Two's Company, Three's A Triple System

Hey there.

Got out for a couple of hours on Sunday night and went back to Orion. I downloaded the great site that Stevie mentioned and I am working off it. Thanks again Stevie.

STF 589: A close pair of 8th mag. yellow-white stars in a sparse field.
STF 612: An easy pair to split, the separation being 16", this pair reside in a busy field with stars of varying magnitudes.
STF 622: These 8th mag. white stars are extremely close at 2.4", initially I was unable to split the pair, them a moment of greater clarity arrived and I got the split at 103X.
SH 49: This looks like a triple system, though it isn't, the 5th mag. primary is widely separated from the bluish companion by a generous 39", a fainter star lies immediately to the west. Easy at 48X.
ADS 3650:The outstanding feature of this pair is the deep red primary, it looks like a glowing ember and the contrast with the brilliant white companion is beautiful. Once again easily separated at low magnitude.
STF 664: A close pair of 7th and 8th mag. stars, the primary sports a yellow tinge with the companion white. At 63X the pair stood out in a relatively empty field, the pair make a triangle with a pair 6th mag. stars at the lower edge of the FOV.
STF 688: Another yellow-white combination easily split at 63X, an easy spearation of 10". One interesting thing I noted was the Cassiopeia clone in the northern edge of the FOV. 5 stars are strecthed out in a rough approximation of the constellation.
STF 692: Yet another yellow-white pair of 8th mag. stars, I was able to split them easily at 27X, there is a nice kite asterism to the east.
23 Orionis: A nice pair with a wide spearation, another Albireo lookalike with yellow and light blue stars. There are some nice strings of stars in the FOV at 63X.
ADS 4080: A triple system this time, all white in colour and none of them bright, the brightest being 8.5 mag. The primary pair are close at 5.7", the third star, also 8.5 mag. is a long way off at 111". Another double, I don't know the name, is situated to the east when viewed at 103X. 5 stars lie to the west, with one at each corner and the fifth in the centre I was reminded of the flag of Scotland.
33 Orionis: With a separation of 2" this white pair at at the limit of what I can split, the maximum magnification I have is 103X. At 6 and 7.5 mag. I believe that if the variance in magnitudes were greater I would not be able to split them.
Delta Orionis: Mintaka, there are 4.5 magnitudes in differecne between the mag. 2 primary and the companion, the separation of 52" makes it an easy split at 63X. This pair reside in a nice area of sky, there are plenty of stars in the FOV varying from the easily seen to the strain on the eyes.

Observing the heavens, be it double stars or galaxies or planetaries, it's interesting to make out the patterns the stars make, such as the Scottish flag near ADS 4080, that can be seen. I have seen kites, mini constellations, numbers, stick figures and various other oddities. I suppose this is a testimony to our ability to make out patterns and shapes when a little imagination is used.

Excellent report Paul. I'll have to get stuck into that site myself, I always get distracted by galaxies at this time of year.

Thanks to Seanie I can download my double star sketches, above is STF 688 with the Cassiopeia asterism.

Below is ADS 3650 with the red primary.



I welcome any comments you may have.

thanks for looking.

Excellent work Paul.