The "winter Albireo".

[cotterless45]

Quite a difficult area from here, with the big tree and town lights. A lovely clear morning showed Sirius lovely and high. Sufficient to enjoy,

H 3934 aka "The winter Albireo", just simply stunning. Full deep colours at x50. A winter must see.

The group of FN CMa, a delicate wide companion.

v1 CMa showing a light red and blue set in a good field.

H II 60 at x150, the secondary looks like it's not there !

β 19 a neat 3.0" split of this binary at x150.

S 534 standing out well in a full field.

17 CMa a cute triple.

Sirius , it's so bright. A UHC filter helps here. I even used a red filter stacked with it at x150 to get the pup again.

Cold and frosty before dawn and so many constellations up and so much to see under

Clear skies !

Nick.

[Dave In Vermont]

Very nice! Thank you for posting this. And the link to Eagle Creek in your signature shows a wealth of other double-star beauties.

Great stuff,

Dave

[cotterless45]

Erratum ! This is an easier and more accurate finder chart for the winter Albireo. I prefer it to the similar iota Cancri,

Nick.

[jetstream]

Never heard of it, can't wait to see it!

[John]

Nice report as ever Nick

I'm looking forward to having a go at Sirus again soon. I'm determined to split it with my ED120 refractor this time around. So far it's needed the big gun 12" dob but I'm sure it should "go" with the refractor under good conditions.

[chiltonstar]

Nice one, again, Nick!

One to look for when the grey stuff disperses.

Chris 

[Mr Spock]

Thanks for doing these reports. It's really piquing my interest in doubles.

[chiltonstar]

Nice report as ever Nick

I'm looking forward to having a go at Sirus again soon. I'm determined to split it with my ED120 refractor this time around. So far it's needed the big gun 12" dob but I'm sure it should "go" with the refractor under good conditions.

I split it again this evening with my ED80 at x125, as clearly as I've ever seen it - a tribute to the very clear conditions this evening with the odd spot of good seeing here and there.

Chris

[John]

I split it again this evening with my ED80 at x125, as clearly as I've ever seen it - a tribute to the very clear conditions this evening with the odd spot of good seeing here and there.

Chris

A tribute to your eye too I reckon Chris

it's not really even easy with my 12" from here - it comes and goes at best

[Qualia]

Great and inspiring report, Nick and thank you for taking the time to put these together. It's been a few days but I was hovering around Canis Major area the other night, flipping between the 10" and 3". Fantastic work getting the Pup (again!). I find Sirius mesmerising. In the 10" the brightness and refraction spikes are simply gorgeous and in the little 3", it is so neat and tidy and sparkling I still haven't split the double, so when we get another clear night I will try with a selection of dimming filters (red, UHC, moon) and see what can be done. My eye sight is quite poor (myopic 3), so I'm not holding my breath.

[Jim Steele]

Great report, given me a challenge for tonight cloud permitting. I doubt my 4" will split the pup but may as well give that a go too.

[cotterless45]

Time of the year to get searching out these great value winter gems , under 

clear skies !

old Nick.

[bish]

Thanks for the report. I bought a double star atlas a few months ago and am finally getting stuck into it.  Being a galaxy/nebula man I'm surprised how rewarding these doubles/multiple scan be.

[cotterless45]

Too right ! It's easy to use and add your own findings. I've been through it with a 150, now it's the 102 challenge. Ouf light pollution has got so bad that galaxies are a struggle,

Nick.

[Paul73]

After reading this thread yesterday, I checked this one out last night.

I can see why it is called the 'Winter Albireo'. Lovely vivid colours in a surprisingly interesting part of the sky.

I started with M41 which is a relatively big rich bright cluster. Then on to Tau Canis Majoris which lies within the dense but faint NGC2362. This was, for me, the most beguiling of sights. The orange central star and the dense frosting of the main cluster coming from a multitude of faint resolved pinpoints. Several fine treadles were winding out from the main cluster into the blackness. The best sight through a scope since Caroline's Rose with the big Dob.

This trio of targets were all the more rewarding because my 16" Dob was struggling with the seeing, with the views appearing fuzzy and washed out. Possibly due to excessive moisture in the air. So this splendid mini session came via my little ED 80 on the silky smooth SkyT and tripod made from three tree trunks. One of those rare occasions where big aperture isn't the answer!

Thanks for the tip off.

Paul