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Epsilon Lyr (Multiple Star, in Lyra)
Observer: Harold Williams (e-mail: clouseau@webtv.net)
Instrument: 10-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sat Jun 20 16:00:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 363
The first really good sky conditions by Philadelphia standards in weeks and we have an almost full moon! I decided to give observing a shot anyway. I wanted to try for something I'd never seen in my scope and chose the Double Double. Since Vega was the only guide star visible, this was going to take some guesswork. At 60x, it took a few minutes of searchine to find the brightest two stars. Then, I dropped in the Barlow and went to 180x. At first, I thought I was out of luck. On a second, closer look I could just make out the companion stars. This may not be a big deal to many observers. But, considering the conditions I have to observe under, I was quite pleased to add this item to my personal list.
Sigma Ori (Multiple Star, in Orion)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: fair
Time: Sat Dec 27 09:55:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 276
AB, D, and E components visible at 38x; C component required careful looking at 76x before I could see it.
Zeta Ori (Alnitak) (Multiple Star, in Orion)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: fair
Time: Sat Dec 27 09:00:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 269
Doing the Orion skyhop given in the Jan 98 Sky & Telescope. Zeta Orionis was a dazzling white ball, the C companion easy: a distant faint point N of the primary at 38x. I saw no sign of the B star at any power through 244x. I'm very happy with the new 32mm Plossl eyepiece I got for Christmas; it is much sharper across the entire field than the SMA's I got with the 8" Starhopper.
M40 (Multiple Star, in Ursa Major)
Observer: Jeff DeTray (e-mail: jeff@detray.com, web: http://top.monad.net/~jdetray)
Instrument: 50-mm binoculars Location: Troy, NH, US
Light pollution: none Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Wed Dec 3 05:30:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 265
At last! After many failed attempts to observe M40 with 7x35 binoculars during the summer and fall, my new 10x50's finally brought it into view. It popped in and out, but I could hold it for many seconds at a time. M40 is listed as mag. 9, which was near the limit of what I could see this night. M40 is the 63rd Messier object I've observed with binoculars since June.
Alpha Tau (Aldebaran) (Multiple Star, in Taurus)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 114-mm equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, Pa, U.S.A.
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Tue Jul 29 09:24:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 218
I observed the occultation of Aldebaran by the Moon early Tuesday morning. At approximately 09:24 UT (I forgot to put my watch on) Aldebaran winked out as it was covered by the Moon's western limb. After a longer time span than I expected (about an hour and 12 minutes) the Eye of the Bull reappeared out of "thin air". I used a Tele Vue 9mm Nagler, a Tele Vue 26mm Ploessl, and a 30mm Celestron Ultima along with a Celestron C4.5 to view this event. (Sorry about the garbled initial report.)
Alpha Tau (Aldebaran) (Multiple Star, in Taurus)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 114-mm equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, Pa, U.S.A.
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Tue Jul 29 09:24:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 217
I observed the occultation of Aldebaran by the Moon early Tuesday morning from my balcony. At approximately 09:24 UT Aldebaran winked out (I forgot After a longer time span that Bull reappeared out of "thin air."
Xi Sco (Grafias) (Multiple Star, in Scorpius)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Sat Jul 5 06:50:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 189
Split at 49x. Orange primary, blue-green secondary. PA estimated at 085. I noted another pretty double, fainter, about 7' south in the same field, two stars of almost equal brightness with PA 100. Checking Burnham's, I learned that this is Struve 1999, which is recognized as being physically associated with the Xi Scorpii system. There seemed to be a color contrast between the two stars of Struve 1999 at 49x, though I first thought it paralleled that of Xi Scorpii (orangeish primary, bluish secondary), then thought it had switched to the other way around as I was looking at it. At 122x I couldn't say for sure that I saw *any* color contrast.
Nu Sco (Jabbah) (Multiple Star, in Scorpius)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Sat Jul 5 06:40:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 188
AC pair wide and easy at 49x. A - golden, C - dim bluish gray. PA estimated at 350 (Burnham's gives PA 336, separation 41.4", in 1955). CD pair just barely split at 122x, with an estimated PA of 80 (Burnham's gives PA of 051 in 1967, separation of 2.3"). D star was distinctly orangeish. Split was obvious at 244x.
Beta Sco (Graffais) (Multiple Star, in Scorpius)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Sat Jul 5 06:30:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 187
Easily split at 49x. I estimated the AC PA as 020; Burnham's gives it as a relatively unchanging 023, separation 13.7". The primary was bright white, the secondary grayish.
Alpha Sco (Antares) (Multiple Star, in Scorpius)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Sat Jul 5 06:15:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 186
Antares was a beautiful orange blaze. At first I thought I could detect the surrounding nebulosity, in that I was seeing an orangeish glow that extended for about 5' from the star, especially to the south and west, but then I checked Arcturus, and saw the same thing, so I suspect it was just glare from the bright star on the telescope's optics.
Delta Cyg (Multiple Star, in Cygnus)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Jul 2 06:30:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 177
Burnham's calls this a "fairly severe test" for a 3" or 4" telescope, but my 8-inch couldn't split it. Presumably he was talking about a refractor, not a reflector. Also, it could have been that the seeing wasn't sufficiently good.
Beta Cyg (Albireo) (Multiple Star, in Vulpecula)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Jul 2 06:15:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 176
After reading so much about Albireo being the most beautiful double in the sky, I was perhaps expecting too much. In any event, I found the initial view at 49x somewhat disappointing. A wide double, the color contrast between the orange primary and whitish secondary readily apparent, but not what I'd call spectacular. At 122x, though, the color contrast was more prominent, and at 244x it was very obvious, the brilliant gold of the primary contrasting dramatically with the ashy blue secondary. (Uh, what's up with the database? How can Beta Cyg be in Vulpecula? Put another bug on the list for fixing...)
Struve2264 (Multiple Star, in Hercules)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Jun 29 08:10:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 164
Pretty little double, the two pale white stars split at 49x, and obviously well separated at 244x. Components of equal brightness.
OStruve328 (u Her) (Multiple Star, in Hercules)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Jun 29 07:50:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 163
I wanted to do a quick magnitude check of this lyrid eclipsing binary, but it was right at the zenith, and after about 10 minutes of fiddling with my dobsonian mount I gave up, then forgot to come back to it later on in the evening.
Mu Her (Multiple Star, in Hercules)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Jun 29 07:20:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 162
Easy to split this wide pair at 49x; the secondary much dimmer and clearly reddish. Even at 244x, though, I couldn't split the secondary.
Delta Her (Sarin) (Multiple Star, in Hercules)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Jun 29 06:35:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 160
Easily split, though the companion was faint, at 49x. At 122x the view was better, with the dazzling white primary contrasting with the dim, small secondary. PA was estimated at about 270 (due west, more or less), which agreed nicely with the diagram in Burnham's showing the relative motions of the optical pair since 1865.
Alpha Her (Ras Algethi) (Multiple Star, in Hercules)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Jun 29 06:35:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 159
In honor of the new Disney movie (which Linda and I took Julia to on Friday night; GREAT film, btw), I decided to spend some time admiring the sights in Hercules. Working through the descriptions in Burnham's, I started with Alpha Her. It was split at 122x. The color contrast mentioned in the book was apparent, though it was not as obvious as I expected. After more-careful viewing, though, I began to appreciate the subtle beauty of the orange primary and bluish-green secondary.
Struve1692 (Cor Caroli) (Multiple Star, in Canes Venatici)
Observer: Rick Miller (e-mail: rcsales@rollcoater.com , web: http://www.rollcoater.com/rcsales/rmiller)
Instrument: 4.5-inch equatorial reflector Location: Indianapolis, USA
Light pollution: light Seeing: good
Time: Sat Apr 26 03:00:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 128
Viewed at both 36x and 72x. Seen easily in both. This is a nice optical double. My first DS with 7 week old hobby.
Struve1547 (Multiple Star, in Leo)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Mar 12 05:30:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 102
Neat color contrast; the yellow-white primary and a much fainter, brownish secondary. Easily split at 49x, and that power gave the most pleasing view; at 122x the secondary faded to a dull gray. I estimated the PA at 345 degrees. According to dObjects, PA is actually 326, separation 15.4 seconds, mags. 6.1 and 8.2. Per Burnham's, spectral classes are dF7, dK6. This star is actually 88 Leonis; I need to fiddle with the AAOL object database to allow using that designation.
Beta Leo (Denebola) (Multiple Star, in Leo)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Mar 12 05:00:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 99
A bright, blue-white star. Observed it at 49x as the first object in the "Galaxy Hop in Leo" in the April 97 Sky and Telescope. There was a bit of fuzziness around it, which I assumed was either dew on the mirror or the effect of high, thin clouds. Subsequent viewing confirmed the latter explanation; clouds came and went throughout the observing session.
Alpha Tau (Aldebaran) (Multiple Star in Taurus)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 50-mm binoculars Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Jan 6 05:50:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 12
Viewing the Hyades in 7x50s, and knowing that Aldebaran is a foreground star not actually part of the cluster, I felt I could see a distinct 3D effect, the bright golden-yellow star seeming to thrust out in front of the beautiful field of bluish-white background stars. I realize it's only an illusion, but it's a pretty (and accurate) one for all that.
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