Two Easy Doubles!

[Rocket_the_Raccoon]

Beside the moon and the planets, many double stars are well within the resolution capabilities of small telescopes. Here are two:

Mizar in the Big Dipper - Mizar and Alcor is a pair of naked eye double but Mizar itself is a double too. Mizar-A and -B are separated by 14", a low-mid magnification of 40X would be sufficient to split them.

Castor in Gemini - the right "head" of the twins is a triple. Castor-A and -B are separated by 4.8", you would probably need 100X+ to split them. Castor-C is 70" away from the pair but it is much dimmer (at magnitude 9.8, compared to 1.9 and 3.0 of -A and -B respectively). It is a challenge for small telescopes.

Just observed the two above with small basic equipment:

70mm f5.7 Refractor

Red-dot Finder

Plossl 10mm

Modified Achromatic 3.6mm

EQ-1 Mount

[Stu]

Nice one Rocket, great example of what is possible with basic kit.

Mizar is one of my favourites, it was the first thing I looked at through a scope and I view it nearly every time I'm out

[NGC 1502]

Good astronomy can be done with modest kit, the main restriction is how hard we try

With my 70mm Pronto I've done loads of double and multiple stars, they are a favourite target of mine because light pollution has little effect on them.

Get to a dark site and many wonderful sights await the patient observer.......and your 70mm scope is travel friendly.

Regards, Ed.