5 Taurus Doubles (Assorted Separations)

[cloudsweeper]

6.05pm Monday – clear sky for a change, 8SE Cat with Focal Reducer in action. Aligned on Mars, high, SSE. In for a meal, then:

Comet C/2022 E3(ZTF) – finally got to see it near NGC1647 in Taurus. Faint, grey, fuzzy patch – no colour or tail.

TAURUS DOUBLES

Sigma 559 – matched 7.0 mag pair, 3.1 arcsec apart. Going from x36 to x107 the split was clear, very close, perfect match, stars side-by-side.

Sigma 749 – 6.5 and 6.6 mag pair, 1.15 arcsec. Tight, fairly challenging. I increased the mag gradually to avoid losing the target: x36, 107, 160, 213, 256 – got it! Very close, matched, sec at 11 o’clock. Had to use AV and spot it in moments of good seeing.

Sigma 730 – triple, visual double, another near-matched 6^th mag pair, 9.6 arcsec. Target was below a line of fainter stars. Very nearly a clear split at x36. At x64, the split was good, although still quite close. Matched, sec at 11 o’clock.

Sigma 545 – another triple, visual double, 6^th and 8^th mags, wide 19 arcsec. Good split at x64, fainter sec at 2 o’clock.

Sigma 572 – 7.4 and 7.2 mag pair, 4.5 arcsec. Physical double, not listed in the Cambridge Atlas. At x107 the split was clear, very close match, sec at 12 o’clock.

Very enjoyable 90 minutes. Good to get out there again!

Doug.

[domstar]

Nice one Doug. Last week started a run of clear nights after months of solid clouds. A couple of those had spectacular conditions. I stayed mainly around Orion but I managed to see the white and red dwarfs of Keid. Yesterday I split the brightest star in the Christmas Tree Cluster, which is also a rarity for me. Will go into Taurus soon when it dips below  the balcony roof at a reasonable time. 

Thanks for your reports. They always push me to set up my gear instead of letting the evening slip away.

[wookie1965]

Brilliant Doug I went for Leo and Monoceros I will check if I have those doubles.

 

[Mr Spock]

Great set of doubles. I think I'm having a go at Taurus with the 102mm tonight. For the moment the 12" is out of action pending arrival of a new battery for the EQ platform - idiotic not having a spare 🤬