Having not observed for a full 6 weeks (!) it was amazing to see very clear skies on Thursday 31st December 2015. As soon as I came home with Valerie having filled the fridge once again, I set out to put up the telescope. My William Optics 158 mm apochromatic refractor worked very well. Observations occurred between 5.30 pm and 7.15 pm; then again between 8 pm and 10 pm. The winds were dying down as the night progressed -therefore it did not feel too cold. I was leaping about all over the sky and I ended up checking out 21 objects. These are the highlights.
1. Epsilon Lyrae is still beautifully positioned reasonably high in the western sky. All 4 of its components easily seen at 112X. That little 5th star of 10.4 magnitude was very visible at 40X in between Epsilon 1 & 2. Its designation is TYC 3122-1635-1.
2. Pi Aquilae was getting low in the western sky but it was still easy to split at 140X and 167X.
3. How many optical companions does Altair (Alpha Aquilae) have? I count 5. They all have magnitudes between 9 and 10.
4. Albireo was next up to grabs. It was easily split at 11X and 40X. What was rather strange was seeing the B component at almost 12 o'clock. (My north is roughly up and east is to the right).
5. I was surprised I could make out Alrischa (Alpha Piscium) with my own eyes; and I do know it is a splendid double star. A is 4.1, B is 5.2. The separation is 1.8 arc seconds; the PA is 263 degrees (10 o'clock). The scope barely split at 140X. It was much more satisfying at 167X.
6. Before I get to Uranus, it is worth noting there are 3 nice stars near the planet. The first two are the wide double stars Zeta Piscium and 77 Piscium both cleanly split at a mere 11X. And thirdly WW Piscium which is a slightly red and very slightly variable. Even at 112X, it is less than half of a degree north of Uranus. What a lovely contrast in colour -red and green in the same field of view (FOV).
7. So with WW Piscium in the 30 arc minute FOV, it is easy to spot Uranus. I could make out its green disc at 112X. But I had to try out my new William Optics 4 mm eyepiece which provides quite a high magnification of 280X and 17 arc minutes FOV. Its 3.5 arc minute size was a nice size with the new eyepiece -I was very pleased with this observation.
8. Gamma Ceti has a gloriously long name: Kallaljidhma. The sky conditions were difficult at the time. the 2 closely tight stars were very blurred at 225X and 280X. I could just about see A (3.5 mag)and B (6.2 mag) with a separation of 1.9" and a PA of 299 degrees.
9. I spent a few minutes looking at M45 the Pleiades. It is essential to have a wide FOV for them. My 70 mm apo gives 6 degrees and my 2" 28mm gives 2 full degrees which fits in all the Pleiades very nicely.
10. Lambda Orionis was gaining height as the night went on. It is a quintuple star. Component A is +3.5, B is +5.5, C is faint at 10.7, D is 9.6 and E is 9.2. I could see all 5 stars at 112X -a very pleasing sight.
11. A nice double -double exists in north western Taurus near M45. STFA 7 and STF 401 are very close together and all 4 stars are separated at 40X. The magnitudes are 6.6, 6.9, 7.4 and 7.8.
12. Theta Aurigae has a name: Mahasim. It is a triple star but A and B are difficult -their separation should be easy at 4 arc seconds. But the magnitudes are 2.6 and 7.2. I could only see them both at 225X. The C star of +11.1 is much easier to see.
13. Gemini was rising at this late stage. So I had to observe M35 the open star cluster. It is so big at 28 arc minutes wide. It is also quite rich with many stars. Low magnification is sufficient -I used 40X. The bright orange star is a double star called Stt 134 of 7.5 magnitude and it has a secondary of 9.1 mag 31 arc seconds away.
14. Lastly, I spent some time with one last star which is high up in Cassiopeia. It is the triple star Iota Cassiopeiae and I have not observed it for many a long year. It is my first time to study it in my 6.2" apo and what a true gem it is. I found it easily enough moving away from Segin (Epsilon Cassiopeiae). The A component of Iota is 4.6 mag, so it is easy to spot in a finderscope. At 40X, I do not see any companions. But suddenly all changes at 112X. I one becomes 3! B is 6.9 mag and C is 9.1. The separations are 2.6 and 7 arc seconds. The PA's are 228 and 116 degrees. A has a slight yellow and B a slight blue. With my scope that is 12 and 3 o'clock which makes the system look like an 'L'. I am quite sure some of you out there have observe Iota Cassiopeiae in the past. I will have to check diaries to see when I did last time. Do come back to me with your experiences regarding it. It was a perfect high finish for me to end on for the very last night of 2015!
Thank you for reading.
Clear skies,
Aubrey.
  