Out Again At Last! (Doubles In Hercules; Moon)

[cloudsweeper]

By 8.30, the sky had cleared, and the waxing gibbous Moon was looking good, low, east of south.  The Dob couldn't see it though, even on the riser I made, so I put the mount on a garden bench/table, and used the riser to stand on.  All quite stable and safe (when used carefully!).  Sinus Iridum  - a rough-edged arched bay - looked good on the terminator at x159, although the seeing was not great.  The Plato region was good x212 - poorer x 254 - then revealed glorious detail at 9.15 when the sky was darker: the Y-shaped Teneriffe Mountains and the Straight Range (both in Mare Imbrium); the nearby crater Bliss heading a line of smaller craters.  I had hoped to see some of the pits in the floor of Plato, but it was not to be.  Dropping down a bit to x159 to try and beat the seeing was no use either.

Then a few doubles in Hercules:

Delta Herculis (Sarin) - faint companion at 11" was easily spotted at x64; very clear at x115.

Rasalgethi - a (2)+(2) system with 4.8" of separation appeared as a pleasing orange primary, with a close secondary quite clear at x127.

Finally, a hop to Sigma 2160, binary, 3.8".  The very faint close companion showed up at x159, using AV.

I was delighted to have a decent session from the Dobhouse, finishing after 2.5 hours.

Doug.

 

 

[cloudsweeper]

Didn't know at the time, but I was being photographed risking all in the pursuit of astronomy.....

[Stu]

Looks a little precarious Doug, but if it worked, then why not?

Good to get out there again as you say, nice session even if the seeing wasn’t the best. Skies were clear but very milky down here, I messed around for a while but didn’t actually see very much! You did much better

[cloudsweeper]

Yes, Stu - good thing I hadn't had any red with my meal earlier!

I was glad to give the Dob - and Dobhouse - a decent airing.  My previous session eight days ago was like yours.  In fact it was possibly my worst ever!

(BTW, the image is only partly showing up for me - is there a problem with the site, or is it at my end??}

Doug.

[Stu]

Dob balancing and red is probably something to be avoided!

I think one reason I’ve struggled with dobs from home is that I feel a bit hemmed in by the hedges and limited in the targets I can see down lower. Scopes mounted on tripods have an advantage in this regard. Your solution is quite ingenious

I can see the whole image so I think it must be a problem your end.

 

[Eastman]

Seems a little risky Doug, but it works. Nice doubles.

[cloudsweeper]

9 hours ago, Eastman said:

Seems a little risky Doug, but it works. Nice doubles.

Yes, Gert.  Don't think I'll try it again - I'll use one of the other 'scopes for low targets in future!

Doug.