As Idiots Go....

[Damo636]

I am right up there!!

Lately I have found myself becoming more & more interested in the area of splitting tight double stars. Last nights challenge was to split Zeta Herculis. I knew from previous posts this was a tough cookie to crack and a good test of telescope optics.

I used Delta Cygni as a feeler to test the conditions, and managed a nice clean split at 214x. I was good to go...

A quick double check of the collimaton later I slewed around onto Zeta Herculis, and with the same eyepiece.....

Nothing, not even a hint if seperation, Nada??

I had read this target needs some magnification so I switched to the 10mm XW/1.6 Barlow (240x),

still nothing!

Back in went the 7mm XW & the barlow for 343x and amazingly.....

Still nothing??

I spent an hour straining at the eyepiece before giving up. Convinced that the optics in the dob just weren't up to the job, I packed up and went back in for a cuppa, and some Googling for more info on this tough double.

Google rarely lets me down, and it certainly provided me with a conclusive answer to my earlier struggles. As it turns out, the seeing was excellent, the optics in the scope are fine, but Damo was positioned on the "WRONG" star!!

I will have another crack at it tonight, and hopefully with my new found knowledge of the night sky, will have a bit more luck!

[Moonshane]

_{ha ha - been there and done that Damo! when I split this is was only really cleanly split above 450x and very obvious at 600x but this was more intermittent. the seeing was good that night as you imagine and I could not split it with full aperture, only with my 6.7" mask. Delta Cygni is easy by comparison.}

[Damo636]

Sounds like I'll need a bit more oomph Shane, 343x is as far as my eps will take me at the minute. (2x barlow maybe) I have a makeshift aperture mask so will give that a go as well :-)

[chiltonstar]

At x240 with a 5" mak, I can see the two components as separated, but not with clean space between them - bit like a figure of eight. At the limit I suppose for such a small aperture.

Chris

[Moonshane]

you may get it with great seeing at that sort of mag. the aperture mask will tighten things up with much smaller exit pupils

[lunator]

Damo we have all done that

I find it very easy to do if the stars are near zenith