601 replies to this topic

[JoeFaz]

I stopped to peek at NGC 4494 which was surprisingly bright! I could easily see the core and the general shape of it. Wonderful binocular galaxy! (maybe we need a binocular galaxy thread )

I agree with Fiske, it's a great idea! Last night I used my newly made 3D printed and felt-flocked dew/light shields on my 20x80s and I felt like it gave me a contrast boost. It got me thinking about what (relatively) faint extended DSOs I might be able to track down with them. A bino galaxy thread might prove a very useful resource!

 

As to the thread topic, I finally got back around to observing STF2470 and STF2474 last night. I tried sometime last year with the same bino and failed to confidently split STF2470. I'm not sure what made the difference last night, maybe extra contrast from my light shields (?). In any case, this is another beautiful double double in Lyra where all four stars can be seen with larger binos. I saw 2470 as white/white and 2474 as white/orangeish. The two are very similar in appearance with the secondary in 2470 being a bit fainter, but the position angles and separations are nearly identical.

 

STF 2470 - Lyra
19h09m +34°46′
7.0/8.4 sep 14″ pa 267°

 

STF 2474 - Lyra
19h09m +34°36′
6.8/7.9 sep 16″ pa 262°

Edited by JoeFaz, 12 June 2024 - 08:21 AM.

[kenny moses]

You guys are stoking my interest in acquiring a Canon 15x50 IS (or an 18x50 IS) 

I have both and I can't make up my mind which of them I like best.  3x makes a little difference but sharper eyes than mine needed to make a qualified decision about the best of the two.

[JoeFaz]

Another clear night last night and I once again observed the moon for a bit and then a bunch of doubles. Enough so to finish the requirements for the Astro League's "advanced" binocular double star program! The best of the night was definitely the beautiful triple star STF 2549 ACD. I'm a sucker for a multiple system and for orange stars, and this has both. In my 20x80s, I saw it as two white stars flanking a faint orange star equidistantly and in a nearly straight line.

 

STF 2549 ACD - Draco
19h31m +63°19′
8.3/9.3/8.0 sep 28″/56" pa 284°/269°

 

Also worth mentioning is STF 2273 AB. A nice pair in its own right, but what I found most interesting was that it forms the tip of a distinct "question mark" asterism with 36 Draconis forming the "point." Not as bright as the question mark in Cetus of course, but it makes tracking down this double worthwhile if not for the added bonus of a cool asterism!

 

STF 2273 AB - Draco
17h59m +64°09′
7.3/7.6 sep 21″ pa 282°

Edited by JoeFaz, 13 June 2024 - 02:17 PM.

[Fiske]

Thanks for these doubles in Draco, Joe! 

 

STF 2273 is included in this observing report from June 2023, but I am not finding a record of STF 2549 observations. So, adding both to my To-Observe list. 

 

I viewed STF 2398 (described in this reply above) last night from my yard with the Kowa Highlander (now adorned with a Telrad finder thanks to the base from gwlee  ) at 21x. I could just resolve the double at that magnification, though 32x would be a better choice.  I also observed STF 2420 with the Canon 15x50 IS. It was readily seen but not spectacular, as it was with the 100XL. 

 

Edited by Fiske, 13 June 2024 - 01:47 PM.

[aznuge]

Another clear night last night and I once again observed the moon for a bit and then a bunch of doubles. Enough so to finish the requirements for the Astro League's "advanced" binocular double star program! The best of the night was definitely the beautiful triple star STF 2549 ACD. I'm a sucker for a multiple system and for orange stars, and this has both. In my 20x80s, I saw it as two white stars flanking a faint orange star equidistantly and in a nearly straight line.

 

STF 2549 ACD - Draco
19h31m +63°19′
8.3/9.3/8.0 sep 28″/56" pa 284°/269°

 

Also worth mentioning is STF 2273 AB. A nice pair in its own right, but what I found most interesting was that it forms the tip of a distinct "question mark" asterism with 36 Draconis forming the "point." Not as bright as the question mark in Cetus of course, but it makes tracking down this double worthwhile if not for the added bonus of a cool asterism!

 

STF 2273 AB - Draco
17h59m +64°09′
7.3/7.6 sep 21″ pa 282°

Congrats!  I checked my notes and I had logged STF 2549 back in 2021 with the following comment: Marvelous triplet with three stars virtually in a row toward the west from the primary.  A and D are white/yellow with C, the dimmest being a garnet jewel in the middle, and pointing a little more northward. D is about double the distance of C from the primary star. Star hopped on a line west from 70, 68 and 66 Dra to find STF 2549.

 

At the time I used a 32x82 BT to observe this fine multiple star system.
 

[JoeFaz]

STF 2398

18h42m +59*38'

9.11/9.96 sep 11.4" pa 180.8*

 

A pretty, delicate double in a lovely star field. The primary is deep yellow and the secondary has a ruddy tint. The primary is slightly brighter. Close but not tight at 28x.

I attempted this last night with 15x70s. A challenge both in terms of separation and magnitudes. I saw an elongated orange star from north to south (appropriate given the PA). Occasionally, presumably in moments of better seeing, I thought I could see a sliver of black splitting the stars, but I'm hesitant to call this a successful split. 20x should certainly do the trick next time I have the 20x80s out.

[Mike McShan]

Another clear night last night and I once again observed the moon for a bit and then a bunch of doubles. Enough so to finish the requirements for the Astro League's "advanced" binocular double star program! The best of the night was definitely the beautiful triple star STF 2549 ACD. I'm a sucker for a multiple system and for orange stars, and this has both. In my 20x80s, I saw it as two white stars flanking a faint orange star equidistantly and in a nearly straight line.

 

STF 2549 ACD - Draco
19h31m +63°19′
8.3/9.3/8.0 sep 28″/56" pa 284°/269°

 

Also worth mentioning is STF 2273 AB. A nice pair in its own right, but what I found most interesting was that it forms the tip of a distinct "question mark" asterism with 36 Draconis forming the "point." Not as bright as the question mark in Cetus of course, but it makes tracking down this double worthwhile if not for the added bonus of a cool asterism!

 

STF 2273 AB - Draco
17h59m +64°09′
7.3/7.6 sep 21″ pa 282°

I agree that STF 2549 is a really neat triple; in fact, I added it to my "favorites" list in SkySafari.  And like you, it was the advanced binoculars double star program that brought it to my attention.

[Fiske]

Here is a trio of doubles from last night (Sunday 23 June 2024) observed with the 82XL BT with Pentax 14XW eyepieces (32x) and the Tak FC-100DC with the Televue 24mm Panoptic (31x) and 13mm Nagler Type 6 (57x).

 

STF 2351

18h36m +41*17'

7.60/7.64 sep 5.0" PA 160.4*

 

North of the Double Double in Lyra, and easily located. Evenly matched white stars, resolved by a hair at 32x. A splendid double in a lovely field. And a pleasing reminder that regardless of how many times one has visited a given region of the sky, there is still more to see. At 32x this is a subtle double star, close enough at 32x to easily pass by, but it comes into view with more careful study. 

 

Jordan previously included this double star in an list for Lyra, so I believe she probably has observations of it with the 100XL, which would be a great choice for observing it.

 

STF 2021

16h13m +13*32'

7.43/7.48 sep 4.0" pa 0.4*

 

Named 49 Serpens, this double is actually in Hercules (near the border with Serpens) and easily located working from the bright trio of Beta, Kappa, and Gamma Serpens. Seen as evenly matched amber stars with the 100DC and as two stars in contact with the 82XL+14XWs, at the 32 resolution limit for me. Stelledoppie notes indicate that this is a high proper motion star that has drifted across the border from Serpens into Hercules. The excellent binocular double Marsic (STF 2010), which can be viewed with 20x binoculars, is just to the north.

 

STF 2007

16h06m +13*19m

6.89/7.98 sep 37.74" pa 322.4*

 

Just west of STF 2021, in a pleasing arc of three stars, I noticed this double while roaming the field with the 82XL. Warm white primary with a white secondary at a friendly distance. Primary brighter.

Edited by Fiske, 24 June 2024 - 07:26 AM.

[Bill Barlow]

Another clear night last night and I once again observed the moon for a bit and then a bunch of doubles. Enough so to finish the requirements for the Astro League's "advanced" binocular double star program! The best of the night was definitely the beautiful triple star STF 2549 ACD. I'm a sucker for a multiple system and for orange stars, and this has both. In my 20x80s, I saw it as two white stars flanking a faint orange star equidistantly and in a nearly straight line.

 

STF 2549 ACD - Draco
19h31m +63°19′
8.3/9.3/8.0 sep 28″/56" pa 284°/269°

 

Also worth mentioning is STF 2273 AB. A nice pair in its own right, but what I found most interesting was that it forms the tip of a distinct "question mark" asterism with 36 Draconis forming the "point." Not as bright as the question mark in Cetus of course, but it makes tracking down this double worthwhile if not for the added bonus of a cool asterism!

 

STF 2273 AB - Draco
17h59m +64°09′
7.3/7.6 sep 21″ pa 282°

Hi Joe,

 

I was interested in observing this star system so I did a little reading about it.  It is actually a quadruple star system with a close double AB separated by 2.1"

 

So a larger aperture scope will be needed to separate this pair.  I would like to try and find this group and take a look at it.  Thanks for posting your observations.

 

Bill

[jrazz]

Here is a trio of doubles from last night (Sunday 23 June 2024) observed with the 82XL BT with Pentax 14XW eyepieces (32x) and the Tak FC-100DC with the Televue 24mm Panoptic (31x) and 13mm Nagler Type 6 (57x).

 

STF 2351

18h36m +41*17'

7.60/7.64 sep 5.0" PA 160.4*

 

North of the Double Double in Lyra, and easily located. Evenly matched white stars, resolved by a hair at 32x. A splendid double in a lovely field. And a pleasing reminder that regardless of how many times one has visited a given region of the sky, there is still more to see. At 32x this is a subtle double star, close enough at 32x to easily pass by, but it comes into view with more careful study. 

 

Jordan previously included this double star in an list for Lyra, so I believe she probably has observations of it with the 100XL, which would be a great choice for observing it.

 

STF 2021

16h13m +13*32'

7.43/7.48 sep 4.0" pa 0.4*

 

Named 49 Serpens, this double is actually in Hercules (near the border with Serpens) and easily located working from the bright trio of Beta, Kappa, and Gamma Serpens. Seen as evenly matched amber stars with the 100DC and as two stars in contact with the 82XL+14XWs, at the 32 resolution limit for me. Stelledoppie notes indicate that this is a high proper motion star that has drifted across the border from Serpens into Hercules. The excellent binocular double Marsic (STF 2010), which can be viewed with 20x binoculars, is just to the north.

 

STF 2007

16h06m +13*19m

6.89/7.98 sep 37.74" pa 322.4*

 

Just west of STF 2021, in a pleasing arc of three stars, I noticed this double while roaming the field with the 82XL. Warm white primary with a white secondary at a friendly distance. Primary brighter.

Turns out I observed STF 2351 in 2022 with the APM 34x80 and the BT-100/14mm eyepieces. I thought it was "close"

I wonder how it would look at the EBT today  

[JoeFaz]

Hi Joe,

 

I was interested in observing this star system so I did a little reading about it.  It is actually a quadruple star system with a close double AB separated by 2.1"

 

So a larger aperture scope will be needed to separate this pair.  I would like to try and find this group and take a look at it.  Thanks for posting your observations.

 

Bill

Hi Bill, I just looked it up myself and you're right, it looks like the AB pair is designated BU 655 AB. The B component is 12th mag, so it'll be a real challenge at just 2.1". I think I'll give it a go too when to clouds have left, but I'm not sure if my 4" or 6" will be up to the task unless the seeing is perfect (and it never is here in the MD Appalachians...).

[Bill Barlow]

For me it will be a challenging star hop to find it with my alt-az mounts in a Bortle 8 zone.  But it looks like a very nice star system so worth a try.  Seeing a new object for the first time is exciting.

 

Bill

Edited by Bill Barlow, 26 June 2024 - 09:07 AM.

[JoeFaz]

Last night I observed WZ Cas, which I'd only observed with a telescope before and failed to detect the secondary a few nights ago with my 10x56s. With 20x80s, it was phenomenal. It just might be my new favorite binocular double. How often do you get to see a double with a carbon star and a blue companion!

 

STTA 254 AB - WZ Cas
00h01m +60°21′
7.4/8.3 sep 56" pa 89°

[Dale Smith]

Last night I observed WZ Cas, which I'd only observed with a telescope before and failed to detect the secondary a few nights ago with my 10x56s. With 20x80s, it was phenomenal. It just might be my new favorite binocular double. How often do you get to see a double with a carbon star and a blue companion!

 

STTA 254 AB - WZ Cas
00h01m +60°21′
7.4/8.3 sep 56" pa 89°

That’s fantastic, Joe! I’ll definitely give WZ Cas a go when my skies are cleared next—will be fun to look for it in my 20x80s and 18x70s.

[Dale Smith]

Last night we had a cloud break and among other things, I viewed not WZ Cass but Achird and its binary Eta Cassopeia in mounted 20x80. A lovely pair, with the primary appearing yellow to my eye and the secondary orange. I also viewed Mizar and was barely able to detect the secondary because Mizar A was so bright it was spikey to my astigmatic eyes.

[Fiske]

Here is a Team 10x post I made about WZ Cassiopeiae a few years back. 

 

The finder chart link in the original post is broken, so here it is again:

 

[Fiske]

Here is a pleasing binocular double star I came across in Cassiopeia earlier this week.

 

STT 33

01h37m +58°38'

7.23/8.96 sep 26.9" pa 77.0°

Spectral Type: B8/K7

 

 

Bright white primary with a yellow-orange secondary at a cozy distance. Primary brighter. Centered in a wide circlet of five stars, one of which is Chi Cassiopeiae. A lovely double in a fine field. So far I haven't found previous observations of the double, which is amusing considering its proximity to the open cluster NGC 457, also called the Owl Cluster, which I frequently view. No matter how much time is spent viewing a star field, there is always something more to see. 

 

[gwd]

I looked through this topic and didn’t see you binocular double fans mention S 537 and S 538 in Canis Major.  You mention the Winter Albireo but not this winter double double.  I was just looking at it this morning with 20X60 IS binoculars.  My eyes and skies made it difficult to see the two doubles.   A higher magnification would be better for me.  Omicron 1  with Collinder 121 is nearby so it is easy to find.    

[JoeFaz]

I looked through this topic and didn’t see you binocular double fans mention S 537 and S 538 in Canis Major.  You mention the Winter Albireo but not this winter double double.

Looks interesting and I don't believe I've observed them. They're on my list now!

[Fiske]

I looked through this topic and didn’t see you binocular double fans mention S 537 and S 538 in Canis Major.  You mention the Winter Albireo but not this winter double double.  I was just looking at it this morning with 20X60 IS binoculars.  My eyes and skies made it difficult to see the two doubles.   A higher magnification would be better for me.  Omicron 1  with Collinder 121 is nearby so it is easy to find.    

Thank you for calling out this fine binocular double double, George! 

 

Adding them to my observing list, too. 

[JoeFaz]

Last night while starhopping to NGC 2403, I came across this nice binocular double I hadn't observed before:

 

SHJ 86 AB - Camelopardalis
mags 6.2/7.5

sep 52″

pa 80°

White and orange

 

I'm surprised I've never noticed this one before on the way to NGC 2403. I really like doubles with the white and orange combo.

[Fiske]

A question recently posed to me in a private message was how many doubles observable with binoculars are physical double stars as opposed to optical doubles. The suggestion was that apparent doubles at wider distances are less likely to be physical double stars, which is reasonable.

 

BUT, the idea of having a catalog of physical double stars for binocular observation seems like fun to me, and it was the work of a minute to create such a catalog via stelladoppie. Selecting for stars north of -30 degrees Declination, with primary/secondary magnitudes greater than 9, and separations of more than 7 seconds (so 20x ish range), Stelledoppie reports 1257 pairs. 

 

Sky Safari skylist attached. 

 

 physical_bino_doubles.skylist   184.44KB   21 downloads

[Dale Smith]

A question recently posed to me in a private message was how many doubles observable with binoculars are physical double stars as opposed to optical doubles. The suggestion was that apparent doubles at wider distances are less likely to be physical double stars, which is reasonable.

 

BUT, the idea of having a catalog of physical double stars for binocular observation seems like fun to me, and it was the work of a minute to create such a catalog via stelladoppie. Selecting for stars north of -30 degrees Declination, with primary/secondary magnitudes greater than 9, and separations of more than 7 seconds (so 20x ish range), Stelledoppie reports 1257 pairs. 

 

Sky Safari skylist attached. 

 

physical_bino_doubles.skylist

  

Thank you, Fiske for this handy resource! I’ve wondered the same thing   Much appreciated.

[Fiske]

Unfortunately, it looks like there is a problem with the StelleDoppie skylist export -- it only exported about 580 objects, not the full 1257 pairs. I did a csv export and confirmed the 1257 pair count, then manually inspected the skylist file, which includes less than half the objects.

 

A work-around would be to create a PowerShell script to convert the csv data to skylist format.

 

I might make that happen in the next few days. We will see. It would be really fun to have that entire list in Sky Safari.

 

Yeah. Not so much. There are quirks in the csv data. Sigh. 

 

So, one thing you could do is open the stelledoppie search link created for this list, then click the"Search Again" option at the left, that opens the query form. The query parameters include a constellation filter. So a given constellation could be chosen, and then from that list doubles could be selected to observe. Screenshots could be captured and included in whatever document -- if you don't have access to the internet from your observing location. 

 

Not usually a problem for Homebody Binocular Astronomers. 

 

A little off topic, but at a guess I would speculate that the StelleDoppie Sky Safari export feature no longer maps to the full set of Sky Safari object IDs. 

Edited by Fiske, 31 March 2025 - 06:00 PM.

[Fiske]

So, for example, here is a Camelopardalis list with 27 doubles.