44 BOOTES

Forgive me, Pat, but have you not got a bigger scope? Perhaps I'm wrong. It's great that Mike has split it, I think, with a 200mm Newtonian. Its separation is less than 1.4".
I won't be observing tonight -as Valerie and I are eating Japanese for my birthday. Speaking of each, Valerie bought me a new 28mm 2" eyepiece made by Skywatcher Nirvana.
And I hope to be using it for the 1st time and observing once again on Saturday night.

Aubrey.

Hi Aubrey, first of all happy birthday thats a nice present you got
hope you get a chance to use it soon. I have a bigger scope a 150mm
Newtonian but no mount for it at the moment, my G11 is set up for
the refractors at the present maybe sometime I will get a Dob. mount
for it. I did go out for awhile tonight but it was pretty windy the
seeing not so good so after 50 minutes I give up, I did get a quick
look at Izar split but a bit soft and the Double Double just split at
120x again a bit soft.
Anyway enjoy your birthday.

Pat.

Hi Aubrey and Pat,

First, Happy Birthday Aubrey, I hope you enjoyed the occasion.

In anticipation of the good conditions persisting tonight "The Night Sky Observer's Guide" provided two more challenging binaries:

ID RA Dec Const Mag Mag 2 Sep Notes

STF2289 18:10:09 +16°28'35" Her 6.7 7.2 1.2 Deep yellow/pale yellow

ζ Her 16:41:17 +31°36'07" Her 3.0 5.4 1.3 Very close yellow/greenish binary


I'll be up at Sugarloaf tonight and will have a look - I suspect they are close to the limit of what my 200mm and the seeing will allow.

Cheers,
Mike

I havent gone double star hunting in a very long time, but your discussion on 44 Bootes has got me interested, I must give it a go next time I'm out,
btw, happy birthday again Aubrey, I didnt get a real chance to talk to you at cosmos about the doubles that interest you, have you made a list of ones you like the most ?

I am afraid I probably won't be double star splitting tonight (26th). There is a rare event happening witht crescent Moon. According to the May issue of the Sky at Night magazine. The star cluster M67 in Cancer will be reappearing on the eastern side of the Moon -that is the bright side from about 10.30pm. Valerie and I wish to observe this extraordinary event. I haven't seen any star cluster do this for many years -not since the 70's when the Moon occulted the Hyades.

Thank you all for your best wishes for my birthday.

Aubrey.

Gosh, Dave. Where do I begin? I suppose I should list ones I have observed with my 6.2" apochromatic refractor since I acquired it in November 2009.

1. Mesarthim double is Aries.
2. Castor triple in Gemini.
3. Mizar double in Ursa Major.
4. Dubhe double in Ursa Major.
5. Rigel double in Orion.
6. Alnitak triple in Orion.
7. 52 Orionis, my tightest double in Orion. (1.2")
8. 24 Coma Berenicis, double, yellow and blue.
9. Algieba, yellow double in Leo.
10. Polaris, double in Ursa Minor.
11. Albireo, double in Cygnus, orange and blue.
12. Alrischa, double in Pisces.
13. Meissa, double in Orion.
14. Sigma Orionis, quadruple in Orion, and Struve 761, triple beside it.
15. Iota Cancri, double.
16. 66 Cancri, double.
17. 57 Cancri, triple, deep yellow double.
18. Epsilon Lyrae, double-double.
19. Theta Auriga, triple.
20. Porrima, double in Virgo, both yellow.
21. Izar, double in Bootis.
22. 44 Bootis, double.

Of course, Dave, there are others I have observed in recent times. Generally, I often observed these systems if the Moon or a planet are in the constellation, eg, I hope to see triple star Theta Virginis, simply because Saturn is nearby.

Aubrey.