Observations -9/08/18

Hello, Everyone.
I had an excellent evening observing on Wednesday night from 9 pm to close to midnight with my William Optics 158 mm f/7 apochromatic refractor.

1.I started with some pf the usual starters. The first was Zeta Lyrae. It was easy to see A and B at 40X. And I reckon the A component was slight yellow, B was slight blue. What do others think?
2. Who can resist Epsilon Lyrae? All 4 stars barely but cleanly split at 112X.
3. As the night got darker, I greatly admired seeing the B and E components of Vega at 40X. C and D are too faint. the PA's are 184 and 39 degrees. Both are optical doubles with magnitudes of 9.5 each.
4. My first time observation of STTA 171 is northwest of Vega. It is easily split at 11X and 40X. The magnitudes are 7 and 8.1. The separation is 150" and the PA is 328 degrees.
5. What a real beauty this is: Stf 2351. It is a small distance northeast of Vega. Both stars are 7.6 magnitude. The separation is 5.1". The PA is 160 degrees. All I needed was 40X to see these 2 "eyes" looking back at me. Both stars are white. It is my first time to observe Stf 2351.
6. Aladfar (Eta Lyrae) is a very fine double. A is white. Its magnitude is 4.4. The secondary is blue with a magnitude of 8.6. The separation is 28.3 seconds. The PA is 80 degrees. 40X is sufficient to see both stars.
7. The other double -double is next. Stf 2470 and Stf 2414 are almost identical is magnitude, separation and PA.
All very easily seen at 40X. It is strange that Epsilon Lyrae is more famous. Magnitudes 7, 8.4, 6.8 and 7.9. Separations are 13.8 and 15.9. The PA's are 263 and 268 degrees.
8. Here is another first timer for me. STT 525 has been talked about on www.cloudynights.com recently. So I thought I should give it a try. It is a triple and the C component is easy to see even at 11X. But the B component is supposed to be tough. That separation is only 1.8". The A star is 6.1. The B star is 9.1 with a PA of 129 degrees.
That's 3 magnitudes difference. However at 225X, I could see B very well. So I decreased to 167X and both stars were just about visible. Do give it a try. At what magnification do you need to see A and B?
9. I finished off my evening with the Dumbbell Nebula (M27). What a wonderful sight it is at 225X -so big and bright and easy to focus on. Its size is 8' by 5'. It is definitely narrower at the centre. In fact it looks like a well eaten apple. With a magnitude of +8, it is the brightest planetary nebula is our northern hemisphere skies. It is some 1360 light years away and is situated in the faint constellation of Vulpecula the Fox.

Thank you for reading. Please feel free to come back with some of your comments.

Clear skies from Aubrey.

I was out last night too, looking for doubles in my binoculars. The skies really cleared up around one o'clock and the seeing and transparency were excellent.
I also observed STF 2470 and STF 2474 in Lyra, a second double-double. I also observed STT 356, this is close to Vega that the star interferes with observation and has to be moved out of the field of view.
With good views of the southern skies I drifted around Aquarius and Capricornus pulling in S 763, STF 2787 and STF 2809. I stumbled across M30 by mistake.
Aquila gave me STF 2562 and STF 2646.
Cygnus had STF 2578.
Delphinus STF 2690
Ophiuchus STF 2202.
I was using 15x70s and 20x90s for observing.
Around three o'clock it was catching up with me and I was finding it more difficult to locate objects, it was time to quit.
Initially the evening held little promise, the clouds looked like they would spoil everything, luckily it cleared up and a good night was had.
I saw one Perseid.

Paul

Thanks for that fine report, Paul.
I must admit I have to offer you my strong thanks for highlighting Stf 2470 and Stf 2474 a few years ago.
I've observed quite a few times since.
I also should of stated that my wife Valerie joined me for quite a few of my observations -namely STT 525 and Stf 2351.
I must seek out M30 one of these days.

By the way, Paul, are you considering joining us at the Sugarloaf on Friday night?
It will be great to see you there!

Aubrey.

I was making my first observation of Comet 21/P Giacobini-Zinner. Discovered in 1900 with an orbital period of 6.5 years, this is its 19th circuit since discovery, 16 of which have been observed. Quite obvious in 15 x 70 binoculars and quite diffuse, I'd estimate a mag around 7 which is healthy enough a month before perihelion. It is also by the way the source of the October Draconid meteor shower, which has been known to produce the occasional storm. That's my 24th comet in total.

I'm hoping to get to Birr tomorrow for a look round the famous old site.

Finbarr.

Where is it, Finbarr?
Is it near Cassiopeia?

Aubrey.

Yes it is Aubrey; draw a line from Shedir through gamma Cas and continue on for the same distance.