16 Vulpeculae

[chiltonstar]

Double of the month in AN is 16 Vulpeculae; quite a challenge as the separation is only 0.85 arcsec.

As the seeing here last night was very good to excellent, I had a try with my 5" Mak to see if the pair was visible as a double, even though it is below the Dawes limit. Without a filter at x250, the pair appears slightly oval compared with a nearby star, but with a blue filter (Wratten 80A) to "beat" Dawes, the impression is of a peanut shape.

Chris

[John]

Another great "heads up" Chris. Thanks

I've been looking for a sub-arc second binary to really stretch my 12" dob on. It's likely to be beyond my ED120 but I'll give it a try with that as well - sometimes getting the "peanut" shape is nice too.

[chiltonstar]

Another great "heads up" Chris. Thanks

I've been looking for a sub-arc second binary to really stretch my 12" dob on. It's likely to be beyond my ED120 but I'll give it a try with that as well - sometimes getting the "peanut" shape is nice too.

I'm not a fan of peanuts........Time I got myself a lightweight 8" newt I can hoist aloft on my mount!Chris

[Stu]

Nice one, think I'll have a crack at that sometime.

Stu

[John]

Didn't look at 16 Vulpec last night but I did have a go at Lambda Cygni which is a 6th mag pair with a separation of .9 of an arc second. I got a "peanut" with one segment brighter than the other and a noticeable "waist". This was with the ED120 so it was always going to be challenging. Many nights I reckon the conditions just won't quite allow sub-arc second resolution even if the observer and scope might be up to it !.

[chiltonstar]

Didn't look at 16 Vulpec last night but I did have a go at Lambda Cygni which is a 6th mag pair with a separation of .9 of an arc second. I got a "peanut" with one segment brighter than the other and a noticeable "waist". This was with the ED120 so it was always going to be challenging. Many nights I reckon the conditions just won't quite allow sub-arc second resolution even if the observer and scope might be up to it !.

The next challenge!Chris

[cotterless45]

There's a few sub 1" in Cepheus for the larger aperture,

Struve 2872 the BC pair are 8 mag and .8" 22h 08.6m +59* 17' (SAO 34101)

Struve 2 .8". 00h 09.3m +79* 43'

Struve 13 mag7 and .9" 00h 16.2m. +76* 57' (SAO 4071)

Otto Struve 6 has .6" suggesting 300mm aperture 00h 21.4m +67* 00'

Otto Struve 34 has .5" suggesting 350mm. 01h 49.9m +80* 53'

Struve 460 has .8. 04h 10.0m. +80* 42' (SAO 650)

all for which you'll be needing

clear skies,

Nick.

[chiltonstar]

Didn't look at 16 Vulpec last night but I did have a go at Lambda Cygni which is a 6th mag pair with a separation of .9 of an arc second. I got a "peanut" with one segment brighter than the other and a noticeable "waist". This was with the ED120 so it was always going to be challenging. Many nights I reckon the conditions just won't quite allow sub-arc second resolution even if the observer and scope might be up to it !.

I managed 30 minutes this evening on Lambda Cygni with my 5" Mak before the haze/cloud/Moon/mozzies set in - interesting.The pair were almost split (thin waisted peanut) in white light at x190, with the magnitude difference quite clear. With a blue filter at x250, the split was very clear - almost too good considering that the sep is 0.9 arcsec!Chris

[John]

I must try a blue filter Chris - well done !

99% cloud cover here tonight so no splits of any sort

[John]

Managed to get a split on Lambda Cygni tonight. Conditions too milky / hazy for anything but binary star observing !.

The scope was a 150mm F/12 Istar refractor - bit of a monster !. I got the split @ 300x and 380x during moments when the under-mounted scope (how do you over-mount a 6" f/12 refractor ???) settled and the breeze dropped.

A nice "nut to crack" in less than ideal conditions and with a somewhat unwieldy scope

[Moonshane]

rubbish conditions here in Stockport. had a go at 16 Vul with the 12" but only got hints of a split occasionally so not counting. will try Lambda Cygni too soon.

I did add a few in the Cambridge showcase doubles to my list tonight though (easy coloured doubles) and my favourite was 0-1 Cyg. really stunning and obvious colour even in the finder.

[Moonshane]

had another got at these two last night and managed (just) a split of both. these are incredibly tough and I needed to use max magnification (and my equatorial platform) for both. this equated to 533x with my 6" f11 newt. the seeing just allowed a sure split with fleeting clarity. they looked very similar in the eyepiece with Lambda Cygni showing more of a difference in brightness than 16 Vul. pretty tough doubles both. I'll be trying with my 16" masked off next time out.

keep trying guys, you'll get it but might need more power than expected, I did. after doing these, Pi Aquilae and Epsilon Lyrae seemed like child's play!