Barnard's Star?

[procky1845]

Hi,

I was trying to locate Barnard's Star last night but struggled and so decided to do a quick sketch.

Can anybody help identify it for me? I'm not even totally confident it's in the FOV now I've looked again! 😂

Hoping there is somebody out there who is familiar with this object who can help.

Star on the right is 66 Oph for reference.

Sketch is at x37 and FOV is about 1.9deg's.

Thanks,

Lee

 

[procky1845]

I'm thinking it could be this one maybe???...

 

[MylesGibson]

I don't believe it is the star you are pointing to in the sketch. There is indeed a little "V" shape of stars nearby, but it is not part of that "V". It is not in the position that Sky Safari puts it at, as it has moved since the location was last updated. You're in the FOV of it for sure, but I'm struggling to make out the locations in your sketch as the scale seems a bit off. I did take a picture of it recently as part of a long term project, so I'll have to try and dig that out!

[procky1845]

Just now, MylesGibson said:

I don't believe it is the star you are pointing to in the sketch. There is indeed a little "V" shape of stars nearby, but it is not part of that "V". It is not in the position that Sky Safari puts it at, as it has moved since the location was last updated. You're in the FOV of it for sure, but I'm struggling to make out the locations in your sketch as the scale seems a bit off. I did take a picture of it recently as part of a long term project, so I'll have to try and dig that out!

Thanks I'd appreciate that. There's also the possibility that I've just not seen it if its fairly dim and didn't record it!

[gilesco]

Wikipedia gives an idea of how it is moving:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnard's_Star

[procky1845]

1 minute ago, gilesco said:

Wikipedia gives an idea of how it is moving:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnard's_Star

Thanks, yes I've looked at a few different sources on the web to try and work it out including Wikipedia bit still struggling.

[MylesGibson]

26 minutes ago, procky1845 said:

Thanks I'd appreciate that. There's also the possibility that I've just not seen it if its fairly dim and didn't record it!

It took me a while to figure out which one is was because of how it had moved from the records. I'll have to post the picture after work. But it is brighter than most of the stars in the "V" so you will have seen it, perhaps just not known which one!

[Stu]

This is where SkySafari shows it at the moment, not quite where you have marked but not far off. It seems to match basically with your sketch.

[procky1845]

Just now, Stu said:

This is where SkySafari shows it at the moment, not quite where you have marked but not far off. It seems to match basically with your sketch.

Thanks Stu, I don't think the sky safari position is accurate though. I did initially compare against sky safari but the position given seems to conflict with other sources, so I just ended up even more confused!  

I'm assuming that must be where it was at some point in the past as I also noticed it doesn't move if you centre on it and then advance forward in years.

[procky1845]

Although that does beg the question, if the star at the end of the V isn't Barnard's star, what star is it as it doesn't seem to be shown.

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, procky1845 said:

Although that does beg the question, if the star at the end of the V isn't Barnard's star, what star is it as it doesn't seem to be shown.

I agree, that was why I assumed it was the one you sketched but in a slight different position.

[procky1845]

1 minute ago, Stu said:

I agree, that was why I assumed it was the one you sketched but in a slight different position.

Maybe I'm losing my mind, or maybe its a random spec of dust on the lens, or maybe... I should have spent a bit more time making the sketch!  

[Stu]

1 minute ago, procky1845 said:

Maybe I'm losing my mind, or maybe its a random spec of dust on the lens, or maybe... I should have spent a bit more time making the sketch!  

This chart indicates you were right. Position is for 2018 but I don’t think it will have moved so far from there in 2 years?

[procky1845]

18 minutes ago, Stu said:

This chart indicates you were right. Position is for 2018 but I don’t think it will have moved so far from there in 2 years?

Stu, I think you are correct (which is great because it also means so am I!  ).

Thanks very much for your help with this. I do seem to remember the star in question having a slightly red hue as well which does tie in as I believe Barnard's Star is a red dwarf.

Thanks again!

Lee

 

[markse68]

But that doesn’t fit with the wikipedia’s animation which suggests it’s moving quite a way from the arrow of stars past a triangle of stars somewhere up there?

[procky1845]

I'm wondering if thats actually a different triangular group of stars as the scale seems somewhat different, this was one of the things that confused me also when I started looking.

[procky1845]

Although I'm not sure where they would be as I can't find them on sky safari either

[MylesGibson]

The triangular group of stars is quite small, so I think it may possibly be different from the ones you drew, hence my earlier comment about the scale confusing me. I looked through a few sources and pictures over the last few years before I could determine which star in my picture was Barnards. I think I have a wider field one (not great quality) that includes 66 Oph which will be good for your reference. 

[procky1845]

Ok, found the below on the web which is a picture from 1987 which has been updated to include the 2020 position which seems to tie in. I make the 3 bright stars top right (I've highlighted blue) to be the "nose" of the triangular pattern in my sketch (if you turn it nearly upside down as I have done below so N is more or less oriented the same way, its actually a rotated a little too far). So this indicates that the position I have Barnard's Star at coincides quite closely with where it is in this picture. It also shows that there is in fact another triangular asterism which isn't shown on my version of Sky Safari (possibly too faint?) I've highlighted the star at the corner of this in orange for comparison.

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by procky1845

[MylesGibson]

Ahhhhhh, see that's where I got confused! The "Flying Geese" asterism is what I mistook your "V" shape of stars for. You need to zoom in a bit with Sky Safari for them to show up as they are rather faint. Now I have a better idea of what I am looking at in your drawing!

[MylesGibson]

As promised, here is the image I took of it. This is a larger FOV that shows the "Flying Geese" asterism and Barnard's Star is circled. I plan to image it a few times over the coming years to track its motion. The FOV you indicate in your sketch should mean you easily had Barnards Star in the eyepiece!

 

Apologies about the poor quality picture!

Edited September 14, 2020 by MylesGibson

[Stu]

11 minutes ago, MylesGibson said:

As promised, here is the image I took of it. This is a larger FOV that shows the "Flying Geese" asterism and Barnard's Star is circled. I plan to image it a few times over the coming years to track its motion. The FOV you indicate in your sketch should mean you easily had Barnards Star in the eyepiece!

 

Apologies about the poor quality picture!

That is not a million miles (well it probably is 🤣🤣) away from the location shown in SkySafari. Not exact but close enough for it to be the star indicated by the OP I think.

 

[procky1845]

Thanks all for your help with this!

[Stu]

True position comparing with Myles’ images seems to be where the Red Cross is?

[MylesGibson]

@Stu that looks about right! I got interested in attempting to follow the proper motion of the star, so hence trying the picture. Wish my camera had a smaller sensor to make it easier! 

Hopefully I'll be able to follow it over the next few years. Its difficult to locate visually because of the movement, it's hard to locate precisely!