So many doubles!

[Sunshine]

Finally decided to give the dob a break from the fuzzies and take advantage of great seeing conditions for a nice doubles hunt with my 102 which I like to call my doubles scalpel. One would think I look at a particular double star for far too long, I could burn a half hour on a double as I enjoy looking online and learning about their characteristics. Last night I worked my way through many, among my favorites are those listed below.

Kappa 1 Bootes

White primary and bluish secondary 155 ly from earth, wide separation between these two gems. Secondary appears like a ghostly blue at 165x.

Xi Bootis-

21 ly distant, wonderful double which are sub solar in size, both hydrogen fusing stars. Striking was the colors, the primary seemed a warm yellow while secondary was an obvious copper toned star, it could very well be my eyes but the secondary was a delicate coppery disc.

Mu1 bootis-

Wonderful triple system which was unexpected in its placement, to me with a bright white primary and two very distant almost identical tight doubles. This was a system I had trouble prying my eye from, at around 230x all three were so clean and beautiful against a jet black background, true pinpoints, the word diamonds would be a disservice as there was no sparkle or shimmering associated with a diamond, simply wonderful perfect points.

Zeta1 Coronae Borealis-

Reminds me of a pair of headlights in the distance, almost equal in size and color but I was a little confounded by this double ams wasnt sure if i was looking at Zeta1 because just south and just outside the FOV was another double. These doubles were separated from each other by just a little more than the fov of my 5mm XW. Which double is the real Zeta1? Would the real zeta1 please stand up!.

Ras Algethi-

A beautiful double, among my favorites as they are of an orange and greenish color, though I admit with a 4” refractor I can only detect the most faintest of green hue in the smaller secondary, I suspect a larger scope may be able to reveal the green better.

Theta1 & 2 Serpentis-

A pair which are so identical in apparent size, color, and brightness makes one wonder how such a phenomenon could happen. It just happens that these two have almost identical surface temperatures of around 8200K and orbit each other every fourteen thousand years, true stellar twins.

Next time you’re out under the stars, remember to squeeze a double or two into your session, they need love too!

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by Sunshine

[josefk]

Thanks for posting the extra notes around these pairs - both aesthetic notes and their physical properties. I always enjoy the aesthetics of doubles but don’t often look up the details of the stars themselves. i really enjoyed reading both over a coffee this morning. 

[The60mmKid]

Nice report! Those are some of my favorites, too. I especially love Mu Boo, Alkalurops, which you described so well. And Rasalgethi is so darn beautiful. I don't know about green as a star color, though. Blue, maybe? https://nightskypix.com/star-colors/

[JeremyS]

Looks like you had a productive night @Sunshine 👍🏻

[Sunshine]

1 hour ago, The60mmKid said:

I don't know about green as a star color, though. Blue,

Yes! I should make notes as I observe and not rely on my memory, blue it was!.

[Paz]

Nice report and your observations about colour are good. I never used to see colour in stars except for the extremes, but the more I observe the more subtle the colour differences are that I pick up.

[Mr Spock]

A nice report and some good doubles. Quite fascinating aren't they. I don't know what it is about them but once you are hooked... 😜

[Epick Crom]

Wonderful report!

Double, triple and the rarer multiple stars are a joy to observe. So much to see, magnitudes, star colours, separations and PA angles.. plus they are aesthetically pleasing to the eye!