Cancer Doubles; Crater Walther

[cloudsweeper]

Spotted a lovely clear sky after 4am today, out came the ED80 on GoTo again, and away we go!  Moon, waning gibbous, high south, in Cancer.  Aligned on Luna, then went to the Beehive Cluster, M44, less than 4deg away - several stars, sharp, loose, nice pattern, and no glare no doubt because of the overall light background due to the Moon.

(Made up for last night, when I  only managed M45 briefly - looked good without glare (poor transparency) - nice, crisp dots - but then everything disappeared.)

On to the doubles:

Sigma 1177 (17 Cnc) - binary, 3.5" separation - just separated at x80, quite faint, close match, little else in the 0.75deg field.

Sigma 1187 - triple, visual double, 3.0" - as above, but requiring x120, and again an "up-down" pairing.

Sigma 1202 - binary, 2.7" - companion much fainter, so harder to spot in the light background - just about managed it with patience and AV, sitting at 10 o'clock from the primary.

Next, the Moon:

Beautifully sharp in the TV 6mm Radian and x80/0.75deg.  Still good at x96, but losing some sharpness of detail at x120/160,  There was very little shadow in the shallower craters near the terminator, e.g. crater Walther (southern highland).  Decided to spend a little time on that.  Spotted a tight cluster of craters on the NE floor; wrinkles nearby.  A few much smaller craters on the opposite side, and a thin, linear "ridge" cutting across the SW edge.  Altogether an enjoyable target.

I ended with views in the new (actually, secondhand!) Meade Plossls (4000 Series 32mm; 3000 Series 25mm) giving 3+ and 2+ degrees of field, superb clarity, beautiful framing, and very manageable without excessive glare.

Finished at 6.30, frozen but happy after a two hour session.

Thanks for reading.

Doug.

 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2019 by cloudsweeper

[cotterless45]

Zeta Cancri , Tegmin(e) is a great challenge . Along with beta Mon. Very fine triples.

Had a go last night , got down to minus three for a few hours . Very mushy sky and frost covered everything , waiting for more clear skies !

Nick.

[Alan White]

I wish I had, but came home early with a Migraine.
I did get a very late quick binocular look about as i brightened up, but wished i had felt better.
Of course it will b cloudy tonight no doubt!

Thanks for sharing, makes me feel like I did take a look,

[cloudsweeper]

27 minutes ago, cotterless45 said:

Zeta Cancri , Tegmin(e) is a great challenge . Along with beta Mon. Very fine triples.

Had a go last night , got down to minus three for a few hours . Very mushy sky and frost covered everything , waiting for more clear skies !

Nick.

Thanks Nick - helpful input as ever.  Beta Mon is one of those I haven't got round to yet, soon to be rectified!

Doug.

 

26 minutes ago, Alan White said:

I wish I had, but came home early with a Migraine.
I did get a very late quick binocular look about as i brightened up, but wished i had felt better.
Of course it will b cloudy tonight no doubt!

Thanks for sharing, makes me feel like I did take a look,

My pleasure Alan, I've had a good run just lately.  Wife thinks I'm crackers going out in the morning frost!

Doug.

[chiltonstar]

Some nice doubles there! I use my 32mm Meade Series 4000 Plossl as well for wide field views, and I agree, the clarity is superb.

As Nick suggests, Tegmine is well worth the look!

Chris