Got the Double-double!

[Breakintheclouds]

Nice clear skies over Salisbury last night, and although the air seemed a trifle wobbly high up, I spent quite a few hours in the garden getting to grips with my Explorer 130P, my first telescope.

I decided to have a crack at the Double-double last night, having seen it in Turn Left at Orion. I found the pair easily with a 25mm eyepiece - they looked nice and crisp. In went a 9mm eyepiece, but there was still no hint of the subdivision. Then in went a 6mm - still not a hint of splitting. Things were getting a bit wobbly, and I wasn't sure if the problem was poor seeing, or my inept attempts at collimation.

So I dug out my Barlow. Even though Skywatcher claim this is a 'deluxe' Barlow, I'm finding it pretty poor and am going to replace it soon. But for now it was the only shot left in the locker. With the 6mm EP and Barlow the two stars pretty much filled my field of view. I tweaked the focus and - YES! - Epsilon 2 was split. It was fuzzy, but definitely split. But Epsilon 1 was being stubborn, steadfastly refusing to be anything other than a single star. But I can be more stubborn than any ancient ball of gas - I spent ages tweaking the focus knob back and forth, each time waiting for the vibrations to settle down until, finally, there it was: a definite hint of dark sky between the two Ep 1 stars. I could definitely see that the two pairs lay 90 degrees to each other. Phew!

So that feels like quite an achievement right now. I'm currently feeling very happy about my little scope. Just time to kick that Barlow into touch...

[SteveP]

Congratulations! It's a great sight when you can split both pairs. Your perseverence has certainly paid off.

Like many things in life, quality counts. Was the Barlow the one supplied with the mount? My experience is that the supplied EP's are not of the highest quality and you can soon outgrow them. Maybe you could ask around here to find out what Barlows are used by others?

Steve

[mdstuart]

Well done..It is surprisingly tough and great when you split it....

I felt barlows were not as good as a decent high power lens but then my barlows were probably not of a good quality...

In my new 4mm ortho lens both stars split by what looks like about 1mm. That is 300x in my 10 inch scope...

Mark

[JimBobs63]

Well done indeed!

Yet another reason why I can't wait to get my first scope. It was going to be the 130PM, but now it's discontinued I may have to move up to the 150P. The double-double is exactly the kind of thing I want to be able to see.

As stated above, I'll also probably want to move to better EPs / barlows as I begin to look for more challenging targets....

Good luck for future viewing!

Jim

[SteveP]

Another good object in Lyra is the Ring Nebula (M57). It's about 1degree south of the Double-D. You'll probably need a high mag eyepiece to see it with a 130.

Steve

[Breakintheclouds]

Steve - I've had a tantalising glimpse of the ring nebula a few days ago, and it's on the top of my list for when I get out of my garden and go somewhere with darker skies!

[iamjulian]

Well done indeed. I thought I could just about see daylight between them but I was only using 166x magnification so I am starting to think I was wrong.

The Ring Nebula is one of the best examples I have found so far where averted vision really makes a difference. Solid grey when I look right at it, definite smoke ring when I look to the side.

[albedo0.39]

Well done you ! - you would be surprised what controversy exists over the famed Double double in Lyra - some say is can be split with 60mm refractor - but being honest I have only split it cleanly a few times. (now I've split it, I have moved to other targets)

Why so tough ? Well smaller scopes are often less succeptable to poor seeing (the air moves in large cells) and given the 22% central obstruction on my scope, this can make for tougher contrast issues. Also, I've never gone to high powers on the LB so it made the job of splitting all the harder.

AFAIK, a small refractor makes much better work of doubles than larger reflectors, but of course, if your astronomical targets do not include plenty of hard to split doubles, then it matters little

Hope you find M57 soon - it's another jewel in the sky

[Breakintheclouds]

I've just printed off the full list of Messier objects - so I think I'll be going for M57 very soon! I'm planning now to go on a mildly obsessive hunt for double stars (when I'm at home) and the Messiers (when I get to darker places), so I should be hitting M57 before too long...

(Ah! I've just looked it up. I did have a glimpsed glimpse of the Ring nebula, but need to go somewhere darker to see it properly)

[Astro Adj]

Congratulations on splitting the double-double. That's something I've been itching to try for some time, but various commitments and cloudy skies have conspired against me so far!

M57 is a lovely sight and your scope should show it quite well. As Julian said though, definitely one to practice your averted vision on!

I agree with your opinion of the SW barlow. I am looking to replace mine soon, and have heard many good reports of the TAL 2x barlow. FLO stock them and seem impressed with the bang they give for your buck!