The Garnet Star

[stevepeverall]

Had my first look at The Garnet Star tonight in Cepheus. I was expecting a dark red colour, actually it was a strange orangy brown just like the gem. Definitely worth a look and the colour appears more pronounced through binoculars than through my scope.

[Qualia]

Nice one, Steve.

I think it's about 1,550 lights away from us and one of the largest stars in our galaxy. It's about 1000x larger than the sun's radius which means if it were placed in the sun's position it would reach beyond the orbit of Jupiter and maybe even Saturn's.

if you're around that area another night, it might be nice to try for the double Σ 2816, Σ2819 and the open cluster IC 1396 which will all fit in the same 0.5º ish field of view. ΟΣ 461 is also worth hunting out for it is an extremely rare five star solar system. The A, C, D, E components are easy to spot for they're all in a line. The B component is a little trickier for it is tucked just to the side of the primary and on occassion disappears in its glare. Certainly worth a look anyway.

[stevepeverall]

Thanks Qualia.

I'll have a look at those tonight and look forward to that 5 star system!

[AndyWB]

I was expecting a dark red colour, actually it was a strange orangy brown just like the gem.

Me too!

When I went looking for it I also stumbled across NGC7160, which was fairly obvious, and cute.

And I might have to have a look at ΟΣ 461 myself too, now...

[Rustysplit]

Must have been something in the air Steve, I too was out hu nting down the Garnet star last night. Very lovely target.

[ScottS]

I was also out looking for this on Friday night and gave up, only realising later that I was looking in the wrong place. Will take a look next time now I have educated myself.

[AndyWB]

Had a look at O∑461 - interesting! It almost looked more like an open cluster. I think, though, like this chap I got confused about where the B component was - and I don't think I saw it. I also mistook the extra star in the line as being the fifth component. I'll have to go back. More about O∑461 here

[stevepeverall]

I think, though, like this chap I got confused about where the B component was - and I don't think I saw it. I also mistook the extra star in the line as being the fifth component.

I've just done exactly the same thing Andy!

Found two doubles Σ 2816, Σ2819 but at a loss to see the Elephant's Trunk Nebula, even with a UHC-S filter.

Thanks for the info Qualia, I'd never have found these for myself. They're not even labelled in my Cambridge Star Atlas.