Pi Aquilae

[John]

Some semi-clear skies at long last !

I've been testing a new-to-me Skywatcher Evostar 150 F/8 refractor on some double stars in the cloud gaps tonight and got a nice split of Pi Aquilae at 240x and 343x. My info shows these as mag 6.1 and 6.4 respectively with a separation of 1.4 arc seconds. The split was clear and the pairing very attractive. The big refractor seems a good binary star scope

[JamesF]

You got lucky there John. It's barely possible to get a fag paper between the breaks in the cloud here...

James

[lunator]

John

Good spot, they can be tricky, I think x240 is a decent mag to get them split. What colour did you see was it similar for both stars?

[John]

The colours I saw were pale lemon for the brighter component and a sort of grayer lemon tint (if you can have such a thing !) for the other star.

Funnily enough I found that I'd reported this one before, around 12 months ago and also with a 6" scope:

Must be a sign of age - forgetting that you have seen an object before !

[John]

I managed to get this one again tonight, this time with my ED120 refractor. Very close pair at 257x with one component a noticeably duller shade than the other. 20 mins viewing tonight before the clouds intervened. Not much but better than nothing which is more or less what it's been through June and much of July.

[JamesF]

You didn't get clear skies last night then, John? That must be exceptionally unlucky given what it was like here. Early evening wasn't too stunning, but after midnight it got better and better.

James

[John]

You didn't get clear skies last night then, John? That must be exceptionally unlucky given what it was like here. Early evening wasn't too stunning, but after midnight it got better and better.

James

I had to be up early this morning so I didn't stay out long enough to catch the clear skies

It's looking good now though and I don't have to be up early tomorrow so I'm hoping for a longer session tonight.

[JamesF]

Looking at Sat24 I'm not convinced we're going to get much time tonight. There's a large band of cloud that looks like it's set to drift eastwards across the country. Get your scope out early, I reckon.

James

[Moonshane]

I had a look at this double last night and managed it before the clouds rolled in. easy to find and got a very decent clean split at 300x in my 16" f4 dob masked to 170mm. I'd agree with the colours you mention John too.

[John]

Sorry to dredge up a year old thread but I've been having a peek at Pi Aquilae again and managed to just get a split with my Vixen ED102SS refractor at 221x (3mm Radian). Seems a real tight one with this aperture !

[Davey-T]

At least you remembered you'd seen it before John

Dave

[skybadger]

I also Had. Look at it lAst night. I was using it as my 8"visac collimation test and comparing it to a 140 mm vixen refractory mounted alongside. The refractory won. It took me long enough to positively identify it was a double to start with, but once with a bit of 9mm plossl action for a mag of 90, all became clear. It took abut more than that in the visac for that to split it.

Mike

[Tiki]

I just about managed a split at 216x with a 2.5T6 and TV101. The seeing wasn't good enough for a prolonged separation but was definitely there. Considerable elongation was apparent at 154x. As noted above, the companion has an unusually dull hue.

[Doley68]

I observed this double for the first time on Saturday night. Had a tight but clean split at x300 with my 180 mak pro using a 9mm William optics SWAN. I got pale yellow and greyish yellowish white.

Was very pleased to split this one at 1.4 sec. I suppose the fairly equal brightness of the components helps here.

Still struggling with zeta Hercules. I get a bit of brick red diffraction ring but need to push the power maybe. Need an 8mm radian I think!

Chris.

[chiltonstar]

I had a try tonight with my 5" Mak. Peanut shape at first (x190/x250) and then separating into two very close stars as the seeing improved and the scope settled down a bit. Not an easy one with 5", but worth it.

Chris

[John]

It was certainly a very tight split with my 4" Vixen. I was expecting to get a touching pair but the hairline of black space between the two was a bonus.

It's curiously satisfying to track down a challenging binary system and then resolve it into separate stars and compare their colours. I feel it's possibly the ultimate test of observer, seeing conditions and optics

I always give my scope a little pat on the tube when it's shown me something like this !

[chiltonstar]

It was certainly a very tight split with my 4" Vixen. I was expecting to get a touching pair but the hairline of black space between the two was a bonus.

It's curiously satisfying to track down a challenging binary system and then resolve it into separate stars and compare their colours. I feel it's possibly the ultimate test of observer, seeing conditions and optics

I always give my scope a little pat on the tube when it's shown me something like this !

I always talk to mine to encourage it (I'm sure many of us do, or maybe I should seek counselling). I've had some odd looks from late-night dog walkers though..

Chris

[John]

I always talk to mine to encourage it (I'm sure many of us do, or maybe I should seek counselling). I've had some odd looks from late-night dog walkers though..

Chris

I can think of worse afflictions Chris

Some of the modern GOTO scopes can apparently talk back, which would be slightly odd

[Mark at Beaufort]

I viewed a number of doubles last night to test the Baader Q Turret barlow that I am trying out. With regards to Pi Aquilae I used my 4" Astro Tech frac with my 8mm Ethos and the barlow. The barlow increases the mag by 2.25x which on the Astro Tech and the Ethos gives me 202x. I am pleased to say that I could see the split although very tight. Seeing conditions were excellent as I determine viewing the double double.

I did try Zeta Hercules but no success.

Mark

[John]

I viewed a number of doubles last night to test the Baader Q Turret barlow that I am trying out. With regards to Pi Aquilae I used my 4" Astro Tech frac with my 8mm Ethos and the barlow. The barlow increases the mag by 2.25x which on the Astro Tech and the Ethos gives me 202x. I am pleased to say that I could see the split although very tight. Seeing conditions were excellent as I determine viewing the double double.

I did try Zeta Hercules but no success.

Mark

Well done Mark - Pi Aq is a really tight split for a 4" isn't it ? - probably as good as possible unless the conditions are really exceptional.

I tried Zeta Herc with my 4" as well but could not get a split there.

I had a peek at Pi Aq with my 12" dob the night before last at 530x. The airey disks were not as perfectly formed as the refractors give by any means but the split seemed rather wide with that aperture / power !

I reckon I could nail a sub-arc second pair with that scope under the right conditions and on the right target.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Had a look at Pi Aq last night with the 180mm Mak Cass using my binoviewers and the 12.5mm William Optics Planetary EPs. Difficult to know the exact mag although it should be 216x with these EPs but it was certainly more. The star was easily split and it certainly shows what a good scope this is for planetary and double star viewing.

Mark

[lunator]

John/Mark

I checked my records and the lowest mag I have used is x200. Using my old 8" F6 Newt.

I think a "how low can you go" challenge could be good

Cheers

Ian

[chiltonstar]

Certainly, I couldn't have gone lower than x190 with a 5" Mak......

Chris

[John]

I split it last night at 150x with my ED120. I really don't think I could have got it at any lower power with that scope.

[lunator]

Hi John

Had a go last night at this.

I could get a split a x150 in my ST120 using my 4mm ortho.

I did try with the 5mm and got elongation but no split.

Cheers

Ian