A Double star challenge Epsilon Lyrae.

[Barry-W-Fenner]

6 hours ago, Pixies said:

OK - I gave it a shot tonight. I split both at 100x but could only split one at 67x - the other being a 'snowman'. 

I find it hard to confirm the split - it's almost as if my vision is blurring, a bit like floaters smudging the clarity of the stars. Is this my eyes or the viewing conditions?

Later, I tried Iota Cass for the first time. The triple is very beautiful and I managed to split the tighter pairing at 100x. It seemed much easier on the eyes, perhaps because of the colour differences.

 

So, I need a 15mm EP next, to give me 80x. Or perhaps a bit of overtime is required and I'll look to get a Baader Hyperion Zoom

Nice to see you found Iota Cas, it is a lovely triple which is quite easy to split. I also put this possibly down to the colour differences. Very enjoyable!

If you do decide to purchase a 15mm EP the BST is excellent in my opinion.  It is one of my most used EP's giving x80 in my 200p some very nice views for modest money..

 

[Pixies]

1 hour ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Nice to see you found Iota Cas, it is a lovely triple which is quite easy to split. I also put this possibly down to the colour differences. Very enjoyable!

If you do decide to purchase a 15mm EP the BST is excellent in my opinion.  It is one of my most used EP's giving x80 in my 200p some very nice views for modest money..

 

My 18mm and 12mm are BST Starguiders, so it would be rude not to go for the 15mm! I particularly like the 12mm (100x in my Bresser 8"), esp for globs.

 

[Pixies]

1 hour ago, John said:

Zooms are great for double star splitting. I use one practically all the time now for that purpose. Either the 7.2mm - 21.5mm plus 2.25x barlow or the Nagler 2mm - 4mm zoom.

 

John, is that the specific Hyperion Zoom barlow, or the Classic Q one?

[harpy]

The skies where a dud here last night and it’s looking the same for the rest of the week. Looks to be some sunny spells next weekend so fingers crossed there’s a clear sky and I’ll get chance to have a go at this.

[RobertI]

1 hour ago, Pixies said:

John, is that the specific Hyperion Zoom barlow, or the Classic Q one?

I believe John uses the Classic Q Barlow , I have just bought one on his recommendation to use with my zoom eyepiece, and it works very well, perfect for doubles.  

[John]

5 hours ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

What barlow do you use John? I might upgrade mine with one that is more user friendly with my Morpheus.

 

Cheers

Baader Q-Turret 2.25x. I only use it with the zoom eyepiece though. The two seem to be a particularly good match. I don't barlow my other eyepieces.

 

 

[John]

4 hours ago, Pixies said:

My 18mm and 12mm are BST Starguiders, so it would be rude not to go for the 15mm! I particularly like the 12mm (100x in my Bresser 8"), esp for globs.

 

You may well not need the 15mm

I usually skip straight from 21mm to 13mm or from 24mm to 14mm. 

I can understand the desire to have the full set but sometimes there is redundancy in that approach.

 

[Pixies]

1 minute ago, John said:

You may well not need the 15mm

I usually skip straight from 21mm to 13mm or from 24mm to 14mm. 

I can understand the desire to have the full set but sometimes there is redundancy in that approach.

 

I agree. But as I was obviously missing a magnification that might have helped last night, I was tempted. But - I think the temptation for the Hyperion zoom (and Q Barlow) is greater....

 

[Whistlin Bob]

Pretty murky tonight- but enough gaps for a go with the 14". The minimum mag at which I was sure I had a split was 82x- and this needed an aperture mask. So, a little better than the 105, but do it should be given the size of the scope!!!

[SiriusB]

I've been dogged by cloud before midnight since i initially posted.

Just been out with the 80ED.

@50x , nope nothing.

@ 66x  wider pair split.

Up to 85x, is it,Hmmm? Honestly, i could not say 2nd pair was split.

@100x both pairs split, but i can tell seeing not great.

Was working in deep twilight, transparency poor & seeing not so good. experiment over for tonight as high cloud's moved in & it's a school night. Bedtime!😉

 

@  Pixies. Great you found Iota Cas. Possibly my favourite double (triple) Especially in an Achromatic refractor where the colours seem somehow "enhanced"

...& they told you CA was a bad thing.😄

[Ibbo!]

Finally got the FS 60 on the mount- what a faff it must be 3 years since I last used it and that was in imaging mode and it was loaned out for last 18 months so the bits and bobs to get it set for visual might have been used elsewhere.

Conditions were not ideal bits of whispy clouds & haze and to be honest the scope was a touch awkward to use on the EQ6 as it is on the ext pillar so it is almost a tiptoe stretch the that eye thingy.🌞

 

First up Tak LE50 mm giving x7 to find them - yes it doubles up as a finder scope.

So in went the 2.8Tak LE giving x127 and after a couple of minutes I thought I could split both pairs , down to the Ta 3.6MM LE giving x99 they were resolved, notched.

Down to the 5mm Tak Le x71 elongated to unresolved.

Nirvana 4mm elongated.

Back to the 2.8 and yes they were both split.

 

 

Will pop out a bit later if it is still clear/ish and it should be a little more comfortable to use.

 

Edit back out using diagonal to help comfort no split with 2.8mm.

 

Things learnt :-

I need to be more comfortable when using eye thingies.

I need to gather up all the scattered kit, adaptors etc.

The 20mm Nag gives lovely wide field views and would be cracking at a dark site.

 

The beer I had between sessions was not a great idea.

 

[RobertI]

Managed to get out with the 150PL Newt and the 66mm frac to have a slightly more scientific go at Epsilon Lyrae. I estimated the seeing as around Pickering 4/5 (fair to good) so just about ok for this challenge. Jupiter and Saturn were 'boiling' low dowon over the rooftops.

Zenithstar 66mm: At x75 the wide pair was split and the harder pair resolved and fleetingly split in moments of stillness. At x90 the harder pair was split most of the time.

150PL: Performance was actually not much better than the small frac, I guess down to the seeing. At x90 the harder pair was split fairly easily, but at x80 was more like a resolve.

Note: Most of the magnifications are approximate (possibly as much as plus or minus 10) as the zoom I was using has a VERY rough scale. The zoom was used with the x2.25 barlow.

Interestingly when I first looked through the 150PL at x90 I couldn't really make out the split of the harder pair, but when I went back to the scope 2 minutes later it was clear as a bell.

I subsequently had a go at Zeta Herculis with the 150PL. Using the zoom and the x2.25 barlow I couldn't see anything at any magnification for sure, possibly a brightening of the already broken diffraction ring. Using a 5mm e/p plus the barlow I could definitely make out the secondary and checking the position angle proved I had bagged it. But it took a magnification of x540 to achieve it - the star was fair galloping accross the FOV!! Backing off the magnification using the zoom showed that the brightening I had seen was indeed where the secondary is, but I wouldn't have been confident with that alone.

One point to note is that even at x540, the 150PL + Skytee (no counterweight) + 2" tripod arrangement was supremely stable, any vibrations dampening out almost immediately.

Edited August 4, 2020 by RobertI

[John]

Great result on Zeta Herc Rob and the other stuff. Proves that the 6 inch F/8 newtonian is still a top performing option

 

[RobertI]

1 hour ago, John said:

Great result on Zeta Herc Rob and the other stuff. Proves that the 6 inch F/8 newtonian is still a top performing option

 

Thanks John, it is a joy to use. The only issue is the tube sometimes hitting the tripod legs (like last night as Epsilon Lyrae was virtually overhead) but can be rectified by lifting the whole setup and rotating (which has the advantage of keeping the RA and DEC cables in the right place). Bit of a faff though. 

[Moonshane]

I split this regularly with my 80mm frac but at 150x. Don't forget to check Vega while in the area. 

I'll try next time out to see how low I can go  with my 120mm Equinox.

 

[wookie1965]

I am still waiting to do this I have done it before in the Tal with a 10mm  x100  want to try it in the Meade 127mm 

[Pixies]

On 03/08/2020 at 15:09, Pixies said:

I agree. But as I was obviously missing a magnification that might have helped last night, I was tempted. But - I think the temptation for the Hyperion zoom (and Q Barlow) is greater....

 

As if by magic, a Hyperion Zoom and matching barlow appear on Astro B&S! 

Sorted!

[Stu]

I tried the 8” f8 last night, despite fairly poor seeing. The easier pair split at x90, and they both split at about x120 ish (approximate because I was using a zoom). I generally find that refractor have an easier time of doubles, or at least they present nicer images.

[RobertK]

Had clear skies today and my Baader zoom arrived so had a first ever go at finding these. Was tricky until it got darker around 10:30pm and my eyes adjusted as well. Finally saw it as a single star around that time and pointed with telrad. Went up to 162x but could not split either of the pair. 

I'll have another go again next time weather permits. This time I'll know better what I'm looking for.

 

Also waiting for the 2.25x Barlow to arrive, so failing my eyesight actually doing its job, I'll have 370x to attempt this

[Ibbo!]

Had another go tonight with the FS 60 at a much more comfortable position and yay the GPDX fired up.

 

5mm x71 to start easier pair split other elongated.

3.6 x99 both split

back to the 5mm no change.

 

Quick scan with the 20mm nag at a few objects including a very very bright devils lamp, can't se a lot out of that eye at the moment 😄

 

Bit of cloud bubbled up.

 

[Pixies]

Some plank has decided that it would be a good idea to install some giant spotlights in Edinburgh and illuminate the night sky to celebrate the International Festival (that's online).
 

Any further attempts at this are knackered now, until they decide to turn them off! 

[Whistlin Bob]

Finished the set last night by trying it with the 200p. Seeing was pretty dodgy, but spent quite a long time waiting for moments of clarity. The lowest I could split it was 12mm - x100 exactly. 

My 3 scopes have therefore given me:

Etx105 - 97x

200p - 100x

Dob 14" (masked) - 82x

Although it's not very scientific (as I did them on different nights) from prior experience I think this is probably about right. The little etx punches above it's weight due to the much smaller Central Obstruction. The 14" dob performs much better at splitting stars when it's masked, as it still has 160mm of unobstructed aperture.

I guess this throws a bit of shade on the Skywatcher, but I had a lovely session with it last night. A mate had come round to share a couple of beers and help me swap out the forks on my mountain bike. The night was forecast to be cloudy, so it was exciting to see Jupiter pop out of the murk. There's nothing like the expression on someone's face when they see Saturn and Jupiter for the first time with their own eyes. The Cassini division was there on Saturn and the moons were beautifully spread on Jupiter with the GRS floating in and out of visibility in the seeing. He also saw the split on Epsilon Lyra and liked the idea of it as an executive toy on a vast vast scale!

Edited August 7, 2020 by Whistlin Bob
Typos

[Pixies]

7 hours ago, Pixies said:

Some plank has decided that it would be a good idea to install some giant spotlights in Edinburgh and illuminate the night sky to celebrate the International Festival (that's online).
 

Any further attempts at this are knackered now, until they decide to turn them off! 

Well. They went off by 2am! 

On the plus side, these arrived today -which will help:

[RobertK]

4 hours ago, Pixies said:

Well. They went off by 2am! 

On the plus side, these arrived today -which will help:

I got my Hyperion zoom yesterday but waiting for the barlow to ship. Doesn't look like I'll have a chance at trying it again tonigh as the weather is getting worse as the afternoon comes. 😕 

[IB20]

Got two definite splits at 150x with a warm 200p in extremely mild late night conditions. Then reduced to 100x and could only consistently split ε2 lyrae; ε1 was a lot harder to separate and would only occasionally split.