Chasing Ghosts in the Winter Sky

[SuburbanMak]

A nice couple of hours of doubles last night with the Mak 127 early evening & back out later with the Towa 339 80mm f15. 
 
Transparency was mixed low down but got quite good at higher altitude. Seeing was a slow phasing with occasional short periods of bad distortion but decent breaks between. Again improved towards 11.30 when cold feet & an early start forced me to pack up.
 
Spent a long time on Theta Aurigae with both scopes, seeing the bright yellow/white primary and pale ghost C&D stars making an almost right angled triangle. Wasn’t able to conclusively repeat my observation of the close-in B star of a couple of weeks ago when it was immediately apparent but caught hints of it in the Towa as seeing improved. A rewarding field nevertheless. 

Enjoyed Almachs’ green/white & Orange colour contrast overhead with the nice & short Mak 127. Visit this system as often as I can - a pair of gems. 
 

Sirius was less Christmas-tree than earlier so spent time with many eyepieces & letting the star drift into view so I got a second or two of the crucial side with reduced impact from the primary.  Using this approach I had inconclusive glimpses of a “bulge” between “9 & 10 o’clock” with the Towa in the Baader Hyperion at 8mm - 140x and Classic Ortho 10mm at 120x.  Viewing on axis I had a fleeting second where I thought I might be resolving a ghostly dot but not sustained long enough to claim it as definitely seen.  Was great fun though and attempting doubles like this always feels like “proper” astronomy.  I will keep at it! 
 

Checking back to Rigel I was able to see a nice steady split around “5 o’clock” that stood direct vision confirming that seeing was improving as the night went on. 
 

Castor a beautifully bright white pair well split in the Towa at 80x with a TV 15mm Plossl. 

Orion Trapezium - 5 stars supported with direct vision at 140x in the Towa and a lovely sight amid billowing clouds. Am impressed with the contrast and detail in the Towa, teasing out filaments and texture in the nebula that I haven’t noticed before.  Caught a hint of the “running man” above and vowed to come back to investigate if we ever get a dark night of exceptional transparency! 
 

Panning around I then “discovered” Na’ir al Saif (Iota Orionis) which seemed a bright blue white with a ghost-dot secondary around “7 o’clock”.  Hadn’t spotted this as a double before and it’s a beauty. The surrounding cluster NGC 1980 is spectacular and I am sure would be a much more famous destination were it not neighbours with M42. 
 

Finished on Sigma Orionis showing as a fabulous triple in a rich field. 
 

I know these are all “usual suspects” but it was a very rewarding couple of hours. 

Edited December 7, 2021 by SuburbanMak

[John]

1 hour ago, SuburbanMak said:

Sirius was less Christmas-tree than earlier so spent time with many eyepieces & letting the star drift into view so I got a second or two of the crucial side with reduced impact from the primary.  Using this approach I had inconclusive glimpses of a “bulge” between “9 & 10 o’clock” with the Towa in the Baader Hyperion at 8mm - 140x and Classic Ortho 10mm at 120x.  Viewing on axis I had a fleeting second where I thought I might be resolving a ghostly dot but not sustained long enough to claim it as definitely seen.  Was great fun though and attempting doubles like this always feels like “proper” astronomy.  I will keep at it! 
 

 

Nice report !

With Sirius, it doesn't look like other double stars. The separation between the primary and the "Pup" star is currently a relatively wide 11 arc seconds (Rigel and it's companion star are 9 arc seconds apart) but the glare from Sirius A can easily extend out further than that so what we are looking for is a faint star gleaming through the halo of scattered light from Sirius A. That point of light is to the east of Sirius A so it trails behind the main star in an un-driven field of view.

 

 

Edited December 7, 2021 by John

[SuburbanMak]

46 minutes ago, John said:

Nice report !

With Sirius, it doesn't look like other double stars. The separation between the primary and the "Pup" star is currently a relatively wide 11 arc seconds (Rigel and it's companion star are 9 arc seconds apart) but the glare from Sirius A can easily extend out further than that so what we are looking for is a faint star gleaming through the halo of scattered light from Sirius A. That point of light is to the east of Sirius A so it trails behind the main star in an un-driven field of view.

 

 

Thank you! Looks like I had a case of “averted imagination” there as where I  thought  I might be catching something was on the leading edge as the star crossed the field!  Ah well, an excuse for more happy hunting