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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Observing Report -- 05.12.03, 21:00-22:30 local time
Instruments -- SV AT1010, 13T6 Nagler, 9mm UO Ortho, 7mm Meade RG Ortho, Ultima barlow
Conditions -- Above-average seeing. Steady, passing clouds, thin high haze
With 2.8" of separation, Izar in Bootes is a fine double for small-aperture scopes, but the Herdsman contains other treasures. The Astronomy League's certificate list of 100 double stars offers no fewer than seven targets in this constellation. In ninety minutes, I bagged and sketched six of them by simple star-hopping. Some were wide, and some were tight, but all were easy to find.
Imagine Arcturus as Bootes' waist, and Delta Bootis is his right shoulder. At 53x (9mm UO), this wide double showed good contrast in brightness (5 magnitudes) and color (yellow primary, blue secondary). Hovering just about Delta, on level with the Herdsman's right ear, is Alkalurops, the Crook or Staff (Mu Bootis). A bit less impressive than Delta, it's blue-white primary and bluish secondary showed nicely at 53x. A tighter pair, Pi Bootis, forms Bootes' right ankle. Both elements were blue-white, with about one magnitude of difference, and at 5.8" they were comfortably split at 69x (7mm Meade).
The doubles Kappa and Iota Bootis, at the outer fringe of the constellation, are closer to the handle of the Big Dipper than anything else. Kappa has a white primary and a blue secondary, while Iota is yellow-white and blue. They're fairly wide, and they were amply split at 69x. As an added bonus, both stars can be split and framed in a single field with the 13mm Nagler Type 6 (37x, 2.1°).
And Izar (Epsilon Bootis)? On this exceptionally steady night I cracked it with about 130x (9mm UO + Ultima barlow). The Girdle, as the Arabs termed it, has a brilliant red-gold primary and a blue secondary which annoyingly sits on the diffraction ring of its larger companion. The color contrast helped, as did a listing of the position angle (339°).
I left Xi Bootis for another time, but anyone wandering in this part of the sky should look for this pleasing scattering of double stars.
Jeff Verona
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Tom Trusock
Reged: 02/26/02
Posts: 29219
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Very nice Jeff! I may try some of these tonight. It will be too bright for DSO's, but doubles might just be the ticket. Thanks!
Tom T.
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Time spent doing something you love is not wasted.
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 13825
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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Hi Jeff
Bootes is a great place for doubles. I had a beautiful night the other night (5-17) with no moon up till near midnight. I started in Bootes and very quickly noticed my G5 (125/1370) needed collimation touch-up. Afterwards, Izar eBoo 2.5-5.0/2.8" came in instantly. The 5.0 component was just outside the first diffraction ring of the primary. The colors were outstanding, yellow/blue at first but later I thought yellow/green.
In addition to several 6"+ doubles in the area, I also scoped Alkalurops, mu 51Boo. This nice double although closer than Izar is easier to see. The components are 4.5 - BC/108" where BC is = 7.0-7.6/2.3".
edz
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
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Blair
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/07/03
Posts: 1163
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Just for reference in my Stellarvue 80/9D the diffraction ring around the primary was only slightly noticed, to not noticed, and the secondary was seen clearly at 125X in a 6mm Kellner (Orion's Explorer II) when looking at Izar.
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rodrake
sage
Reged: 01/05/04
Posts: 330
Loc: Glendale, AZ
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Took some time out from Jupiter tonight to take in some doubles with the MN56. Skys were clear. Light pollution was about 7 on the Bortle scale. Seeing was Pickering 7.
I started with Cor Caroli. This one was an easy split at 30x using a 25mm Plossl.
Next I tried Epsilon Bootes for the first time:
60x (12.5mm UO Ortho) - Primary visible but not elongated
84x (9mm UO Ortho) - Primary appeared elongated
108x (7mm UO Ortho) - Primary at first appeared elongated. Continued viewing and I could make out a clean split with the secondary right on the first diffraction ring of the primary.
168x (12.5mm UO Ortho and 2.8x Klee) - Clean split. The primary was a beautiful red-orange with a blue-green secondary.
I'm new to doubles and this was definitely one of the more fun and challenging pairs I've looked at so far. I also split Epsilon Lyrae again tonight. Details are in the post for that pair.
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Rich
Intes Micro MN56/SkyView Pro
Late 60s Sears Discoverer 76mm/f16
Celestron Skymaster 15x70
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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I split Epsilon Bootes a few nights ago and I agree that it has nice colors. The primary's orange tint is striking. I barely split it at 100X (the highest power I can get with my current eyepieces).
As to the original post: wow! Six doubles in 90 minutes, the same doubles I have spent four hours searching for and have only found five! I now better realize my terrible inadequecy and star hopping. 
Edited by Ian Gilbert (05/21/04 07:45 AM)
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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I figured out what my problem was. I had printed off the charts reversed left to right! Once the clouds go away, I'll try again . . . hopefully with more success.
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