Bino Doubles in Cygnus

[Qualia]

While the other scopes were out 'cooling' this evening, I set myself a little challenge. It consisted of lying back on a comfy beach chair under the midnight sky, decked in my shorts in a mild 27ºC, star atlas, red torch and a freshly squeezed lemon drink to my side, working through a number of easy doubles for my new set of 10x30 binos. The challenge of finding and splitting was also on the agenda

An hour later the challenge added up to a nice sense of satisfaction: being able to trace the contours of a constellation, star-hopping from here to there and stumbling across glittering clusters and rich star fields, all topped by the aesthetic beauty radiating from the doubles encountered. Binos under the Milky Way on a warm summer's night is quite unlike anything else

Anyway, here are the doubles:

beta Cygni (Albireo)
This one doesn't need any introduction but always a joy to visit. One of the finest double stars in the northern sky boasting a topaz yellow and sapphire blue pair.

Omicron1 Cygni
A wide triple with fine contrast between the golden orange primary and its bluish companions.

61 Cygni
This was the first star to have its distance determined which in 1840 was noted to be about 11 light years. Both are pretty orange stars.

79 Cygni

Wide pair of white stars; surprising how sparse the field is relative to other areas of the Milky Way.

48 Cygni

Another white pair set within a gorgeous area of the Milky Way. Cygni 52 is in the same field of view but I failed to see anything of the Veil Nebula.

mu Cygni
The white primary star makes for a nice pair with its bluish 7th companion set within a rich stellar background.

29 Cygni

Not really a double star but this white spectral class A has a nice optical partner.

[Ibbo!]

Nice report

I keep dipping in and out of double star observing as its something I can do despite the LP

[cotterless45]

Neat report as usual ! It's been too cloudy and bright to do very much here. Had a look down Cygnus in a pair of Bresser 8x60's.

Quite pleased to get just about all of Sagitta in the fov.

Then a look at the upside down "Coathanger" , easy find between Albireo and Altair. The only advantage of terrible skies is that star hopping is easier,

Nick.

[Qualia]

Thank you Nick and Steve. Don't like it when the weather isn't playing your end, for it means in general we get less reports and the such. We've had quite a good innings in May and June but I imagine it'll get worse in July and August as the air heats up during the day and then cools down quite a bit at night creating a misty fog over the hills to my south Similar thing happened last year when I first moved here, so I imagine it'll be the same this year.

[Piero]

Thank you Nick and Steve. Don't like it when the weather isn't playing your end, for it means in general we get less reports and the such. We've had quite a good innings in May and June but I imagine it'll get worse in July and August as the air heats up during the day and then cools down quite a bit at night creating a misty fog over the hills to my south Similar thing happened last year when I first moved here, so I imagine it'll be the same this year.

Bad for astronomy, but it seems a suggestive landscape to see!

Nice report as always, Rob! I hope to have a chance this week, because recently the weather has not been very nice as already said by others.  

[Qualia]

Bad for astronomy, but it seems a suggestive landscape to see!

Thanks for your kind words, Piero. Here are a couple of photos of the area I live in

[Piero]

Really beautiful pics! I somehow imagined something similar, but certainly not the castle! 

Is the sky dark beyond those hills? 

I am no longer used to very hot temperatures! Actually, after moving to the 'south' (from 55N to 52N) I even feel I have a sort of tan in these days! 

Nothing to compare to the heat waves hitting South Europe or the feeling of being burnt from the sun. On the other hand, feeling warm/hot 24h no stop is a nice feeling to me!  

[xtreemchaos]

great report mate i really enjoyed reading it.thanks for sharing..charl..