Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Cloudy Nights - Official Forums of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu.... uh, User   You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar Equipment Discussions >> Binoculars Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 ronharper scholastic sledgehammer Reged: 02/14/06 Posts: 989 a couple of double stars       #2688347 - 10/09/08 12:56 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   There's a slew of double stars that challenge a 7x50, but are nice easy pretty sights with a 10x50. You just grab the bino that best expresses your mood, or if you don't suffer from over equipmentization, grab whatever you've got, and go for it. Here's a couple I've enjoyed lately. Theta Serpens, the bright star 7deg W of the Eagle's rump, is a nice 22" pair of snake eyes, about 4.5 mag each. If you are using a 7x50, you might think, like I did, that it would look sharper if only it was a bit dimmer. So, try 61 Oph, about 15 deg to the west. It's 6+ mag components are 20" apart, but I find it a bit on the dim side, and no easier. For something completely different, check out WZ Cas (ra=0h, 1.5m dec=+60 deg, 20 arcmin), a carbon-rich long period variable which varies only a half magnitude about its average magnitude of about 7.5. It is red sure enough, and so bright that it even looks quite red in a 7x50. There's an 8.7 mag companion 58" away, that I can just pick out with my 7x50. WZ is an optical double, a chance alignment, not a gravitational relationship. The companion is blue, but Purkinje effect or no, it looks a LOT dimmer than the primary to me. This list seems kind of paltry, but I actually spent a lot of time on these with my 7x50. Some nights, it doesn't take me a whole lot of objects to get in touch with the great whatever that I'm doing this to get in touch with, I just need something to hunker down and focus on. Ron Post Extras:       Denis sage Reged: 12/24/05 Posts: 219 Loc: Rennes, France Re: a couple of double stars [Re: ronharper]       #2688490 - 10/09/08 04:44 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Yes those three are in my best of. Here are the star charts to pick them. theta serpens, alya http://www.reto.fr/cartes/imagepages/image3.html 61 Oph http://www.reto.fr/cartes/imagepages/image5.html and WZ cas or struve 254 http://www.reto.fr/cartes/imagepages/image6.html -------------------- Canon 10x42 IS binoculars. Meade sc 4" on homemade fork equatorial mount. homemade 10" an 14" dobsonian Nikon photogear. Post Extras:       GlennLeDrew professor emeritus Reged: 06/18/08 Posts: 577 Loc: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Re: a couple of double stars [Re: Denis]       #2689850 - 10/09/08 07:27 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I think WZ Cas offers perhaps the strongest color contrast in the entire sky. If not, its competitor(s) can't be *too* much better. -------------------- Home-made 11X50 right angle bino, 8.1 deg. FOV Modified 26X100 bino, 3.5 deg. FOV Mediocre minds discuss people. Good minds discuss events. Great minds discuss ideas. Post Extras:       Fiske Carpal Tunnel Reged: 03/14/04 Posts: 2057 Loc: Missouri / United States Re: a couple of double stars [Re: GlennLeDrew]       #2691226 - 10/10/08 02:10 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Ron: Thanks for the recommendation of WZ Cassiopeiae. I'll check it out the next clear night! -------------------- Fiske Miles Nikon 8x42 LX / 12x50 SE Binos Mini Borg 60ED, TV-101, AT80Ach, XT-8, C11/CI-700, 22-Inch Dob Way too many Nagler eyepieces http://www.fiskemiles.blogspot.com/ www.fiskemiles.com Post Extras:       Pages: 1 Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 9 registered and 20 anonymous users are browsing this forum. 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