A Very Close Star, 5 Clusters, 4 Moons Of Saturn

[cloudsweeper]

Mild evening, clear sky, Ophiuchus well placed to the south, 8SE in action.

Arcturus and Vega appeared about 10.25 - I aligned on them.

First stop, Summer Beehive Cluster, mainly to check the GoTo!  Quite nice - a small number of stars, very clear, although the sky was hardly dark at all.

Then 66 Oph (SAO 123005 for GoTo) - hopped north to HIP 88056, which had a little "hook" of fours stars beneath it - then west to Barnard's Star, a red dwarf a mere 6ly away, the 4th closest star to the Sun after the Alpha Cen system of three (which can only be seen from low latitudes in the northern hemisphere).  A good blend of GoTo and star-hopping!

Open cluster NGC 6633 - lovely - several stars in loose array in 42mm Rev - swapped to the 30mm Rev, then the ES 30/82 for comparison.  Very nice - a wider, sharper, clearer view, although some field curvature was noticeable.

Glob M 10 - a pale fuzz, since it wasn't very dark.  With patience and AV, I could make out close, tiny specks at x113/145.  Going back well after midnight, the object was clearer.

I then spotted Saturn at about 18 deg.  Titan was easily seen, then nearer the planet, a little line comprising Rhea, Tethys, and Dione popped in and out of view using AV, at x145.  Easier to see at x85.  Mimas and Enceladus were closer to Saturn, but were not spotted.  Perhaps their light was drowned out?

Glob M 14 was just a fuzz at x68.  Magnitude figure greater than M 10's.

Glob M 12, the Gumball Globular - magnitude between those for M 10 and M 14 - resolved several stars in the fuzz at x145.

Total time about 3.5 hours.  Main objective (Barnard's Star) achieved.  Clusters are always a pleasure in any session.  And seeing - for me -  two new moons of Saturn was a bonus!

Doug.

 

 

[John]

Nice report Doug

I've only fairly recently observed Barnards Star myself, Just an ordinary star of course but well worth finding given that its, relatively speaking, on our doorstep

Saturn was great tonight for me as well - managed to observe from a location with a good low horizon so good, prolonged views for a change. Thanks for identifying the moons for me !

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

Great report Doug. It is also interesting to note that Barnard's Star is also number 87 in Steve O'Meara's book 'Hidden Treasurers'. Doug was this one of your reasons for viewing this star?

[cloudsweeper]

1 hour ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Great report Doug. It is also interesting to note that Barnard's Star is also number 87 in Steve O'Meara's book 'Hidden Treasurers'. Doug was this one of your reasons for viewing this star?

Thanks Mark.  If I spot anything in an atlas or on Stellarium that merits a bit more investigation, I might then go on to target it.  Recently, for example - Taurus Poniatovii (former constellation) and its cluster, also the Coma Berenices cluster. 

Barnard's Star is the same.  When I found it was the closest one you can see in the Northern Hemisphere (unless at low latitudes), I just had to take a look!

Thanks BTW for the reference to Steve O'Meara's book!

Doug.