Telescope Reviews: The "Other" Double-Double in Lyra

Someone PM'd me and asked me to post about the other double-double in Lyra since I had responded to a post on another forum about this pair.

Lyra is well-positioned for viewing right now (look towards the East at around 40° elevation at around 10pm from most Northerly latitudes). Many observers know about the famous Double-Double in Lyra (Epsilon Lyrae) and while the secondaries of each double are not a binocular target (except in my Saturn III's at 150x!), it still makes a fine view at lower power with Vega and Zeta Lyrae (aka "the false double") with a 3° FOV or better. Zeta Lyrae at around 43" separation is a nice target in binoculars and shows well in my 11x56 Garrett's.

The other double-double may not be quite as well known, but it is actually a finer target in large binoculars. In this case, the two primaries (mag. 7) have a separation of about 10'30" and the secondaries (mag 8) are around 13" and 15" respectively - reasonable targets for larger binoculars. I can just split these handheld in my 18x50 Canons, but they are a particularly fine sight in my 30x77mm binoculars. The PA's on each pair are similar, with the slightly fainter secondaries positioned towards Sheliak.

If you have a larger pair of binoculars (certainly 15x70's would be big enough), this is a fine pair to scout for. Let us all know what you think about it!

A finder chart is attached here.

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Edited by CESDewar (06/21/08 10:45 PM)

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