Double the Pleasure

[Sunshine]

Once again I went out with a list of targets but my plans were foiled by one or two targets which managed to steal the show, leaving the others in their wake. Last night it was the double cluster in Perseus and the double double in Lyra, both of which are just sublime under good seeing conditions. First off was the double double in Lyra, sometimes I find it difficult to explain to non amateur astronomers how I could be so taken by a simple four stars, I cant explain it to myself, really. On a night of good seeing such as last night this target makes me wonder how these two doubles could be so identical in their colour and apparent relative size to one another. It seems to go against what I'm used to seeing when looking at random scatterings of stars and their colours, as though nature decided it would puzzle us with a stellar phenomenon which at least to my eyes hasn't repeated itself. Under 240 magnification these two pairs are so identical in their size, colour, and distance from each other its hard not to be amazed. At high powers all four were just beautiful discs with a delicate airy disc around each one, suspended in a sky as black as the background these words are set against. As wondrous a view as they are I also found myself thinking about how incredible modern telescopes are, the ability of modern telescopes to pick out such a small target and resolve them so such degree is as amazing to me as the objects which they reveal.

Next up I decided to do something I never really do as I instinctively  always look at clusters at lower powers, I dove into the double cluster with as much power as seeing would allow. In particular NGC 869 which has a formation of stars in its centre which remind me of a teardrop or, an open parachute with the one star at the point of the teardrop displaying a very delicate airy disc which I have never seen as I never ramped up the power on this target. There were several other extremely faint, minuscule stars around this teardrop which once again left me astonished at the resolving power of modern telescopes. Some of these tiny pinpoints were so delicate that they disappeared when I looked directly at them and reappeared when I looked away from them (averted vision) indeed, it is real and, it works. Looking at these beautiful stars at the limit of my vision astonished me, how can such a small amount of light be so perfectly captured and focused by modern optics, how is it not lost and scattered in the glass which it passes through? simply mind blowing and miraculous. Looking at this pair of clusters at high power was beautiful, the sky was black as a tire with stars scattered like luminescent beads across the black background. Once my session was over, some two hours I had invested in these two targets, I wanted to put names to the stars in the double cluster but I quickly realized that I couldn't. These individual stars within these two clusters don't seem to have numbers or names attached to them, I guess there are far to many. Imaging naming all the stars in M13😂, I wanted to identify this teardrop formation in the heart of NGC 869 but I guess I'll just call them the teardrop and be happy with it.

Clear Skies!

Edited November 7, 2021 by Sunshine

[Nyctimene]

Nice report!

I'm afraid, that the "teardrop" formation is already known as the "smiling cyclops". Have a look:

https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/hidden-gems-in-common-objects/

I never miss looking at it, when observing the Double Cluster - once memorized, you can't make it "unseen".

Stephan

[Pixies]

I think I prefer @Sunshine's name - the parachute!

[Epick Crom]

Nice vivid report Sunshine. The wonders of Astronomy and modern optics hey?! The Double Cluster sure sounds like a beauty, I will have to travel north of the equator one day to see it. Clear skies mate

[Hayduke27]

I have been observing the double cluster nearly every night I get out as of recent.  Such a wonderful target, it never disappoints me.  This was actually one target that inspired me to show star-gazing guests the sky using a little different method:

 

Instead of just setting up my scope and telling them to look through at what I centered, I start with having them stand outside and naked-eye observe with me for a few minutes, letting eyes get adjusted and allowing me to point out the overall layout of the night's sky.  From there I pick out a naked-eye object (here you can make out the double cluster as a fuzzy blur between Cassiopeia and Perseus), and I have them observe that with no magnification, just take it in as you can see it and remember where it is in the sky.  Next I hand them the binoculars and have them find it in there.  Once they locate the double cluster, there is always a moment of satisfaction as they can clearly see the double cluster shape and can then also tell that the blur they can see with their naked eye is actually 2 large clumps of stars.  It's after this that I then have them look through the scope and really take in the object with all that magnification.  This seems to lead to more understanding and satisfaction on their part, and really leads to them spending more time at the eyepiece as they can appreciate what they are seeing a bit more.  Anyway, I thank the double cluster for this idea!

[Sunshine]

This is great! it is the exact same method I use for outreach, I enjoy giving people a naked eye tour with my pointer before looking through the scope. Most times I'll go as far as giving them a rundown of our place in the solar system and galaxy as they genuinely are fascinated, I love outreach especially when children are present.

[markse68]

On 06/11/2021 at 21:24, Nyctimene said:

Nice report!

I'm afraid, that the "teardrop" formation is already known as the "smiling cyclops". Have a look:

https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/hidden-gems-in-common-objects/

I never miss looking at it, when observing the Double Cluster - once memorized, you can't make it "unseen".

Stephan

to me it’s always been the bear paw 😉

Mark

[Sunshine]

2 hours ago, markse68 said:

to me it’s always been the bear paw 😉

Mark

YES! that crossed my mind lol, I wondered about a bear paw also 🤣

[Stu]

Lovely report @Sunshine, was really there with you

I could look at the Double Cluster for hours too, and your descriptions are spot on. My favourite parts are those tiny, delicate stars in the centres of the clusters which you described, beautiful to view and perfectly rendered in a nice frac! Actually even a dob does a decent job on these 👍

The stars themselves do have individual designations, SkySafari lists them all with data on them; a couple of examples for you here. Some of the names get pretty long! I admire the dedication of the people who catalogued these objects.

The Double Double is another firm favourite I agree. One thing you say though doesn’t quite ring true with me. The stars generally appear the same brightness, but one of them is a little dimmer and that does show up when I view them. Three of them are mag 5.0, 5.2 and 5.4 and they all look pretty similar to me. The last one is mag 6.0 which, as I say, does look a little dimmer and this pair are the harder to split if conditions aren’t good. See if you can spot it next time out.

Thanks for the interesting and thought provoking report 👍

 

[Alan White]

Nice report, 

I regularly observe the Double Cluster and it's on my must show list for new comers to the hobby.
It was one of the first targets I hunted out and has a special place in my heart.

As to a teardrop, well we all see shapes and remember them, me I see a reindeer with a smile, go work that one out!

I have to say this is a target that looks good in most scopes, but in my 10" its a jaw dropper at times when conditions are good.

[F15Rules]

Just picking up on this great thread..

I had a lovely session on the Double Cluster a few nights ago ( it was Saturday 26th Feb.

I've always been fascinated in particular by NGC 869, which contains the Teardrop/Cyclops Asterism, or The Circlet as I like to think of it.

Like many, I expect, I usually spend just a few minutes on this object, admire the sheer number of stars (and the colour contrast, with several orange tinted ones), and then move on..

On this occasion, though, I was checking out various eyepiece combinations with my fairly new to me Astro Physics 2" Barlow. The target I was looking at, the Circlet, seemed to invite (literally) closer inspection: at low power (45x), I see the Circlet readily, a curve of 5 stars clearly visible, with one other star barely "suspected" with averted vision.

I then upped the power, this getting a darker sky background, as well as a closer up view, and in the semi circle "Circlet" asterism another 3 stars were visible, mainly with averted vision.

Gradually (and it was a beautifully clear and dark night) I was able to keeping upping the magnification more and more..in the end I was using a BGO 6mm with AP barcon nosepiece in a longer extension tube, which I calculated gave 2.8 X 173x, ie c 484x. At this power, the Circlet took up most of the field of view in the barlowed BGO!

I want to revisit this on our next dark clear night (hopefully before the coming waxing Moon gets too bright)..I'll try to sketch what I see in terms of what stars are where at that time👍😊.

Thanks, Sunshine, for a great thread!

Dave