Hi all. I had no idea it was going to be clear on Thursday night 19th February.
www.accuweather.com
were stating that the skies in Dublin were going to be completely overcast for the whole evening -they were WRONG!! But
www.met.ie
were forecasting all day that we were going to have clear skies.
So I set up my usual 158mm apo at 6pm, and started observing at 7.30. My north is up and my east is right. The majority of my observations were in Orion.
1. Who can resist but start off with Rigel? Easily split at 112X. B is at 7 o'clock. A is blue white, magnitude 0.3, B is 6.8. Separation is 9".
2. Alnitak (Zeta Orionis): all 3 stars sighted at 112X and 140X. A is 1.9, B is 3.9 at 5 o'clock, and C is 8.5 at 1 o'clock. Separations are 2.6" and 60".
3. Mintaka( Delta Orionis): double star split at 40X. A is 2.4, B is 6.8 -yellow and blue. (12 o'clock). Separation is 53".
4. 33 Orionis. Tough split but achieved at 140X. A is 5.7, B is 6.7. Separation is 1.7". (1 o'clock). Both slightly yellow.
5. Struve 761: triple star right nest to Sigma Orionis. Split at 40X. Magnitudes are 8, 8.5 and 9. All are white. The separations are 68" and 9". A lovely tight isosceles triangle.
6. Sigma Orionis. Brilliant quadruple star at 112X. Magnitudes 4, 6.5, 7.5 and 10. It is a very pleasing sight to see a total of 7 stars in the field of view.
7. Meissa (Lambda Orionis). Excellent quintuple star split at 112X. A and B are quite close together -separation 4.3".
8. 52 Orionis. Its separation is now 1.3", and the scope split him at 225X. (1 o'clock). A is 4.4, B is 5.8.
9. 32 Orionis. Its separation is 1.2"; split at 225X also. (1 o'clock). A & B are both 6 magnitude.
10. 23 Orionis double star split at 11X in guidescope, and 40X in main scope. A is 5.0, B is 6.8 Separation is 31" (1 o'clock). Yellow and blue.
11. It has been a long time since I observed Rho Orionis -what a lovely sight it is! A is very orange, 4.6 magnitude and B is 8.5 and pale blue. Separation is 7" (2 o'clock).
12. My next 2 doubles are first time observations. Struve 652: A is 6.5, B is 7.5 in the 6 o'clock position. Separation is 1.7". Both a little yellow in colour. Split at 167X.
13. Sighted unexpectedly was a wide double Struve 630. A is 7, B is 8. Separation is 14". Split at 40X.
14. I had to fit in a carbon star; so W Orionis fitted the bill. It stops me in my tracks at 112X with its very intense orange hue. It is very bright at present. I must do an estimate next time.
15. I observed Jupiter at about 9.30. I could make out the discs of Ganymede, Io and Callisto. Europa was behind the planet. But I did see the SEB, NEB, the North and South Temperate Belts plus the GRS which was very small but quite distinctive at 225X hanging out of the SEB.
16. Algieba (Gamma Leonis) beautifully split at 112X. Both rich yellow (4 o'clock position).
17. M44 Beehive star cluster. It fills the FOV at 40X -very pleasing sight.
18. And finally, Tegmine (Zeta Cancri) Do you remember this dramatic triple? Split him into 3 components at 225X and 280X. The perfect way to end a great night of observing.
Thank you for reading.
Clear skies from Aubrey.
  