Fine Bootes Double-Double & More

[cloudsweeper]

Sunday, 9.10pm, cold, breezy, clear. 8SE SCT with Focal Reducer in action. Aligned on Arcturus.

17 / Kappa Boo – triple, visual double, 4^th & 6^th mags, 14 arcsec separation.

21 / Iota Boo – also a triple, visual double, with a dimmer secondary at 7^th mag, and a wider separation of 39 arcsec.

These two form a lovely double-double, easily noticeable at x36 / 1.43º, with 17 Boo uppermost, stars close, sec at 10 o’clock. 21 Boo lay a little south and west, with the sec fainter and further away, at 3 o’clock. It is easier to see than the famous Epsilon Lyrae, and stands out well in a sparse field.

Σ1834 Boo - 8^th mag pair, much tighter at 1.8 arcsec. This was at a point of a Y-pattern of stars. I went in stages from x36 through x107, x191, and finally at x213 just got the split of the well-matched pair in moments of good seeing.

Σ1871 Boo – almost identical to the previous double, just a tad brighter. Got the split at x191, very close, again well matched, sec at 1 o’clock.

Σ1850 Boo – another triple, visual double, 7^th mag stars, 26 arcsec. Easy at x36, nice match, sec at 10 o’clock, a lovely sight under an arc of fainter stars.

I finished with the globular cluster M3 in Canes Venatici – just a small fuzzy patch at x36. At x191 it showed as a dense array with some peripheral stars resolved.

Session over at 10.30, very satisfying. GoTo worked very well for a one-star alignment, not too far from that star. And I am very happy with the “tamed”, faster version of the 8SE, with its aperture, similar FOV, decent magnification, and sharpness of image.

Doug.

[wookie1965]

I went out last night but that breeze was blowing my scope all over the place so I just packed up. 

I was going to do Bootes very similar to your list alas it was not to be. 

 

[Ags]

48 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

And I am very happy with the “tamed”, faster version of the 8SE, with its aperture, similar FOV, decent magnification, and sharpness of image.

I found a 6 3 reducer cleaned up the image of my C6 too.

[cloudsweeper]

7 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

I went out last night but that breeze was blowing my scope all over the place so I just packed up. 

I was going to do Bootes very similar to your list alas it was not to be. 

 

Not too strong a wind here Paul, but cold.  Hope you have better conditions next time.

I had 17 and 21 Boo as separate items, so was pleased to see them in the same FOV - a great view.  Observing usually throws up unexpected things and pleasant surprises.

Doug.

[wookie1965]

40 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

Not too strong a wind here Paul, but cold.  Hope you have better conditions next time.

I had 17 and 21 Boo as separate items, so was pleased to see them in the same FOV - a great view.  Observing usually throws up unexpected things and pleasant surprises.

Doug.

Might be because I have long fracs wind easily moves them around.