Doubles from last night

Last night was the first opportunity to get the telescope out for more than three weeks. It was bitterly cold in a fresh breeze that made observations difficult, but I persisted. Started with M3, the first globular that I have observed using the C11 scope, and it was magnificent at 233x - I'm really looking forward to seeing the great Summer globs from a dark site. I then concentrated on doubles, as shown below.

Name Const Mag Mag 2 Sep
2 Com, STF1596 Com 6.2 7.5 3.7
Slightly unequal pair, pale yellow - yellow, well split using 350x.

24 Com, STF1657 Com 5.1 6.3 22.1
Beautiful orange - bluish pair, both bright, easily split using 117x. Very similar to Albireo.

49 Leo, STF1450 Leo 5.8 7.9 2.1
Very unequal binary of white stars, cleanly split using 350x.

BU800 Com 6.7 9.5 7.5
Relatively faint golden primary with a much fainter bluish companion, well split using 175x. A brighter orange star is 16' WNW.

COU286 Leo 7.7 10 1.8
Golden primary, with a very faint secondary barely visible at 350x.

SIN62 Leo 7.7 7.7 2.2
Matching white stars, though one appeared slightly brighter than the other, close using 350x.

STF1426 Leo 7.3 9.4 7.8
Moderately unequal double, both yellow, nicely separated at 117x. V.nice.

STF1431 Leo 7.8 9.1 3.8
Unequal, pale yellow - white pair, nicely separated at 350x. Would be unexceptional but for the beautiful bright deep orange star (44 Leo) 5' to the W.

STF1447 Leo 7.5 8.9 4.4
White - bluish pair, moderately unequal, attractively close at 175x.

STF1448 Leo 7.5 9.6 10.9
Orange primary, with fainter bluish companion, very pretty at 117x.

STF1504 Leo 7.9 8.1 1.2
Matched pair of yellow suns, just split using 350x.

STF1521 Leo 7.7 8.1 3.7
Very slightly unequal double of very pale yellow stars, nicely separated using 140x.

STF1633 Com 7 7.1 8.9
Perfectly matched pair of bright yellow stars, nicely split at 140x.

ι Leo, STF1536 Leo 4.1 6.7 2
Moderately unequal pair of white stars, close at 350x.

The well known 24 Com pair was the pick of the bunch. It's very like Albireo, nicer in some respects because it's closer. To finish I had my first look at Saturn this year. Although quite low, it was a fantastic sight as always. The Cassini division, the shadow of the planet on the rings, and the bands of clouds were all clear, and five moons were visible. Great way to end the night.

Thanks for reading.
Mike

Fantastic report as ever, Mike. I have observed 2 Comae, 24 Comae and 49 Leonis. Great scope you have.

Aubrey.

Here's a brief summary of my observing over the weekend. The conditions were very good and I was delighted to get two long observing sessions, so there are too many objects to describe them individually

Friday April 5th
Calm clear moonless night in Ballinteer, but very cold. Some haze but good seeing. No technical problems, everything worked well. Long and productive session covering 33 targets. Spent most of the evening in Leo working through my target list. Lots of nice doubles, the standouts being Algieba (2.4, 3.6 4.0"; blazingly bright white primary with a slightly fainter companion that has a hint of yellow, nicely split using 175x), STT215 (7.2, 7.5, 1.5"; matching, bright, yellowish stars, barely separated at 350x.) and 54 Leonis (4.5, 6.3, 6.1"; brilliant, pure white primary, with a fainter, but still bright, bluish secondary, attractively close using 117x). Also took in the easy 83 Leo (6.6, 7.5, 28.2"; pale yellow, yellow, slightly unequal, wide pair) & 84 Leo (5.1, 7.5, 88"; lemon yellow, bluish, super wide pair) "double double".
For the first time ever, the favourable conditions allowed me to split some doubles with a separation of less than 1". For the triple STF1426 the AB pair (8.0, 8.3, 0.9"; split in moments of good seeing, using 560x - very difficult - took quite a bit of time checking to be sure) was resolved using 560x. STT217 is even closer, at 0".755, but was split in moments of good seeing!
Some bright galaxies too - will be better from a dark site. Finished with another look at the magnificent M3 before the cold drove me indoors.

Saturday April 6th
Calm clear night, but quite hazy, which particularly affected targets lower in the sky. Notably warmer than the previous night and I managed 21 targets, of which the following were the best.
Started in Sextans, an unfamiliar constellation, which provided only thin pickings - few ordinary looking doubles and faint galaxies. The best object was 35 Sex (5.8, 6.9, 6.7”; bright, slightly unequal, golden yellow pair, very pretty at 233x). Tried Hydra then, but it was too low and mostly behind the house so I gave up almost immediately.
Turned to a "Double doubles" project that I have been working on for months to check two possibilities in CVn. One, Cor Caroli + STF1702, is easy and quite pretty at low power. Checked some of the bright galaxies in CVn and then finished with two fine red stars, R CVn, and the magnificent "La Superba".

Thanks for reading,
Mike

Great observing sessions Mike and a fantastic list of objects.

560x :bigshock: ,it makes my 135x seem so inadequate.

Paul

Sorry about that Paul. You know what they say about guys who drive flashy sports cars, and what they might be trying to compensate for. Perhaps it's the same for guys with oversized telescopes? Maybe we should ask the owner of the "Obsessionator" :laugh:

Mike

myke you should try and get a cheap cam even if you dont like
imaging it would make the report even better.