observing double stars - 27th Dec

[Mark at Beaufort]

With the Moon being so bright I decided to undertake some double star viewing last night before trying to see the stars E and F in the Trapezium. Observing was with my 4" Astro Tech ED frac with the 8mm Ethos EP.

I used the Sissy Haas's double stars book for small telecopes produced by Sky and Telescope. I decided to view just three constellations - Auriga, Pegasus and Perseus and picked double stars that were either classed as 'showcase', 'Sky and Telescope top 50' or 'Celestron goto database'.

It is interesting to star hop with the Moon being so bright but I succeeded with the following double stars.

41 Auriga

Epsilon Pegasus

Eta Perseus

Struve 331

Epsilon Perseus

57 Perseus - NGC 1582 open star cluster nearby

Orion was now nicely placed so I had another go at the Trapezium and despite knowing where E and F was located I could not detect either.

Notwithstanding this disappointment some of these other double stars were wonderful sites so a pleasing nights viewing.

Mark

[DarkerSky]

Good report. Double stars are good targets when the moon is bright.