Hello all.
Isn't it marvellous having all these clear nights during April 2015. I find myself tearing away from the snooker on the telly; and just last night, I found a gorgeous double star and a gorgeous carbon star through my 6.2" apochromatic refractor for the first time ever. It was my first observing time since Cosmos 2015.
1. I started with Jupiter where I sighted the dim but distinctive North Temperate Belt and the Great Red Spot after 10pm. And of course the 4 moons.
2. Before 10pm, I split Algieba into its 2 golden yellow components at 112X.
3. Tegmine (my favourite triple star) came next: all three stars split at 167X and 225X.
4. Polaris separated at 40X and 112X. B was at 6 o'clock compared to A.
5. Porrima split at 140X.
6. Valerie and I using our own eyes saw a -2 magnitude Iridium Flare at the head of The Plough at 10pm precisely; and a +2 magnitude Cosmos 1825 passing through Leo only 2 minutes later -very pleasurable to witness these without any optical aid.
7. However, I was wonderfully surprised at this gorgeous double -Iota Leonis. It may have no name; but it truly is a majestic sight from our vantage point. A is magnitude 4.1, and B is 6.7. Their current separation is 2.1" and we could split it at 140X last night. It does look very pleasing at 167X and 225X also. A is yellow -I'm not sure about the colour of B. Back in 2001, I had noted the separation was 1.7" - so it has been widening since those days. See stelledoppie.goaction.it. The Position Angle is now 96 degrees. It would be nice to hear from some double star enthusiasts on this forum about splitting this extraordinary double star.
8. Lastly, it is very difficult for me to observe anything in the biggest constellation in the entire sky -Hydra. It is always low down. But I did persevere and came up with a great reward. I starhopped from Alphard, through Upsilon 1 and 2 Hydrae, on to Lambda Hydrae and Mu Hydrae, to finally finish up with what maybe the brightest Carbon Star in the entire sky -U Hydrae. I have visited the aavso website, and I notice that one reliable observer has estimated its magnitude at +4.7. I would like to concur with that, however it is not easy -there are very few nearby stars to compare it with from my location. I think I would need to be somewhere like the Sugarloaf Car Park to figure it out. But what a truly sublime deep orange / red star it truly is. It is the 28th carbon star I have found, and I do deeply believe there are definitely worth studying throughout one's lifetime. Over 9200 observers have checked out this stunner over the years -so carbon stars are not boring. (I am not saying anyone suggested that). U Hydrae varies in magnitude from +4.6 to +5.4 in a period of 183 days. It must be near its brightest magnitude right now. There are 2 other carbon stars in Hydra -I must seek them out during the spring and summer.
Thank you for reading. Please come back to me with any feedback.
Clear Skies.
Aubrey.
  