparency was good I would have a look at Andromeda and it’s satellite galaxies. M31 & M32 are easy to spot but M110 needs very transparent skies to observe. When I looked at the galaxies in the 24mm giving me ~1.4°. I was very pleased that I could see a grey smudge exactly where I was expecting M110 to be. I did have a quick look for M33 but I didn’t really see anything obvious. I did get visited by 2 hedgehogs one walked right past the telescope 😄

The conditions are pretty good tonight. The transparency is very good. I got a decent view of M110 which isn't a frequent occurrence. Jupiter also showed great detail and I am sure Ganymede appeared as a disk. I hadn't really seen this before. I'll write up a full report tomorrow. Cheers Ian

Unfortunately round here it s full crash bang wallop from the end of October to Christmas. Hopefully once I have moved it will be better. How you do get a chance to video Saturn and Jupiter 😄

I had a quick look at Saturn between the clouds. Too many fireworks to continue the session. Hopefully quieter in the week.

Chris, it is a lovely double. There are lots of colourful pairs. Almach and Albireo are 2 showpiece pairs. Cheers Ian

There isn't really an easy solution to this. I use an artist sketch book with thicker pages. This seems to resist any dew or dampness quite well. Any light will reduce dark adaptation but if you have moderate LP it might be a challenge in general. One thing you can do is get the red plastic that people use on their laptops when imaging and if possible find a way to attach it Infront of the red light torch. It may make it too dim but is worth a try. Cheers Ian

Excerpt of Observing report 22/10/23 covering double stars. Main report on the observing section. I finally managed to get a couple of hours observing. The first since the 7th September. Mr Dobbie had been out on a tarpaulin cooling down. Vega Collimation At dusk I knew I needed to check everything out as the scope had been moved several times so a check of the finder alignment and collimation showed that both were well out. Fortunately the seeing was fairly good so using Vega as a star test I managed to get a good alignment. Double Double First stop as only a short hop from Vega. Easily split at x150 and decided to see how low I could go. I was pleasantly surprised that all 4 components were still obvious at x60. The best view was at x100 as the splits were very clear and you got to see plenty of field stars as well. The first new target I had was STF2508 in Draco. A wide pair of yellow stars with a sight difference in magnitude. Easily split at x50. The next target was STF2510A, BC in Aquila. They are a neat pair of white stars with a slight difference in magnitude. Easily split at x50 and quite a rich field. The BC pair were not split as they are 0.3” apart. STF2516 in Draco (again), A fairly close pair of uneven magnitude. The primary is orange and the secondary is pale blue. Part of a trapezoidal shape. The pair cold be split at x60 but the best view was at x100. STF2538AC, AD & CD in Cygnus was the next target but I took a slightly circuitous route via ETA Cass. The first double I observed and still one of my favourites. Back to STF2538. It is a visual triple in a small scope. The CD pair are fairly close. The A component lies some distance away. All three stars appeared yellow. There are 2 other components B and E, they are both below 13th mag and we’re not observed. My next target was STF2549 in Draco. As a moved across to it I did divert to M57. A favourite faint fuzzy of mine. It looked good at x150 with a clear doughnut appearance. STF2549 A wide triple of similar magnitude. The outer two stars appear yellow, the middle star appears white. The 3 stars curve round and point to a fainter star some distance away. The AB pair (BU655AB) were not split. The final target was STF2552 in Sagitta. A fairly close pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. The primary is white and the secondary pale blue. The pair are set in a fairly rich field.

Observing report 22/10/23 I finally managed to get a couple of hours observing. The first since the 7th September. Mr Dobbie had been out on a tarpaulin cooling down. Vega Collimation At dusk I knew I needed to check everything out as the scope had been moved several times so a check of the finder alignment and collimation showed that both were well out. Fortunately the seeing was fairly good so using Vega as a star test I managed to get a good alignment. Double Double First stop as only a short hop from Vega. Easily split at x150 and decided to see how low I could go. I was pleasantly surprised that all 4 components were still obvious at x60. The best view was at x100 as the splits were very clear and you got to see plenty of field stars as well. As the seeing was fairly good I thought a quick look at the Moon would be worthwhile even given it low altitude. The view was fairly good but was quickly obscured by trees etc. The first new target I had was STF2508 in Draco. A wide pair of yellow stars with a sight difference in magnitude. Easily split at x50. At this point I was disturbed by one of our semi-domesticated Hedgehogs. Wandering down the path. It is the oldest one we know and she has been named Ethel. Whilst watching her wander past I noticed Saturn had cleared the houses. So once she was out the way I headed down towards Saturn with a brief stop at Albireo, always a lovely sight at x50. Saturn’s rings appear quite flat but still a wonderful sight. The Cassini division was visible in moments of better seeing and Titan and Rhea were easily visible with Dione occasionally visible but difficult with the glare from Saturn itself. I decided I needed to get back to my observing plan so the next target was STF2510A, BC in Aquila. They are a neat pair of white stars with a slight difference in magnitude. Easily split at x50 and quite a rich field. The BC pair were not split as they are 0.3” apart. I like to stop viewing now and again and just look up. The Milky Way was just becoming visible. As I looked around I noticed a bright object in the East. Usually this view is blocked by a row of black Poplar trees (Aylesbury Vale has 80% of the world’s black Poplar trees....A useless fact 😄) but some have been removed due to age/disease and Jupiter was in a gap. I took the opportunity to have a look at x150. All 4 moons were visible and to detail was good despite the low-ish altitude. At his point I was disturb by our second hedgehog this one is called Honey as my wife thinks her colour is like a honey badger. I watched her wander past and again decided to again view by target doubles. STF2516 in Draco (again), A fairly close pair of uneven magnitude. The primary is orange and the secondary is pale blue. Part of a trapezoidal shape. The pair cold be split at x60 but the best view was at x100. STF2538AC, AD & CD in Cygnus was the next target but I took a slightly circuitous route via ETA Cass. The first double I observed and still one of my favourites. Back to STF2538. It is a visual triple in a small scope. The CD pair are fairly close. The A component lies some distance away. All three stars appeared yellow. There are 2 other components B and E, they are both below 13th mag and we’re not observed. My next target was STF2549 in Draco. As a moved across to it I did divert to M57. A favourite faint fuzzy of mine. It looked good at x150 with a clear doughnut appearance. STF2549 A wide triple of similar magnitude. The outer two stars appear yellow, the middle star appears white. The 3 stars curve round and point to a fainter star some distance away. The AB pair (BU655AB) were not split. The final target was STF2552 in Sagitta. A fairly close pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. The primary is white and the secondary pale blue. The pair are set in a fairly rich field. At this point my observing was interrupted by a 3rd hedgehog. This one was a small Hoglet probably only a few weeks old. It strategy for not being seen was to jam it’s head against the shed wall and stay perfectly still. I got a pair of gardening gloves and placed it in the cat carrier and it was taken to ‘Tiggywinkles’ a rescue centre the next day.

I managed a couple of hours out last night. First time since the 7th Sept.... It was fairly good but the seeing was variable. It was excellent at times but with fairly frequent dips to poor. I saw a few new doubles and some regular targets. I hope to post a report soon. Cheers Ian

Very nice pics. 😀 I he'd a brief look at the moon tonight but it was a bit low for me. Cheers Ian

I have an old pair of Tasco Binos that have become mis-aligned so Albireo is a beautiful yellow and blue quadruple 😁

Richard Very nice painting. It's good to try different ways to capture/ represent the view. I think doing watercolour at the eyepiece might be quite a challenge 🙂. Cheers Ian

Very good pics James. I think you have caught the Milky Way really well. Cheers Ian

Phil Very nice report. It sounds a lovely scope both to look through and at 🙂. Cheers Ian

Stu I'm no imager but the image looks a good start. Plenty of detail. Cheers Ian

It is a quirk of history. It goes back to Pre BT days when telephone networks could set up by the Local Authorities. From Memory Hull and Portsmouth were the only 2 that made a go of it. Portsmouth ultimately became part of BT but Hull has always remained separate and BT have to purchase network from KCom to deliver service in Hull. Cheers Ian

Josefk, very nice report and sketch. A grab and go setup is totally necessary in the current weather. cheers Ian