3 Doubles + 1 Quadruple + 2 carbon stars in Cassiopeiae

Good evening, everyone.

On Monday 16th December 2019 I set up my William Optics 158 mm f/7 apochromatic refractor and my William Optics 70 mm f/6 apochromatic refractor which I use as a finder in my back garden before sunset occurred at 16.06 UT.

Having found Vega 1 minute before sunset, splitting Zeta Lyrae and Epsilon Lyrae into 4 components soon afterwards, I then sought out 3 doubles, 1 quadruple star and 2 carbon stars in Cassiopeia.

1. Schedar (Alpha Cassiopeiae) was my starting point. A and D are only visible at 40X. C & D are invisible - they are too faint. Magnitudes: 2.4 & 9. Sep: 70.4". PA: 283 degrees. Effortlessly seen at 40X. The primary is yellow.

2. Achird (Eta Cassiopeiae) must be a good candidate for being the finest 4th magnitude binary in the entire heavens! Magnitudes: 3.5 & 7.4. Sep: 13.4". PA: 326 degrees. Lovely tight split at 40X. But what about those colours? A is yellow. B is almond brown. It is exceptionally beautiful at 112X and higher.

3. ES 405 is a completely new optical dim double for me. Magnitudes: 10.2 & 10.4. Sep: 4.4". PA: 117 degrees. At 112X I get a reasonably tight split. 140X looks very good. It is positioned 53' from Achird. It sure is a good test for any scope.

4. My first carbon star of the evening is W Cassiopeiae. It's very near the 2 aforementioned double stars. I estimated its magnitude as +9.0 and I did use 2 stars which have magnitudes 9.0 and 9.2 as a guide. The colour is very distinctive. To me it is strong orange - red. Its spectral class is C7.1e. W Cass takes higher magnifications extremely well. I went from 40X, 112X, 140X, 167X and finished at 225X. It's my 76th observed carbon star. A real beauty for sure.

5. STTA 254 is a quadruple star system which includes the carbon star WZ Cassiopeiae. The magnitudes are: A = 7.4, B = 8.3, C = 9.6 and D = 10.4. Sep = 57.8", 155.4" and 181.4". The PA's are 89, 324 and 118 degrees. At 11X through my small William Optics 70 mm F/6 apochromatic refractor I was surprised to see WZ Cass and its 8.3 magnitude companion which is a decent blue. At 40X in the main scope I could see C & D easily too. How could one resist not going higher? 112X, 140X, 167X and 225X all give truly magnificent views. I haven't observed WZ Cass since 22nd November 2001. But having greatly admired this double carbon star some 18 years later - it does seem as if it is my very first time to observe it. I describe its colour as strong orange and the star is bright compared to its companions. 

Thank you for reading.

Comments are very welcome.

Clear skies from Aubrey.

I think everyone must be out tonight Aubrey - is this the clearest night of the year? I've been observing the interesting dwarf nova in Cygnus which has brightened and dimmed several times since July. My 9th observed nova and I estimate it at mag 11.3.

Finbarr.

I'm with you on this one Finbarr: A fantastic night for observing the stars - and nova by sounds of things ☺. Having returned from my back garden, I was keen to see how others got on tonight.

Well done Aubrey on producing another fine report. As I was observing M35 earlier (more about that later), I was wondering whether you were observing WZ Cassiopeiae. And sure enough, you were. It is incredible to think that the last time you observed this star I had a full head of hair! On the topic of carbon stars, congrats on reaching number 76 with W Cassiopeiae. Your description of it is lovely, and I must take a look at it for myself. Same goes for Eta Cassiopeiae. You really do paint beautiful pictures with your descriptions. It was nice to read that you observed a new double this evening too. Was it your intention to observe it, or was it by chance? Once again, thanks for sharing your observations with us this evening.

Also, many thanks Finbarr for posting your observations from tonight. I was unaware that Cygnus contains a dwarf nova. And well done on reaching your nineth one; they are fascinating objects. Following on from your recent post about Betelgeuse I've been reading about these interesting phenomena. 

In terms of what I observed tonight, I spent are great deal of time in and around Gemini. At 10:01 I believe observed a meteor flying west to east in M35. I saw it through a 32mm Plossl eyepiece secured in my 6' parabolic newtonian reflector. Having checked Stellarium (great recommendation BTW), it wasn't a satellite. Could it have been a Geminid?  

Interestingly, I had not planned to spend time observing M35 - I had planned to go back to Auriga and give M36,  or 37 a go - but Gemini was better positioned from my eastward facing back garden from 10pm. So, I started in on sketching M35 at 10:07. Realising quite quickly that I had bitten off more than I could chew I decided that I was going to need at least a second session to do it justice. So, from 10:34, I put in a 9mm Orion Expanse eyepiece, which provides a 66 degree AFOV, and focused on the small arc of stars towards the bottom of the cluster to study it closely. I was struck by its shape, and even noticed a couple of nice orange coloured stars in the chain. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to finishing the sketch. As I put down my pencil, and looked up from the eyepiece who greeted me; only Orion! I had to take my first look of Messier 42 this season. It was breathtaking! I literally let out a gasp. The nebula looked incredible, and I could clearly see the trapezium with the 9mm eyepiece. What's more,  thanks to the filter Mike lent me, the contrast of it against the darkened sky was something else: Thank you Mike!

While November was a wash-out for amateur astronomy; December is sure making up for it. Long may it last.

Clear skies,

Darren.

Excellent Darren, M35 is a beautiful sight. There is another named cluster immediately adjacent, that's NGC 2158. It is visible in binoculars from a dark sky and might be that arc of stars which grabbed your attention. Here is its location with north up:



Finbarr.

Until_then-Goodnight! wrote: I'm with you on this one Finbarr: A fantastic night for observing the stars - and nova by sounds of things ☺. Having returned from my back garden, I was keen to see how others got on tonight.

Well done Aubrey on producing another fine report. As I was observing M35 earlier (more about that later), I was wondering whether you were observing WZ Cassiopeiae. And sure enough, you were. It is incredible to think that the last time you observed this star I had a full head of hair! On the topic of carbon stars, congrats on reaching number 76 with W Cassiopeiae. Your description of it is lovely, and I must take a look at it for myself. Same goes for Eta Cassiopeiae. You really do paint beautiful pictures with your descriptions. It was nice to read that you observed a new double this evening too. Was it your intention to observe it, or was it by chance? Once again, thanks for sharing your observations with us this evening.

Also, many thanks Finbarr for posting your observations from tonight. I was unaware that Cygnus contains a dwarf nova. And well done on reaching your nineth one; they are fascinating objects. Following on from your recent post about Betelgeuse I've been reading about these interesting phenomena. 

In terms of what I observed tonight, I spent are great deal of time in and around Gemini. At 10:01 I believe observed a meteor flying west to east in M35. I saw it through a 32mm Plossl eyepiece secured in my 6' parabolic newtonian reflector. Having checked Stellarium (great recommendation BTW), it wasn't a satellite. Could it have been a Geminid?  

Interestingly, I had not planned to spend time observing M35 - I had planned to go back to Auriga and give M36,  or 37 a go - but Gemini was better positioned from my eastward facing back garden from 10pm. So, I started in on sketching M35 at 10:07. Realising quite quickly that I had bitten off more than I could chew I decided that I was going to need at least a second session to do it justice. So, from 10:34, I put in a 9mm Orion Expanse eyepiece, which provides a 66 degree AFOV, and focused on the small arc of stars towards the bottom of the cluster to study it closely. I was struck by its shape, and even noticed a couple of nice orange coloured stars in the chain. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to finishing the sketch. As I put down my pencil, and looked up from the eyepiece who greeted me; only Orion! I had to take my first look of Messier 42 this season. It was breathtaking! I literally let out a gasp. The nebula looked incredible, and I could clearly see the trapezium with the 9mm eyepiece. What's more,  thanks to the filter Mike lent me, the contrast of it against the darkened sky was something else: Thank you Mike!

While November was a wash-out for amateur astronomy; December is sure making up for it. Long may it last.

Clear skies,

Darren.

Ha Ha, Darren!
I going bald too!
By the way I did plan to observe ES 405. I could see it plain as day on my Guide 9.1 DVD. Of course it is very dim but not too difficult to see the 2 stars split at 112X. 

M35 is everyone's favourite open cluster. But it is vital to be under dark skies to catch a view of NGC 2158. Both are wonderful even at 100X. 

Monday night was an excellent night alright. 
Tuesday night was clear again. But after 1.5 hours the dreaded dew was viciously attacking everything in my back garden. I had to put all my equipment away before 6 pm. I had only observed most of the same celestial objects with one or two additions. Each one I had observed before. 
As Cassiopeia is climbing higher and higher I will have to move onto another constellation sooner or later. And yet I do have the desire to observe one more carbon star - NQ Cassiopeiae is on the list.     

Congratulations on observing the Dwarf Nova in Cygnus, Finbarr. I wonder when will you see a 10th.

Clear skies to all, 

Aubrey. 
  

Fermidox wrote: Excellent Darren, M35 is a beautiful sight. There is another named cluster immediately adjacent, that's NGC 2158. It is visible in binoculars from a dark sky and might be that arc of stars which grabbed your attention. Here is its location with north up:

Finbarr.

Hi Finbarr, 

Very many thanks for posting the picture of M35, and NGC 2158...thats very helpful. At next opportunity to observe from a dark sky I must try to find NGC 2158. I've a sneaky suspicion that it will be a different object from the one I saw through the eyepiece last night, but I'm certainly looking forward to observing it. 

Clear skies, 

Darren.