Great Doubles Run In Sagitta

[cloudsweeper]

Thursday, 8.50pm, sky clear, Altair just appeared, 8SE Cat (with Focal Reducer) on GoTo in use. Aligned on Altair. GoTo works well in the region near the alignment star, then makes life so much easier for locating and tracking objects.

Webb 12 (SAO 105724) – matched 8^th mag pair, wide 41” separation. Not in handset, went via 16 Sge. Clear split at x36, faint, perfect match, stars side by side.

17 Sge (SAO 088276) - 6^th and 8^th mags, 12”. Several stars in the FOV (not very bright). Just split at x36, better at x64, faint companion at 12 o’clock.

HN84 (SAO 105104, Herschel Catalogue) - 6^th and 9^th mags, wide 28”. Fairly busy field of faint stars. Good split at x64, fainter companion at 10 o’clock, primary clearly orange. (It’s a red, carbon variable – V340.)

Zeta Sge (SAO 105298) - 5^th and 9^th mags, 8.3”. Another fairly busy field. Think I got it at x64 – a bit trickier because of the difference in brightness and greater glare from the primary. Very close. Clearer at x91.

Sigma 2634 (SAO 105765) - 7^th and 9^th mags, 4.1”. Very busy field. Just about got the split on going up to x91. Much fainter secondary at 1 o’clock.

Sigma 2504 (SAO 104753) - 7^th and 9^th mags, 8.6”. Again, busy field. Clear but close split at x64. Secondary at 10 o’clock.

4 Sge (SAO 105061) - 5^th and 8^th mags, superwide 87”. (Not in fact a true physical double.) Busy field, many quite bright. Very easy of course at x36. Secondary at 3 o’clock.

I finished with a look at the lovely blue/orange Albireo (x36), then M15 (GC in Peg) – fuzzy, with a bright centre at x36. At x160/191, some peripheral stars could just be resolved.

An extremely satisfying 1.25 hour session.

Doug.

[Knighty2112]

Nice haul Doug. Well done. Was going to go out last for some observing too on my goto mount with clear skies, but in the end tiredness from work put any of those ideas away after I fell asleep on the sofa!  

[wookie1965]

Brilliant Doug I have wrote a few of those down ones I know I have not tried. I had a go around Pisces, Aries and Camelopardis last night going to write it up later only come in at 1.30am thanks for posting.

[Mr Spock]

Great report. I’ll be in that area as soon as it pops out from behind the house. 

[Zermelo]

Nice session, Doug.  If you like doubles, then even a small constellation like Sagitta has something to offer.

I had a look myself a few weeks back, but I left out ζ Sge as the headline separation on Skysafari was only 0.2" - but I see now that it's multiple, and the AB-C gap is the 8.3" you mention. I'll have a look next time. 

[cloudsweeper]

Thanks everyone!  Yes, Sagitta  is a location I hadn't tapped for doubles.  Of the seven, the ones I'd most recommend are:

Webb 12 - perfect match, side by side.

HN84 - lovely orange primary.

Zeta Sge - simply because of the greater "delta-mag" factor (4.0) and getting the sec out of the glare.  As you say Paul @Zermelo, the pair I saw was the (AB)-C, and there is also a D component, 11th mag, superwide, and non-physical.

Doug.

[Stu]

Nice report @cloudsweeper, great session there. A question, do you prefer the scope with the focal reducer? Seems perhaps unusual for a doubles session?

[cloudsweeper]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Nice report @cloudsweeper, great session there. A question, do you prefer the scope with the focal reducer? Seems perhaps unusual for a doubles session?

Well Stu, it seems to have become my first choice with the 8" Cat.  I got the FR initially to get a bit more FOV as well as slightly sharper star images.  The max useable mag is about the same, so the reduced mag is not a problem.

I bought a decent 1.25" diagonal, as there is the belief that there are various issues using a FR and a 2" diagonal and EPs, but when I tried that config, it seemed to me (at least!) to work perfectly well.  

Doug.

 

[Stu]

5 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

Well Stu, it seems to have become my first choice with the 8" Cat.  I got the FR initially to get a bit more FOV as well as slightly sharper star images.  The max useable mag is about the same, so the reduced mag is not a problem.

I bought a decent 1.25" diagonal, as there is the belief that there are various issues using a FR and a 2" diagonal and EPs, but when I tried that config, it seemed to me (at least!) to work perfectly well.  

Doug.

 

Thanks Doug, that all makes sense 👍👍

[cloudsweeper]

1 minute ago, Stu said:

Thanks Doug, that all makes sense 👍👍

Thanks Stu!  Incredible, isn't it?  Seven years ago, I had no idea of any of this stuff, but now I've learned a few things (thanks in no small part to SGL), but still have a long (and enjoyable) way to go!

Doug.

[PrairieStarGazer]

Nice. You've given me some ideas for the slightly hazier nights when faint fuzzies are more difficult.