Observations - 24/04/22 to 26/04/22

Hello everyone. 

I have 3 different celestial objects in Leo to tell you about which I observed on 3 successive nights - Sunday 24th April, Monday 25th April and Tuesday 26th April. 

1.  The first is the 2nd star in Robert Burnham's list of variable stars and it is S Leonis. (R Leonis is the first). On www.aavso.org I discovered that S Leo is getting fainter at this time. One observer has given it an estimated magnitude of 10.8, and I completely agree with that person. In fact I have given S Leo a magnitude of +10.8 too. There are 3 stars near S Leo which have magnitudes: 7.1, 7.9 and 8.6. These are west of the 4.0 mag star Sigma Leonis and they roughly point the way to S Leo. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack but there are 2 faint stars whose magnitudes are 10.5 and 10.6 pointing southwards nearly directly to S Leo. S Leo is a very nice orange star alright and it varies in magnitude from 9.5 down to 14.9. The period is 190 days. Amazing! Its spectral class varies from M3 to M6. I found that S Leonis has a super orange colour from magnifications very good at 225x and 280x. Jean Chacornac ((1823-1873) is the discoverer of S Leonis in 1856. There is a well-known 51 km lunar crater which bears his name.

2. V Leonis is the 3rd variable star listed in Burnham. It varies from 8.4 to 14.6. Its period is 273 days. Its spectral class M5e. On this occasion I did not estimate a magnitude. But I will do this another time. However I must say it is faint - about the 11th magnitude. I found its colour as orange and is very nice at 225x and 280x and is beside a bright 6.7 magnitude star called SAO 81128. So it is rather easy to locate. The discoverer was Ludwig Becker (1860-1947). He was born in Germany, but moved to England and spent some time in Scotland. Indeed he became a British citizen in 1893. He discovered V Leonis is 1882 while living in Aberdeen, Scotland.  

3. Please rejoice with me!
I observed STF 1426 on Tuesday night 26th April 2022. 
A few minutes before my William Optics 158mm f/7 apochromatic refractor cleanly split 49 Leonis at 112x once again. 

Not far away is STF 1426. It is positioned right down on the southern border of Leo. 
A and B are a true binary and are slowly getting tighter. But C probably isn't part of the system. 

This triple system has been discussed over on Cloudy Nights before. 
So I thought to give it a go. 
Magnitudes: A = 8. B = 8.3. C = 9.4. Sep = <0.89" and 7.6". PA's = 314 and 9 degrees. 
I had no problems seeing A and C separated at 40x. 
But what about A and B?
Well I increased my magnifications up to 167x and I could see the 2 brighter touching. 
At 225x success was achieved.
The famous black gap we all look for was seen! 
The view was even better at 280x. 
Both A and B are yellow-white. 

It's a first-time observation for yours truly. 

I would class STF 1426 as magnificent. 

It will probably be my favourite new triple star of 2022!

Clear skies from Aubrey.  

 

That's really good Aubrey, anything less than 1 arcsecond I would class as very difficult and can't honestly say I've managed it in my 8 inch. You're really making the most of this remarkably settled spell.

Continued clear skies,
Finbarr.

Thank you, Finbarr. 
I do have the refractor set up already in my back garden right now. 
There is some high cloud in my sky. 
But I will try and split another tight double in Leo called STF 1429 tonight. 
I might have some difficulties though with the sky conditions. 
If I don't succeed I'll try again some other night. 

Best regards from Aubrey. 

I don't have good news at all regarding STF 1429. 
My scope wouldn't split at 374x on Thursday night 28th April. . 
I might have had an elongation, but I am not at all certain. 
The primary has a magnitude of 9.05. 
The secondary 9.34. 
Separation = 0.8" precisely. 
Position angle = 152.6 degrees. 
A bigger aperture would have a better time for sure.  

Bst regards from Aubrey. 

Another fine report Aubrey, 

Splitting the A and B components of STF 1426 was some going... Fair play. Let me guess - the Nagler? 

Would a darker, clearer sky help with STF 1429, or is it solely down to aperture? 

Clear skies, 

Darren. 

 

Welcome back, Darren!
It's always great to receive your posts here on IFAS. 

Yes! You are 100% correct. 
The 5mm Nagler separated STF 1426. 
I also used the 4mm William Optics that gives 280x for a wider split.

Regarding STF 1429; yes, I would say a bigger aperture would succeed.
I did have very good dark sky conditions for it. 
I was observing it after 11pm.  
We appear to be running out of time to have another go at it. 
Brighter skies are nearly upon us. 
However I'll try to split it again in early 2023. 

Very best regards from Aubrey.