AN's double star of the month plus 2

[chiltonstar]

This month's AN double star of the month is Omega Leonis; with some clear sky and good seeing conditions for an hour or two last night, I had a try with my 180 Mak.

Quite a challenge! Just split at x325 intermittently as the seeing waxed and waned, but not easy with a separation of 0.9 arcsec (mags 5.7, 7.3). Switched from snowman to two unequal disks with a dark space between them.

Close nearby there are two other interesting doubles (both observed at x125) - 

6 Leonis - (mags 5.2, 9.3 sep 37") beautiful orange and blue pair

3 Leonis - (mags 5.8, 11.1 sep 25") white and faint blueish secondary

Worth a look if we get any more clear nights!

Chris

[John]

Some nice targets there Chris

.9 arcsec and unequal brightness - really tough !

[chiltonstar]

9 minutes ago, John said:

Some nice targets there Chris

.9 arcsec and unequal brightness - really tough !

....with the tough ones I run a simulation with Aberrator afterwards to check what I think I saw, and to ensure it was technically possible within the usual rules, eg with 180 mak at x350 and at x700 to show the amount of split (I can't draw so I use simulations!)

Chris

[michaelmorris]

By pure coincidence I had a go at the same three targets this evening.  It was the first real try out of my new-to-me C9.25.  The seeing wasn't great and there was a bit of high cloud around.

I had 3 Leonis down as a tight Orange/white pair and 6 Leonis as a remarkably similar-looking Orangey yellow/pale orange pair. Try as I might, I couldn't split Omega Leonis, even at x335 with my University Optics 7mm HD Orthoscopic.

[chiltonstar]

10 hours ago, michaelmorris said:

By pure coincidence I had a go at the same three targets this evening.  It was the first real try out of my new-to-me C9.25.  The seeing wasn't great and there was a bit of high cloud around.

I had 3 Leonis down as a tight Orange/white pair and 6 Leonis as a remarkably similar-looking Orangey yellow/pale orange pair. Try as I might, I couldn't split Omega Leonis, even at x335 with my University Optics 7mm HD Orthoscopic.

If your seeing was like mine last night Michael, I'm not surprised you didn't split Omega Leonis - it's a challenge unless the sky gods are smiling down upon us with excellent seeing!

Interesting how the colour descriptions of 3 and 6 Leonis vary: Sissy describes them as "pale yellow, greenish" and "deep orange/green".

It will be interesting to see how you get on with the C9.25 for doubles?

Chris