Ceres & Vesta Conjunction

We'll, that part of the sky sets real fast,
if you didn't get it by 11pm then you have trouble getting it at all, tonight isn't looking bad

Myself John and Paul went out to the sugarloaf but apart from a brief glimpse of the Moon there wasn't much to see.
We went home at 11.

Michael.

Alright, I am giving it one last chance to observe the Ceres & Vesta Conjunction. It will be tonight Tuesday 8th July. The skies seem to be clearing up. Both minor planets will be in view in my 28mm 2" eyepiece.

Aubrey.

Well, at long last folks, I did it! I finally found the dwarf planet Ceres and the asteroid Vesta. Ceres was 8.5 magnitude and Vesta brighter at 7.2. I fitted both objects in my 2" 28mm eyepiece at 40X in my 6.2" apochromatic refractor. It was great fun locating them but I did have a Guide 8 map with me which proved essential. Star hopping up from Spica was no easy task. But once I figured out the location of 65 and 66 Virginis, it was easy. After that I found 5 stars shaped like a Cross. The "star" to the right of centre was bright Vesta and the "star" at the top was Ceres. (I do have a star diagonal fitted at all times). I was so relieved.

After Ceres and Vesta, I went up to Heze (Zeta Virginis). 18 minutes north of it, is the double star Struve 1757. A is 7.8 and B is 8.8. Separation is only 1.8" and PA is 138 degrees, which in my refractor is in the 5 o'clock position. I split it at 140X and 167X.

Immediately north of Struve 1757, are 2 very faint M-class stars. I cannot find out the distance of these stars. Therefore I cannot discover if they are a double star system. Both stars are quite a distinct red. Their designations are Tycho 307970 which is 9.7 magnitude and Tycho 307995 which is 9.9 magnitude. There are a lovely 40" apart. I would like to think there are intrinsically related. I must revisit them next Spring season.

Finally, I went back to Ceres and Vesta and moved the scope westwards to an extremely faint double star -GLP 9. It was discovered by Russian astronomer Sergei Pavlovich Glasenapp. A is 10 magnitude, B is 10.1 mag. The separation is a large 1 minute in the 8 o'clock postion. This is my faintest double star I have ever observed in my long history. It only showed itself at 112X. But it was a perfect finale to my great evening. Glasenapp was a great pioneer in estimating the speed of light. He died in 1937 and is a founder of the Russian Astronomer Society. He discovered only 20 double stars in his lifetime and there are listed on stelledoppie.goaction.it . This was his 9th discovery and I am honoured to come by it unexpectedly.

In the same field of view as GLP 9 is another double star Struve 1741, A is 8.4, B is 9.8, and at 112X I can fit in both doubles easily. So Virgo is yet another constellation with a double -double!

Thank you for reading.

Aubrey.