Antares double

[johnh]

SPX350 F41.3, PGRFlea3, Baader RGB filters.  Imaged from Brisbane, Australia.

This double is tricky at 2.72" separation, the 1st and 5th mag stars are not the only difference because colours of red/orange and blue make a pleasing contrast.  This is my best image of the two as the colour of the companion is obvious as seeing was good.  Orbital period 1200-2600 years and separation 503 AU.

Regards, John.

[AlentejoSkies]

Thank you John.

I never got the allure of doubles - until now!

[chiltonstar]

Very nice image John! It's a lovely pair to see visually, even though it's very difficult from these northern skies because it barely rises above the horizon.

Chris

[Stu]

Wonderful image John. That's one I've never managed to see, must try harder! I didn't realise the colour contrast was so lovely!

[laudropb]

Lovely capture and image. It's a bit too low here so nice to see the image.

[johnh]

Thanks for the comments, I am told observing using an UHC (Ha OIII broad pass bands) filter makes the pair look like cosmic traffic lights as the red primary and the green/blue secondary contrast better as brightness difference is reduced and seeing is improved slightly.

John.

[Size9Hex]

Love it. Quite a different image from the usual. Really striking. Nice tip on the UHC too - I'm visual only, but will give that a go!

[Stub Mandrel]

Nice  - will pay more attention to doubles!

[johnfosteruk]

Very pleasing image John. I love the contrast in colour but also in size.

[John]

Very nice image John

After many years in the hobby I've just managed to split Antares visually this year with my 5.1" refractor at 300x and later with my 120mm at the same magnfication.

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

John thank you so much for posting this fantastic image of Antares with its companion. My Sissy Haas's double star manual gives a P.A. of 274 degrees which looks pretty close to your image although the entry in the book is 1997. I have tried many times to view this double without success, including a few days ago with my recently acquired 6" f/8 1/12 wave Newtonian. Its good to see a photo showing the precise location which will allow me to make provision for the change of orientation in either my 4" frac or 6", 8" or 12" Newt.

Well done again.

[Pig]

Simply stunning Image

[markse68]

Reviving this thread as it’s such an amazing image and I’ve been enjoying the challenge again this summer. I didn’t think to try a UHC but I will now- thanks for the tip. Antares feels close to splitting right now and I hope the clearer covid skies will help- other targets have really benefitted. Last night I kept imagining I saw a greenish haze leading the boiling red mass of Antares A and looking at SkySafari indeed that’s where the B star should be- leading the pair. Perseverance is the order of the day though a dose of luck would help! 🤞

[Stu]

A reminder of how much I miss seeing John’s posts and images on the forum. Some amazing planetary images if you search.

[markse68]

34 minutes ago, Stu said:

A reminder of how much I miss seeing John’s posts and images on the forum. Some amazing planetary images if you search.

I just had a look at his flickr- some amazing images- Mars 😳!. Didn’t realise he was in Oz- I think Antares might be a bit easier from there?

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, markse68 said:

I just had a look at his flickr- some amazing images- Mars 😳!. Didn’t realise he was in Oz- I think Antares might be a bit easier from there?

Yep, can be up at over 75 degrees I think.

[Stub Mandrel]

A few nights ago Antares was such a brilliant red I made the ages-old mistake of thinking it was Mars...

[impactcrater]

it sounds like a long orbital period...is the typical of doubles ?

[John]

21 hours ago, impactcrater said:

it sounds like a long orbital period...is the typical of doubles ?

There are some big variations. Zeta Herculis, for example, has an orbital period of a touch less than 35 years. I have a sketches of it done in 2016 and 2020 and the change in position angle between the two is very obvious.

 

[Corncrake]

On 24/06/2020 at 11:46, Stu said:

A reminder of how much I miss seeing John’s posts and images on the forum. Some amazing planetary images if you search.

Ah, and I just "liked" it ! Didn't realize that he was gone and that this was a recent resurrection !!

[Xilman]

On 05/07/2016 at 07:38, johnh said:

SPX350 F41.3, PGRFlea3, Baader RGB filters.  Imaged from Brisbane, Australia.

This double is tricky at 2.72" separation, the 1st and 5th mag stars are not the only difference because colours of red/orange and blue make a pleasing contrast.  This is my best image of the two as the colour of the companion is obvious as seeing was good.  Orbital period 1200-2600 years and separation 503 AU.

Regards, John.

Impressive!

I would be unable to reproduce it because I am seeing-limited to 2 -- 3 arcsec.