Hello, one and all.
We had a beautiful clear night recently over Dublin.
There was no wind and minimal amount of dew.
Without much further ado, I set up my Williams Optics 158mm f/7 apochromatic refractor in my back garden.
The air temperature was a warm 14˚ Celsius.
Sunset had occurred at 19.51UT, and began my observing session at precisely 20.30UT. That’s 9.30 Irish local time.
Each of these double stars I have observed before. Their figures can be checked out on
www.stelldoppie.it
It’s always a good idea to seek out Schedar (Alpha Cassiopeiae) and Achird (Eta Cassiopeiae) first.
The following 3 doubles are placed due north of the former.
1. The sky conditions must have been particularly good on this night, because I was capable of separating the true binary ES 3 at 40x. Last year I required 112x. Its magnitudes are: A = 8.7. B = 9.5. Sep = 8.2”. PA = 158˚. ES 3 is about 1˚ north of Schedar. Both stars of ES 3 appeared white to yours truly.
2. STF 38 is a true binary. Magnitudes: A = 8.7. B = 9.0. Sep = 17.1”. PA = 144˚. Clean and easy separation at 40x of course. Both stars are white.
3. Very close by is BU 1096. It’s an uncertain double. Magnitudes: A = 8.8. B = 9.7. Sep = 35.5”. PA = 241˚. It sure is nice to fit and split these 2 doubles into the same 2˚ fov at 40x. The colours of BU 1096 are orange and white. Easy peasy separation.
4. STI 1385 is an optical double. Magnitudes: A = 10.9. B = 11.0. Sep = 4.7”. PA = 341˚. In times past I have needed 225x to get a split with this double. But (!) on this night I had a delightful narrow black gap at a mere 112x. This brought great satisfaction to my inner being for sure.
5. Now was the time to check out a seriously faint carbon star, because there was no Moon. I have had a real labour of love trying to observe a carbon star that is 6 arc minutes (‘) east of STI 1385. This carbon star has the designations V382 Cassiopeiae or Case 522. It is part of a near-perfect equilateral triangle with TYC 3662 2558 (mag: 11.0) and TYC 3662 2542 (mag: 11.5). The latter star and a 12.7 magnitude “point” to V382 Cas. I got him! I’m estimating its magnitude at +12.9 as it’s fainter than the aforementioned 12.7 star. I tried to observe V382 Cas nearly 12 months ago but failed miserably. I would like to thank everybody here on
www.irishastronomy.org
for encouraging me to find this carbon star – especially Darren, Finbarr and Michael. I could just about make out its orange colour with my Nagler 5mm eyepiece that gives 225x. (I didn’t go higher).
A friendly neighbour of mine asked if I was the only Irish person to have observed this star. I replied: “I never thought of that, and I probably am”.
That's it. Thank you for reading my report.
Clear skies to everyone,
Aubrey.
