Arcturus + Izar observed before sunset

Gosh! What an evening I had on Wednesday 23rd July. I set up the 158mm Apochromatic refractor at 8pm. Sunset did not occur until 9.35. A reminder that I do have mirror diagonals fitted at all times. And I did not stop observing until 11.30.
This is the list of what I saw:

1. Arcturus observed at 8.50. I kid you not! Recently at Solarfest, Michael McConnell challenged me to observe stars in the daytime. It did take me ages to spot him -but I did; a full 45 minutes before the Sun went down. I found him at 11X and 40X. I called for the 3 scrabble girls and Valerie out to see what I was seeing. And they were stunned.
2. So then I thought, I shall have a look for the double star Izar. Why not? To my astonishment, I found him 10 minutes before sunset at 40X at 9.25pm . I put the magnification up to 112X and 140X, and I split it in 2 easily. I could make out his colours too -orange and blue. I was truly amazed. What a scope this is!
3. After sunset then, I managed to use 167X on Saturn. One girl said "Wow", and another said it looked like something you would see hanging from a child's bedroom ceiling! The rings were brilliant and the Cassini Division was visible. We observed it before it went behind a big tree.
4. Unfortunately, a dense cloud prevented me to observe M5, so I headed over to Cygnus and split Albireo at 11X and 40X.
5. This next object completely blew me away -the great double star Delta Cygni. It is strange that this bright star has no name. I have not observed this fellow since the early 2000's and I needed 200X to split him at that time. No problem with the 6.2" apo. It was almost split at a mere 112X. But it was gloriously majestic at 140X and 167X. A is 2.9 magnitude and B is 6.3. The separation is 2.7" at the PA is 218 degrees. It has been slightly widening over the last 20 years. In my scope, B is in the 9 o'clock postion. Both components appeared pure white to Valerie and myself. Anyone who is into doubles ought to check Delta Cygni out. I did use the website stelledoppie. goaction.ie for the information. To me, it was the best spectacle of last night.
6. Lastly, nearby Delta Cygni, was very wide triple star Omicron 1 Cygni. The main component was gold; B and C were both blue. Very nice indeed.

A most satisfactory evening for me -my 41st observing session of 2014!

Thank you for reading.

Aubrey.

That's a nice report Aubrey. Some nice targets there. It is nice to successfully catch objects while the Sun is still up (SAFELY, of course!). I remember Dave Lillis's daytime shots of Venus prior to the 2004 Transit of Venus as it got closer to the Sun. Tricky to say the least. Rewarding all the same!

Is your remark about Delta Cygni widening over the last 20 years a measurable feat or are you talking visually between different telescopes?

Seanie.

Nice talking to you again, Seanie, albeit on this great website. And thank you for your question regarding Delta Cygni. Oh and by the way, the star has a name. It is Rukh -pronounced Rook. I only discovered this today Friday, when I picked up the August issue of The Sky at Night.
According to Robert Burnham's Celestial Handbook, it is stated that back in 1875, the separation was 1.5". Fast forward to 1999, according to Guide 8 it widened to 2.4", and now in 2014, according to stelledoppie. goaction.it, the separation is 2.7". The magnitudes remain constant throughout: 2.9 and 6.3. The position angle is changing though. Try and check it out, Seanie, when you get the opportunity. It's a beauty! I needed 140X to split him on Wednesday night (23rd July). It is easy to find as it is bright.
Actually, Seanie, I just found the record in my 1999 diary. On October 11, I split Rukh with a 8.75 inch Newtonian at 146X. (Not 200X).

Aubrey.