doug76
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/05/07
Posts: 1897
Loc: 30.8N 90.0W
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I have never seen this live, or in any picture that wasn't way over-exposed. I would dearly love to see a picture of this as 2 stars, and not over-exposed.
Doug
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Trucker, Astronomer, Fisherman
Meade 12" Lightbridge w/Dob Driver II
Celestron C6S OTA
Celestron C6R OTA
Celestron Omni XLT150 OTA
Astro-Tech AT80EDT (coming soon)
Celestron CG5-ASGT mount
Celestron Omni XLT CG-4 mount
Celestron Nexstar SE mount (6SE/8SE type)
Celestron Nexstar SE mount (4SE/5SE type)
Meade 5K SWA 34mm
Televue Panoptic 24mm
Pentax XW 10mm, 7mm
Televue Plossl 32mm
BO/TMB Planetary 9mm, 5mm, 4mm, 3.2mm, 2.5mm
Astro-Tech diagonals
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stevecoe
"The Astronomical Tourist"
Reged: 04/24/04
Posts: 2097
Loc: Arizona, USA
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Doug;
If you ever get a chance to travel south, put Alpha Centauri on your list of things to see. There is no other double star like it. A first and second magnitude star seperated by only 9 arcseconds. It is amazing.
Enjoy;
Steve Coe
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150mm 6" f/8 Celestron Refractor on Sirius Mount
80mmED 3" f/7.5 Orion Refractor
Author "Deep Sky Observing" Springer-Verlag
Author "Nebulae and How to Observe Them" Springer
New Canon Xt astrocamera with Hutech modification
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KWB
Postmaster
Reged: 09/30/06
Posts: 7134
Loc: Westminster,Co Elev.1646Meters
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I've never seen it either and would love to. From what latitude can it be seen sufficient enough to be clear of the gunky atmosphere off the horizon and still be clearly resolved,in the northern hemisphere? Anybody tried this while heading south into Mexico from the U.S.? I've never seen the star Canopus either,but believe that can be had low on the horizon around Christmas time from Southern Arizona and New Mexico. Is this so?
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Kenny
"Everything which the enemy least expects will succeed the best."
Frederick the Great
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stevecoe
"The Astronomical Tourist"
Reged: 04/24/04
Posts: 2097
Loc: Arizona, USA
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Kenny;
Here is a shot that includes us and the scopes with Canopus and the stars around it. It is from a site about 30 miles from Gila Bend, Arizona. Canopus is generally "underneath" Canis Major from 33 deg north latitude.
Enjoy;
Steve Coe
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150mm 6" f/8 Celestron Refractor on Sirius Mount
80mmED 3" f/7.5 Orion Refractor
Author "Deep Sky Observing" Springer-Verlag
Author "Nebulae and How to Observe Them" Springer
New Canon Xt astrocamera with Hutech modification
Edited by stevecoe (05/17/08 04:54 PM)
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KWB
Postmaster
Reged: 09/30/06
Posts: 7134
Loc: Westminster,Co Elev.1646Meters
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Awesome image,Steve. Fantastic skies in that area. It is pretty low on the horizon,but now I have finally "seen" it for the first time. Thank you!
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Kenny
"Everything which the enemy least expects will succeed the best."
Frederick the Great
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arellanon
member
Reged: 12/12/06
Posts: 16
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Quote:
I've never seen it either and would love to. From what latitude can it be seen sufficient enough to be clear of the gunky atmosphere off the horizon and still be clearly resolved,in the northern hemisphere? Anybody tried this while heading south into Mexico from the U.S.? I've never seen the star Canopus either,but believe that can be had low on the horizon around Christmas time from Southern Arizona and New Mexico. Is this so?
I've never seen Alpha Centauri but have seen Canopus from Joshua Tree National Park. It glowed really beautiful low in the horizon in March at dusk; reminds me of a somewhat brighter Capella. 
The southern sky is quite a treat; too bad the US is too far north to see much of it. 
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Bill Weir
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 06/01/04
Posts: 794
Loc: Metchosin (Victoria), Canada
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From a very dark beach in southern Costa Rica, using my little ED 80, it was like two eyes looking back at me.
Bill
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6'' Orion SkyQuest
12.5'' f/5 Custom Truss Dob
William Optics 80mm ZenithStar II ED Doublet
f/5 25" newtonian on a giant GEM, any time I want
Observing sessions grand total for 2007, 171.
So far in 2008, 103
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Dave Mitsky
Postmaster
Reged: 04/08/02
Posts: 5718
Loc: Pennsylvania, USA
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Quote:
I've never seen it either and would love to. From what latitude can it be seen sufficient enough to be clear of the gunky atmosphere off the horizon and still be clearly resolved,in the northern hemisphere? Anybody tried this while heading south into Mexico from the U.S.? I've never seen the star Canopus either,but believe that can be had low on the horizon around Christmas time from Southern Arizona and New Mexico. Is this so?
I beheld Alpha Centauri A and B for the first time at the 1995 Winter Star Party in the Florida Keys. A number of years later I tracked down Proxima Centauri while observing in Bolivia.
Dave Mitsky
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Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
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half meter
Postmaster
Reged: 05/05/04
Posts: 12493
Loc: Great Lakes
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Quote:
From what latitude can [Alpha Centauri] be seen sufficient enough to be clear of the gunky atmosphere off the horizon and still be clearly resolved,in the northern hemisphere? Anybody tried this while heading south into Mexico from the U.S.?
I've seen Alpha Centauri from Querétaro, Mexico in the Winter (20.7° N latitude, 100.4° W longitude).
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Gary
Collins I3 (Thin Film) Image Intensifying Eyepiece
Coronado Maxscope DS 90 <0.5A w/BF30
152 mm f/8 TMB/A&M Carbon Fiber APO; f/5 with 4" Borg ED Field Flattener/Reducer
20" Obsession/OMI Mirror/Servocat/Argo Navis
 First Light for the 30" Obsession at BEOTS!
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stevecoe
"The Astronomical Tourist"
Reged: 04/24/04
Posts: 2097
Loc: Arizona, USA
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Alpha Centauri's Declination is -60d 50m. So, let's round that to -61 for simplicity and that means that at a northern latitude of +29 degrees, Alpha Cen would be right on the horizon. Its that "must add up to 90 degrees" thing. When I am at one of my best Arizona sites (+34), it is only down 5 degrees.
Clear skies;
Steve Coe
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150mm 6" f/8 Celestron Refractor on Sirius Mount
80mmED 3" f/7.5 Orion Refractor
Author "Deep Sky Observing" Springer-Verlag
Author "Nebulae and How to Observe Them" Springer
New Canon Xt astrocamera with Hutech modification
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exile
member
Reged: 01/15/08
Posts: 48
Loc: Guangzhou, China
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Quote:
Doug;
If you ever get a chance to travel south, put Alpha Centauri on your list of things to see. There is no other double star like it. A first and second magnitude star seperated by only 9 arcseconds. It is amazing.
Enjoy;
Steve Coe
... and try this one - as it is the third brightest star, both components can be easily seen in a small scope in a daytime sky. Just use setting circles to find the exact location.
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102mm Bosma f7 refractor
90mm Bosma f13.3 Maksutov Cassegrain
90mm Scopos f6.7 Apo Triplet
12x60mm Saxon binoculars
Tak FS78 (in SUSAN)
12.5" Dob (in SUSAN)
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KWB
Postmaster
Reged: 09/30/06
Posts: 7134
Loc: Westminster,Co Elev.1646Meters
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Hello Dave
Is it safe to assume that depending where in the Keys you observered from,as they stretch out a degree and a half or so,your view was satisfactory enough for it to be clear of the horizon and clearly resolved?
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Kenny
"Everything which the enemy least expects will succeed the best."
Frederick the Great
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doug76
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/05/07
Posts: 1897
Loc: 30.8N 90.0W
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I finally found a good picture of it, showing the 2 main stars widely separated, and you can even tell the color difference. I made it my new desktop background image.
Doug
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Trucker, Astronomer, Fisherman
Meade 12" Lightbridge w/Dob Driver II
Celestron C6S OTA
Celestron C6R OTA
Celestron Omni XLT150 OTA
Astro-Tech AT80EDT (coming soon)
Celestron CG5-ASGT mount
Celestron Omni XLT CG-4 mount
Celestron Nexstar SE mount (6SE/8SE type)
Celestron Nexstar SE mount (4SE/5SE type)
Meade 5K SWA 34mm
Televue Panoptic 24mm
Pentax XW 10mm, 7mm
Televue Plossl 32mm
BO/TMB Planetary 9mm, 5mm, 4mm, 3.2mm, 2.5mm
Astro-Tech diagonals
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doug76
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/05/07
Posts: 1897
Loc: 30.8N 90.0W
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Here is the picture I found.
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Trucker, Astronomer, Fisherman
Meade 12" Lightbridge w/Dob Driver II
Celestron C6S OTA
Celestron C6R OTA
Celestron Omni XLT150 OTA
Astro-Tech AT80EDT (coming soon)
Celestron CG5-ASGT mount
Celestron Omni XLT CG-4 mount
Celestron Nexstar SE mount (6SE/8SE type)
Celestron Nexstar SE mount (4SE/5SE type)
Meade 5K SWA 34mm
Televue Panoptic 24mm
Pentax XW 10mm, 7mm
Televue Plossl 32mm
BO/TMB Planetary 9mm, 5mm, 4mm, 3.2mm, 2.5mm
Astro-Tech diagonals
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Rogerio
super member
Reged: 09/01/07
Posts: 170
Loc: Salvador; BR
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Hi everybody!
It's my first post In the Double star forum... I'm not a good english writer... but double stars are the objects that I most like!!! Alfa Centauri Is my ever day double, that I like to see to warm up my eyes 
Here's a link to the Brazil's best astrophotographer, I use his website as a planetary atlas
[image]http://images.cyberplocos.multiply.com/image/43/photos/14/600x600/248/alphacen.jpg?[/image]
The link: http://cyberplocos.multiply.com/photos/album/14/Estrelas_duplas
clear skies
Rogerio
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My Sketch and Photo Gallery
http://rogerioeirado.multiply.com/
Edited by Rogerio (06/04/08 04:19 PM)
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Rogerio
super member
Reged: 09/01/07
Posts: 170
Loc: Salvador; BR
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Sorry, the image didn't load
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My Sketch and Photo Gallery
http://rogerioeirado.multiply.com/
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Dave Mitsky
Postmaster
Reged: 04/08/02
Posts: 5718
Loc: Pennsylvania, USA
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Quote:
Hello Dave
Is it safe to assume that depending where in the Keys you observered from,as they stretch out a degree and a half or so,your view was satisfactory enough for it to be clear of the horizon and clearly resolved?
Alpha Centauri is low in the sky but is readily observable at 25 degrees latitude north, the latitude of West Summerland Key.
Dave Mitsky
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Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
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KWB
Postmaster
Reged: 09/30/06
Posts: 7134
Loc: Westminster,Co Elev.1646Meters
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That is what I've been waiting to hear. I hope that also means readily resolvable.
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Kenny
"Everything which the enemy least expects will succeed the best."
Frederick the Great
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