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Double Delights


Epick Crom

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Hi my fellow stargazers! With the moon out in full force, last night was the perfect time to focus exclusively on double stars. Seeing was steady, and I always find the moonshine gives double stars an added visual charm. I started by visiting Orion, a hotbed for doubles, to try and split Eta Orionis. Got a nice split at 267x through my 10". Was pleased to have split it as I hadn't succeeded previously. Next up was Tegmine in Cancer and Algieba in Leo. Both beautiful systems, spent some time admiring them bathed in moonlight.

Next up was another new discovery for me, the lovely double star Delta Centauri in Centaurus. This looks great at 100x, there are three stars arranged in a triangle shape. P Eridani in Eridanus looked awesome as usual, two bright orange stars, looked even more orange due to the moonlight. Gamma Crucis was split next, orange and green components, delightful! My final pit stop was Beta Crucis in Crux. This is a nice star to observe on its own, but my target was the carbon star Ruby Crucis, located 1 degree below it. Wow, this was my first observation of it, vivid red colour like a drop of blood, stunning contrast to steely blue Beta Crucis. I just love double and carbon stars. All up a good night's observing, doubles and carbon stars stand out even better under moonlit conditions I reckon! Thanks for reading and clear skies to you all!

Regards

Joe

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Nice going Joe.  I too was looking at Orion yesterday.  Not much to report except Meissa which I revisited - a lovely target, splits nicely at x60 to give the "diamond ring" effect.  Plus, it lies in a very pleasing field of stars of various magnitudes.  (It's actually a line-of-sight, not a physical double.)

Doug.

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3 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

Nice going Joe.  I too was looking at Orion yesterday.  Not much to report except Meissa which I revisited - a lovely target, splits nicely at x60 to give the "diamond ring" effect.  Plus, it lies in a very pleasing field of stars of various magnitudes.  (It's actually a line-of-sight, not a physical double.)

Doug.

Nice one Doug! Meissa is a fantastic target, I've spent time admiring that region. I like how the stars form a line with Meissa somewhat in the centre. I did not know it was a line of sight double, thanks for that! Wishing you clear skies.

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