21 replies to this topic

[jrazz]

I had an idea for something fun we could do as a forum. Sorta like Hoops but for astronomy and maybe without the verbal abuse (hey, we took BB seriously where I grew up, ok?)

 

The idea is to pick 3 objects (Double Stars, DSO, Messier, Planet, Asterism etc...) for others to observe. 

Ground rules:

1) 3 objects, no more, no less. 

2) Must be resolvable with 10x binoculars.

3) Must be visible at the time of the year when the post is made (like, not Orion in summer).

4) Must be visible from NA and Europe (I think most CN users are NA and EU) - yes I know this means you southern folk miss out but you also have cooler things in your sky anyway so...

5) Must be visible from Bortle 7 sky at the very least. (shooting myself in the foot here but the goal is to get people involved, not frustrated)

6) The 3 objects must be within 30° of each other. It's just annoying to move the tripod a lot.

7) The 3 objects must be higher than 30° above the horizon at 12am on the night the post is made. Again, this is so people who have obstructions can also participate.

 

What do you think? Interesting? Fun? Geeky? 

Yes, yes I am. 

 

 

Anyone can suggest targets but if you do you have to also report out on an observation you made from someone else within a week. NO CHEATING!

 

The goal is not necessarily to trip others up or to prove how good you are but rather to share fun and beautiful things we see and like in the night sky. No one knows everything and I'm willing to bet that with the accumulated knowledge in this group we can find some really cool things!

 

I'll start us off:

1) STF2470 and STF2474

19h 08m 45.20s +34° 45' 37.1" P.A. 267.00 sep 13.8 mag 7.03,8.44 Sp B5V dist. 12500 pc (40775 l.y.)

19h 09m 04.35s +34° 35' 59.9" P.A. 263.00 sep 16.0 mag 6.78,7.88 Sp G1V dist. 52.33 pc (170.7 l.y.)

The cool Double Double. I love this. It's so much nicer to look at than the more famous double double in Lyra. More of a challenge too!

 

2) The Ring Nebula: Messier 57

First time I saw it I was blown away. Definitely better with high magnification but surprisingly detailed with a 10x. 

 

3) Stephenson 1

A rather unassuming open cluster but it still rewards patience as the more you look at it the more stars you see. It's somewhat surprising that this bunch of stars are related but that's what's cool about this cluster. At the very least it's easy to find 

 

 

[Fiske]

Great topic, Jordan! 

 

BUT, a 13.8" double with a 1.5ish magnitude delta with a 10x binocular?  Wondering about that one!

 

(Astronomy trash talking.  I guess if I were really going for it, I might have said something about your mother?)

Edited by Fiske, 27 June 2022 - 06:20 PM.

[Fiske]

So here is my first Astro Trifecta -- all in Hercules. 

 

M92

A fine globular cluster, easily seen with hand held 10x50 binoculars from Bortle 7 skies. 

 

STF 2280 / 100 Herculis
18h07m +26*06'
5.81/5.84 14.3" pa 183*

 

A mount is required to resolve this double with a 10x binocular (excepting the Canon 10x42L IS), but it is surely one of the closest resolvable with a 10x instrument.

 

NGC 6210

A planetary nebula visible as a "star" (at 8.8 magnitude) with 10x binoculars. You might notice an unusual greenish tint.

Edited by Fiske, 27 June 2022 - 07:13 PM.

[jrazz]

Great topic, Jordan! 

 

BUT, a 13.8" double with a 1.5ish magnitude delta with a 10x binocular?  Wondering about that one!

 

(Astronomy trash talking.  I guess if I were really going for it, I might have said something about your mother?)

Yeah... I still like it! You can definitely see both doubles. Splitting them is not easy but it's such a cool target I had to include it.

 

 

And dude, my dude. I'm a girl that played BBall with guys. I did make them cry... Mostly because I beat them but also because I may have been the one dishing out the verbal abuse..... But let's stay on topic 

[jrazz]

So here is my first Astro Trifecta -- all in Hercules. 

 

M92

A fine globular cluster, easily seen with hand held 10x50 binoculars from Bortle 7 skies. 

 

STF 2280 / 100 Herculis
18h07m +26*06'
5.81/5.84 14.3" pa 183*

 

A mount is required to resolve this double with a 10x binocular (excepting the Canon 10x42L IS), but it is surely one of the closest resolvable with a 10x instrument.

 

NGC 6210

A planetary nebula visible as a "star" (at 8.8 magnitude) with 10x binoculars. You might notice an unusual greenish tint.

Challenge accepted! Here's my report.

 

Equipment:

Oberwerk BT-100XL-SD with 7mm (80x), 14mm (40x) and 24mm (23x) eyepieces - mounted

Meade 10x56 - handheld

 

Sky: Some clouds, fairly stable seeing but not very transparent. ~55°F and 20.30 mpsas.

 

M92:

I have to say, I love the GLP. I pointed the binos in the direction of M92. Verified with the GLP and it was just there in the view. This is even easier than GOTO. 

At 23x it looks like a fuzzy patch and at 40x it starts to show details but at 80x it's really showing individual stars. 

The 10x56 shows M92 as a small fuzzy blob. Pretty easy to find as it really stands out!

 

STF 2280 / 100 Herculis

This is a nice one, Fiske! Really pretty! Probably the best view was at 23x. I could not split it at 10x but that's probably because the 10x56 is hand held. At 23x it really shows up nicely. 2 even stars with great separation. I have no doubt that a mounted 10x will split these. Me like!

 

NGC 6210

So I viewed this at 10x, 23x, and 40x. The best view was at 40x where the blue-green color was very evident! The interesting part is that I came back to it later with the telescope at 120x and could not see the color. The BT-100XL definitely shows incredible details here. Thank you for pointing this out since I would have never even looked at it twice. At first glance it does look just like any other star.

[SMark]

This does sound like a lot of fun... But I might have to skip this week, and maybe next week too.

 

 

Attached Thumbnails

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[Fiske]

This does sound like a lot of fun... But I might have to skip this week, and maybe next week too.

 

 

[jrazz]

That sucks…
But I’m fairly certain all of these will still be there when the clouds part

[scroff]

Given the time of year, I would steer people to the scorpius - sagittarius region for the sheer awe of the milky way structure and numerous sights to behold. For the three starting objects:

 

1. Double star: 14 Sco also known as Jabbah

2. Open cluster:  M7

3. Emission nebula:  M8 - Lagoon Nebula

 

You might accidentally come across some fine globular clusters while you are looking around.

[jrazz]

Jabbah is a great target but is it resolvable with 10x binoculars?

[Fiske]

Also could be challenging for city dwellers given declination. Great objects, though. 

[Fiske]

Jabbah is a great target but is it resolvable with 10x binoculars?

The AC pair probably. This is another instance where you don't want to trust Sky Safari. 

 

H 5 6 / Nu Scorpii / Jabbah
16h12m -19*28'
4.35/6.60 41.3" pa 336*

Edited by Fiske, 28 June 2022 - 09:29 AM.

[jrazz]

I'll definitely try these!

The whole point was to suggest cool targets and I think these are! 

 

And scroff is right, perfect time of year to see these.

[Fiske]

Here is an observation of NGC 6210 in Hercules I found in my first observing journal, dated 8 July 2001 from midtown Kansas City comparing views between a Canon 18x50 IS and a Celestron 20x80 Deluxe.

 

 

I observed NGC 6210 in Hercules with both instruments. I could not see a disk, but the blue-green color was unmistakable. I could not see it with the 18x50s without stabilization, so IS definitely improves limiting magnitude performance. 

Despite the superior edge performance, color correction, and stabilization advantages of the Canon, the Celestron is a better value. It obviously shows more detail and dimmer objects, and the edge performance doesn't seem objectionable. Cost and weight also go against the Canon. 

 

This observation is preceded by several pages of notes comparing views between the Canon 18x50, the Celestron 20x80 Deluxe, a Celestron 9x63 Ultima, a Leica Trinovid 8x32, and a Nikon Lookout IV 10x50. 

Edited by Fiske, 28 June 2022 - 12:50 PM.

[scroff]

I'm seeing a well-resolved double for 14 Sco using Nikon AE 10x50 or Maven B4 10x56 instruments. With that said, Jabbah seems to be a complicated star system and not all members are resolved with binoculars. Thank you, Fiske, for sharing the link for 14 Sco - with stated separation of 41.3". This is similar to information on wiki - the [[AaAb]Ac]-B separation is 1.3" while the [[DaDb]C] separation is 2" and these two groups are separated by 41.1". I never realized the complexity of this multiple star system. At 10X, it is a treat to view. And now that I've learned that it is possibly a septuple there is an additional awe factor at the gravitational ballet at work here. Has anyone seen a high-resolution annotated image of Jabbah?

[Fiske]

I observed Jordan's alternative double double in Lyra, at Lewis-Young park in Louisburg, Kansas last night, Tuesday, June 28, 2022. The weather was excellent for late June, with temps in the mid 70s, a light breeze, reasonable humidity, and clear skies. I recorded sky quality measurements between 20.47 and 20.54 mpsas.

 

The alternative double double consists of the following two systems:

 

STF 2470
19h08m +34*46'
7.03/8.44 13.8" pa 267*

 

STF 2474
19h01m +34*36'
6.78/7.88 16" pa 263*

 

Easily resolved with 100XL-SD with Pentax 20mm XWs (28x). With the Maven 15x56, STF 2474 was resolved without much trouble but 2470 is a challenge, resolved about half the time. I was using the PM1 with my observer chair and Lyra was overhead, so the angle was somewhat extreme. I might have been able to do a little better on 2470 with the Maven if I had been using the UBM mount with a zero gravity chair. (Hint: an obvious candidate for a 70XL-ED binocular telescope.  )

 

I also observed M57 -- annularity apparent with the 100XL and 10mm XWs (56x) -- and Stephenson 1, which is an enjoyable cluster for binoculars of all sizes. Star fields throughout Lyra and bright, detailed, with many colorful stars. One could spend hours roaming this relatively small constellation.

 

Also observed Jabbah in Scorpius, one of Scroff's three suggestions.

 

H 5 6 / Nu Scorpii / Jabbah
16h12m -19*28'
4.35/6.60 41.3" pa 336*

 

It is gorgeous with the Maven 10x56 (mounted on the PM1). An outstanding binocular double for 10x instruments. I imagine the Nikon 8x30e II would be capable of resolving it, as well. I tried the AB pair with the 100XL and 5mm Pentax XWs (112x) but could not resolve them.

 

H 3 7AC / Beta1 / Graffias / Acrab

16h05m -19*48'

2.59/4.52 13.4" pa 20*

 

A prominent star in the Scorpius asterism, near Nu Scorpii, this is a gorgeous double for binocular telescopes. Well resolved with the 100XL and the 10mm XWs (56x) and would probably be resolvable with the 14s and maybe the 20s.

 

Also viewed the open cluster M7 and the Lagoon nebula with various binoculars from 7x up to 56x with the 100XL. Outstanding with all instruments, and nothing short of astonishing with the 100XL, which I rate as among my finest views ever of the Lagoon (NGC 6523) and nearby Trifid (NGC 6514) nebula / clusters. More detail can be seen in the nebulas with a larger telescope and filters, but plenty of detail is still visible with the 100XL and seeing them in the wider starfield context is magical. I have yet to try them with the 100XL and nebula filters, which would also be fun.

Edited by Fiske, 29 June 2022 - 10:19 AM.

[jrazz]

More cool things to look at for those of you with clear skies (I can't complain, we need the rain!)

 

Let's do Draconis this time!

 

 

STFA 35 (Nu2 Dra)

17h 32m 15.88s +55° 10' 22.1" P.A. 311.00 sep 62.1 mag 4.87,4.90 Sp A4m+A6V dist. 30.49 pc (99.46 l.y.)

 

Wide, and bright, this one is really cool to look at at the head of Draco. Easy to find and really satisfying to observe. I liked it!

 

 

UX Draconis

19h 21m 35.53 and +76° 33` 34.6 mag 5.9-7.1 dist. 571.43 pc (https://www.universe...5154/uxdraconis)

 

Not a double but one of the of the reddest carbon stars I have seen. It's a great target even if your binoculars aren't great at picking up color.

 

 

Kemble 2 (Mini-Cassiopeia)

Constellation: Draco
Right Ascension: R.A.: 18h 35m 00.0s
Declination: + 72° 23' 00"
Magnitude:  7 to 9
Size: 20’

https://www.astronom...essi-j183507223

 

As the name in parentheses says, it looks just like Cassiopeia! So cool to see! First I saw it I was looking for another star and had to double back to see what the heck it was! I then found it in a book and it is now one of my favorite asterism. 

 

Clear, smokeless summer sky to y'all!

[Dave Mitsky]

Three celestial objects in Ophiuchus: 53 Ophiuchi, IC 4665, and M10

https://theskylive.c...3-ophiuchi-star

https://www.messier..../ngc/i4665.html

 

https://www.messier-...com/messier-10/

[scroff]

Thank you, Dave Mitsky for the observing challenge. I observed these under a Bortle 3/4 (borderline) sky using three binoculars:

unmounted 8x42 Celestron Trailseeker ED

pan-head, tripod mounted 10x56 Maven B4

parallelogram mounted 16x70 Fujinon

 

I noted that IC 4665 is near to an asterism that I identify as the 'false Lyra' (60, 62, 67, 68, 70 Oph). This is a very rich, starry region with lots of Milky Way backbone. IC 4665 showed prominently through binoculars. I preferred the view at lower magnification and the view through mounted binoculars is so important to study detail. I also panned toward NGC 6633 and IC 4756 that show as dense star fields and produce superb binocular views. I was really surprised to observe IC and NGC objects in binoculars, through which the view is well framed and pleasingly bright. I had a misconception that IC and NGC were large telescope territory - not so!

 

Onto M10, an excellent globular cluster. While consulting the Sky Atlas, I noted that M12, a globular cluster as well, is nearby to M10; so I aimed to observe both targets. These fall within the 8x and 10x field of view and make a nice binocular pair. Both clusters were easily spotted as tight, misty fuzzballs at 8x and 10x. The view at 16x shows a slightly larger and brighter fuzzball, but not sufficient to resolve stars within the globular cluster. 

 

Moving on to 53 Oph, aim for Rasalhague and move southward a bit.  I could not resolve this with unmounted 8x binoculars. The double was resolved with 10x binoculars and seemed fainter than I expected with no obvious apparent color. The separation was improved at 16x as expected, but color was not obvious. Maybe close to white. 

 

The three object binocular challenge is a great idea....a small list to start some deliberate observations to catalyze a pleasing night of binocular astronomy.

[Fiske]

Here are observations of 53 Ophiuchi (aka STFA 34) and another nearby double (STF 2166) made from my driveway last Thursday, 14 July 2022.

 

STF 2166
17h27m +11*23'
7.15/8.58 27.2" pa 282*

Bright white primary with much fainter, sand-colored secondary. This is observable with the Maven 10x56 mounted or the Canon 10x42 but only just. It takes concentration to hold the secondary steadily, and it is close to the primary. Easier to resolve with the Maven 15x56 or the Oberwerk 15x70 Ultra.

 

STFA 34 / 53 Oph
17h34m +09*35'
5.80/7.58 41.3" pa 190*

Easier to resolve with 10x binoculars but oddly similar to STF 2166 in color – bright white primary with sand-colored secondary, though both brighter and wider. Along with STF 2166 these are fun doubles in close proximity to Rasalhague.

[Dave Mitsky]

the globular clusters M2, M15, and NGC 6934 or NGC 7009 (the Saturn Nebula), M2, and M15

 

https://www.messier-....com/messier-2/

 

https://www.messier....org/m/m015.html

 

https://www.constell...-constellation/

 

https://freestarcharts.com/ngc-7009

[Fiske]

Thursday evening (21 July 2022) while roaming in the vicinity of Aquila with the Oberwerk 70XL binocular telescope on the PM1 p-gram mount I stumbled on a fine double star, which proved to be STF 2737 / 1 Equulei. 

 

STF 2737 / 1 Equ / Epsilon Equulei
20h59m +04*18'
AB,C 5.30/7.05 10.6" pa 67*
Part of quadruple system. AB,C not a physical double.

 

I had the Pentax 20mm XWs in the 70XL (19.5x) and had to look twice to confirm it as a double. Close, but cleanly resolved. Colors more apparent at 32x with the 82XL. Once I had it in the 70XL, I used red dot positioning to pull it up with the 82XL, which worked surprisingly well. I had no idea what star it was and frankly Sky Safari wasn't much help. I located it visually about halfway between 65 / Theta Aquilae and 8 / Epsilon Pegasi (Enif). I noted Delta/Gamma Equulei without identifying them but then stumbled on M15.  The puzzle pieces gradually came together. It is fun to discover/rediscover a star field this way. At least it is to me. Somehow, connecting stars between constellations is a surprisingly significant part of binocular astronomy, something that cannot be done well with telescopes. At least, it is nowhere near as intuitive.

 

 

A fine double with the 82XL+ Pentax 14mm XWs (32x). A pale yellow primary with a tiny slate colored companion. Haas describes this as a showcase triple, but the AB pair separation is showing as 0.02" now in Stelledoppie. SO, the AB,C pair is a slightly better bet for binoculars.   Her color description is bright straw yellow and dim silvery blue. Tried with the Maven b.5 15x56 and found this double to be extremely challenging for that instrument. Could be seen as two stars in contact but not cleanly resolved.

 

M 15 GC / Pegasus
A bright and pleasing globular for binoculars and binocular telescopes due in part to the flanking stellar companions and other starfield members. Easily seen in direct vision despite light pollution. No stars resolved with the 82XL or 70XL. Might try with the 100XL-SD and 7mm eyepieces?

 

M 2 GC / Aquarius
I worked southwest from Kitalpha / Alpha Equulei to locate this globular cluster. Again, bright and easily seen with binoculars despite lower position in the sky and light pollution. No stars resolved with either 82XL or 70XL. I find it a little blah compared with M 15, partially because of the lackluster starfield, but also because M15 is more compact with a brighter core.

 

 

Having collected two of the candidates mentioned by Dave in his Pick Three list (overlooking the fact that his list includes more than 3  ), I returned the following evening with the 70XL for the globular cluster NGC 6934 in Delphinus. 

 

NGC 6934 GC Delphinus
70XL w/20 and 14mm Pentax XW eyepieces
Challenging with the 70XL, barely seen in averted with either eyepiece set. I saw a faint granular patch with two brighter nodes, which I take to be the core of the GC and the unrelated field star in front of the cluster -- BD +06 4572.

 

Thank you for reading my report. 

Edited by Fiske, 23 July 2022 - 02:46 PM.