5 Fine Doubles In Orion

[cloudsweeper]

6.20pm Saturday – clear, still, mild – Betelgeuse appeared in the south – big 127 Frac used.  (Full Moon very low, east, behind houses.)

32 Ori – 4^th & 5^th mag, 1.4” separation – reached via Bellatrix – x33, 100, 200, 240 – got the split – close but clear in moments of good seeing – rings around primary, secondary a little dimmer, at 1 o’clock.

33 Ori – 5^th & 6^th mag, 1.9” – just aimed between Betelgeuse and Mintaka – slightly brighter in a faint field – x33, 100, 179 – very clear split, similar brightness, sec again at 1 o’clock.

Eta/28 Ori – 3^rd & 4^th mag, 1.8” – in “Turn Left” and Sissy Haas, not CDSA – an uncertain pairing, probably not gravitationally bound – aimed between Mintaka and Rigel – x33, 100, 179 – very clear split – sec at 3 o’clock – similar brightness perceived again – rings around primary.

Σ848 – a triple, 7^th & 8^th mag, 2.6” and 28” – just aimed in the region and hit target, part of the “37” Cluster – x33, 120 – a “T” formation with the clear, close pairing (no rings, fainter companion at 4 o’clock) at one arm, and the more remote companion at the centre of the T (judging by magnitudes and HIP numbers) – a fine spectacle!

Σ757 – another triple, all 8^th mag, 1.5” and 42” – reached via Alnilam – the close pairing were the centre of a line of five stars, split at x200, similar brightness perceived, both faint, sec at 8 o’clock – the third (D) component was next in line to the east, with an unrelated C component nearby, just off the line.  Another lovely sight!

Finished at 7.40, by which time the Moon was making its presence felt.  A great session – one of those where everything went according to plan, and splitting the targets provided much satisfaction and pleasure.  The last two in particular were very rewarding, see sketches.

Thanks for reading.

Doug.

[Jiggy 67]

Nicely done, a ready made observing list for tonight I think 👍

[Epick Crom]

Great job Doug. Orion is rich in double stars! I need to check out some of them that you mentioned. Clear skies 👍

[Spile]

Excellent thank you, I see that that the corner of the "L" is also a Y+Y double but a wide one (STF 844)

[wookie1965]

Great report some really nice doubles there. 

[Stu]

Great post Doug. That sounds like a fine scope for doubles!

Your report prompted me to have a go at 32 Sigma in the Heritage 160p last night. It was a bit later on, should have tried it earlier, but it was a clear split when the seeing steadied. It was at 5 O’clock rather than your 1 O’clock due to newt view, but another example of what a Heritage is capable of! Mind you, the Nagler Zoom helped!

[cloudsweeper]

11 minutes ago, Stu said:

Great post Doug. That sounds like a fine scope for doubles!

Your report prompted me to have a go at 32 Sigma in the Heritage 160p last night. It was a bit later on, should have tried it earlier, but it was a clear split when the seeing steadied. It was at 5 O’clock rather than your 1 O’clock due to newt view, but another example of what a Heritage is capable of! Mind you, the Nagler Zoom helped!

Thanks Stu - Yes, it is a fine all-rounder and doubles killer.  I easily got a 1.3" split with it, and could probably improve on that a bit (depending on conditions, and the target stars of course).  I really like how crisp stars are in it - better I think than the Cat and Dob, although they can manage tighter doubles because of their apertures.

I've recently stripped down and re-greased the Skytee II, and put an observing chair to use, both of which increase the pleasure of using the long frac!

Doug.