21st July observations

Good evening, everyone. I was surprised to see an 80% clear evening sky on Monday 21st July in Dublin. Accuweather said it would be cloudy. So out I went at 9pm and started setting up the telescope which is a 6.2" apochromatic refractor with mirror diagonal. I observed 6 objects and here they are:

1. Sunset happened at 21:38, and I was pleased to spot Arcturus at 21:53 in the guidescope. This is the brightest star in our skies at the moment. Surely it can be found before sunset occurs. I must give it a try.
2. Where else would you go after Arcturus only straight up to Izar (Epsilon Bootis). As per usual I cleanly split this brilliant double star at 112X. However this time I wanted to check out its colours. So I went up to 225X. Component A is a lovely amber, and B has a slight blue hue, and is in the 10 o'clock position now as the constellation heads over to the western sky.
3. The double -double in Lyra was next. Epsilon Lyrae was easily split into 4 components at 112X. Let's not forget the 5th component which makes the whole system look like a V on its side.
4. Then came Rasalgethi. What a splendid double this is. At this stage the time was 10.45pm, and it is clearly visible with unaided eye. I split it at 112X, and I went up to 225X to try and make out its colours. A is a prominent red. But B is a distant blue to my eyes and maybe a slight green tint to it. Let us see what other observers think.
5. I was very keen to observe a globular cluster -so I went into Serpens. I could see with my own eye Alpha Serpentis, and I starhopped to M5, But just before it, I found a new double star -5 Serpentis. A is 5.1 in magnitude and B is 10.1. Both are easily seen at 112X.
6. And my last object was M5. It is very close to 5 Serpentis. I had not studied this globular star cluster for many years. It is bright and large -almost as big as M13. I magnified it 167X and what a beauty it is! I was seeing stars all the way to the bright centre. I wanted to go higher in magnification but the clouds rolled in at 11.30.

All the same a great night for me, and it was my 40th night of observing this year. Perhaps I will be breaking my personal record again this year!

Thank you for reading.

Aubrey.

ah yes, M5, a jewel in a desert, a very nice cluster in a dark sky,
Nice report.

Thanks Dave. I am going out again tonight Wednesday. Valerie is playing Scrabble with 3 other girls. So I will be out under the stars once again. I want to observe Saturn before it goes behind trees. Also on the menu, I shall be trying to find Arcturus before sunset. Sunset is at 21.35. I want to really zoom at M5 -say up to 320X and beyond.

Perhaps it will also be clear in Limerick for you, Dave.

Aubrey.