Success! First True Doubles!

[JamesK]

I came in grinning at half-eleven last night as I have achieved what I have been aiming for during the last month's clear nights - splitting a true double!

Getting out at half-nine, I first looked to Saturn, as that is my first stop and the begininning of every night - it can be seen before it is properly dark and I never get sick of looking at it. I thought I could see a couple of moons, and the rings resovled really easily. I'm not sure, but I think this had somthing to do with a changing atmosphere that makes some clear nights better than others?

Annoyingly, every unnecessary light in my neighbourhood seemed to have been left on and the curse of the oncoming summer (altough I love summer!) meant that it does not get properly dark untill past 23:00. Spending time in the dark had taught me to appreciate the different shades of darkness I don't normally notice, if that makes sense. This meant M81 and M82 I had planned to look for wouldn't be at their best, so I browsed TLAO for brighter objects.

I had before doubted my scope's double splitting power - at it's high magnification it seems to lose all resolution. However I was happily WRONG - looking at Cor Coroli through just a medium powered eyepiece was great, I could clearly see the blue and yellow double. I was amazed to learn how close together they are - comparitivly, but also at the same time how that tiny space I see seperates them by such a distance. The whole thing is mind-boggling.

I quickly moved on to Iota Cancri (which got my brother of the xbox to look at) and Polaris. I think I have a new hobby! Can't wait for the legendary Alberio to become visable!

James K.

P.S. Can anyone suggest any northern U.K. targets for not city lights, but for not-so-dark-skies visable in a 3-inch reflector? Thanks.

[Doc]

Do you mean a 3"reflector or refractor. I would imagine a refractor. Nice report and well done for splitting your first double.

I would try a few globular clusters. Have a go at the M13 and M3.

[lunator]

Hi James

Nice report.

Congrats on spliting the doubles. I spend most of my observing time on doubles as Living in London limits the visible faint fuzzies.

We have a dedicated doubles section and I can send you a list of doubles to observe if you want.

Cheers

Ian

[JamesK]

Thanks.

Yes it's a reflector (Shame!) and from ALDI. It was a present when I was 11, I never really used it. After getting interested in the night sky during a dark clear night camping trip in Cumbria, I guessesd it would serve better than my binoculars untill i decided I wanted to get somthing better. It's been OK really so far, seen the rings of saturn, the beehive, orion nebula, several clusters and doubles etc.

Ian, I would appreciate the list, is it a link or would you need my e-mail?

[lunator]

At the moment it is an excel file that I convet to pdf's,

PM me you email and I will send you a suitable list.

Rgds

Ian

[legion48]

JamesK, here's a link to this sites Imaging and Observing doubles section:

Observing and Imaging Double and Variable Stars - Stargazers Lounge

[Talitha]

Congratulations James!! I have a feeling you'll love Albireo, it's stunning.

The atmospheric change you mentioned is called 'the seeing' and is determined by the amount of turbulence in the atmosphere. Here's a great page which shows what's seen through the eyepiece during the various levels of seeing.

The Pickering Seeing Scale

[Jeff RV]

Great report James, I've a feeling you'll be looking for a bigger scope now your got the bug.

Welcome to the forum.

Jeff.

[JamesK]

Great report James, I've a feeling you'll be looking for a bigger scope now your got the bug.

Welcome to the forum.

Jeff.

Yeah! Thanks all!

Looking at the pickerig scale, what I usually see is 4-6, but in the 4mm EP I never use I see somthing more like 1! Firmly believe that this is due to poor optics, with magnification more than optimistic for the telescope, and nothing to do with the atmosphere!

Roll on bigger scope!

[hal2000]

Well done on splitting Cor Caroli, it is a spectacular sight, and there are plenty more to be seen. Nearby is the galaxy M94, which has quite a bright core, so that might be worth a go. As well as M13 and M3, try for M92 in Hercules and M5 in Serpens Caput, and later in the evening, M11 in Scutum.

And when you find Albireo, make sure to carry on along the length of Cygnus, there are some spectacular star fields, especially around the central star Sadr. And don't miss M39, a superb open cluster.