2291 replies to this topic

[ETXer]

Hello all, a quick post, my first since February, I believe when Mars was in opposition. Since then I've had a hip replaced, my mother-in-law's passing, and my step-daughter's college graduation; it's been a roller coaster of a time!

 

So as I'm typing this, I have my Nippon Kogaku Mikron 7x50 binoculars and a little lunar observation underway. It's a day past First Quarter and starting from the south, the terminator bisects Clavius, however, other than the brightly-lit eastern rim, the depths are completely in shadow.

 

Moving northward, the next prominent feature is Copernicus; another fascinating view, this time, the crater, being just west of the terminator has its opposite western rim brightly illuminated reaching well into the lunar night, with again, the crater floor deeply shadowed.

 

Then further north, the Montes Alpes range stands out, pointing the way to Plato, its full rim and floor plainly visible.

 

In all, an enjoyable brief lunar outing (finally), the trusty vintage binoculars making it possible!

Edited by ETXer, 04 June 2025 - 08:56 PM.

[DC869]

Hello all, a quick post, my first since February, I believe when Mars was in opposition. Since then I've had a hip replaced, my mother-in-law's passing, and my step-daughter's college graduation; it's been a roller coaster of a time!

So as I'm typing this, I have my Nippon Kogaku Mikron 7x50 binoculars and a little lunar observation underway. It's a day past First Quarter and starting from the south, the terminator bisects Clavius, however, other than the brightly-lit eastern rim, the depths are completely in shadow.

Moving northward, the next prominent feature is Copernicus; another fascinating view, this time, the crater, being just west of the terminator has its opposite western rim brightly illuminated reaching well into the lunar night, with again, the crater floor deeply shadowed.

Then further north, the Montes Alpes range stands out, pointing the way to Plato, its full rim and floor plainly visible.

Great Lunar descriptions. You captured them so well with words that I was skimming the terminator right along with you. Great to hear from you. Speedy healing for your recent hip surgery., and we send our condolences to you and yours on the loss of your MIL.

~De

[dan_hm]

Observed the moon and Albireo last night - about all that was possible through the smoke layer. It was cool watching the dark side of the moon eclipse HD 106976 and HD 106975 early in the night.

Rain and clouds until later next week…

[ETXer]

Great Lunar descriptions. You captured them so well with words that I was skimming the terminator right along with you. Great to hear from you. Speedy healing for your recent hip surgery., and we send our condolences to you and yours on the loss of your MIL.

~De

Thank you so much for the kind words and thoughts! And I'm finally able to get around without a cane. The next few weeks promise to stay fairly busy, but I'll start getting more observing opportunities little by little.

 

Cheers, Allan

[desertstars]

7 June 2025 9:00pm to 10:30pm MST

A clear, calm, very warm night: 86°F (30°C)

 

 

The two AL projects I can work easily from home involve the Moon and double stars. I was all set to go out and observe (and possibly sketch) lunar features for day 12 of the current lunation, when I remembered the season. The Moon is cruising low in the south, right now, and so evening observing has me aiming the Three-legged Newt across the roof. And that roof had been baking all day in the late spring sun. I know what sort of heat shimmer that creates, and the predicted seeing conditions were already not good, so I switch gears and drew up a list of AL double stars suitable for the 10x50 binocular. All of them 100 or more arc seconds apart.

 

This time of year, the end of astronomical twilight does not come early, so I waited until 9pm to get started. Looked up at the sky and realized I’d left a major consideration out of the plan. The Moon might have been too low over the roof for effective observing, but it was still a bright, waxing gibbous, lighting up the sky. It would an understatement to say this reduced the naked eye limiting magnitude, and that presented a problem. I was about to go bino star hopping in a sky bright enough to make the Keystone asterism in Hercules difficult to see.

 

Well, I was out there, all set up and ready to go. So I started working through the list of 13 targets I’d created. I managed to make good observations of three. Now, some of them were misjudgments on my part; these were lost in the tangle of mesquite branches that dominate the yard. Bad timing. But the rest were either lost in the sky glow, or proved difficult to locate since the same conditions were obscuring the stars that might have guided me. One except, δ Leonis, was easily found, but its 10th magnitude companion was impossible to see.

 

So, about the three that worked out.

 

The first success was μ (mu) 1,2 Bootis (STFA 28AB: sep. 109″, mags. 4.3 and 7.1). It was entirely invisible to the naked eye, but I could just see δ and β Bootis, and that told me where to take aim. The A component was the palest yellow, well apart from a faint companion that was a soft gray with just the merest hint of blue. (Ironically, δ Boo was on the list, but although easily found, the mag. 7.8 companion eluded me.)

 

After several futile attempts, I turned my attention to ν1,2 (nu1,2) Coronae Borealis (STFA 29AB: sep. 355″, mags. 5.4 and 5.6). Nice and widely separated, and no challenge at all for the 10x50. The difference in magnitude wasn’t noticeable to my eyes, but the soft golden hue the two stars shared was easily visible. They were a fine sight, and well worth the trouble to track down.

 

More attempts and then I decided to try ν1,2 (nu1,2) Draconis (STFA 35: sep. 62.1″, mags. 4.9 and 4.9). Truly a pair of twins, with matching magnitudes and diamond white hue. They were a fairly tight pair for the 10x50, especially on a night of rather poor seeing condition, but they were clearly separated. I’ve enjoyed views of this pair several times, now, with different instruments. It’s never disappointed.

 

I still have the remaining list of ten doubles, and will try them again later in the lunation. Assuming our summer monsoon hasn’t started by then.

[DC869]

@desertstars... I keep reading how the moon doesn't effect double star viewing, but I agree it's difficult to star hop if you can't see the signpost stars. 

[DC869]

6-6-25
2200 - 2400 CDT
71°F / RH 80%
82% Wax Gib MOON
S: F-G   T:3 (due to moonlight)

8" dob; 11mm, 5.5mm 2x barlow
Clouds on W horizon / clear above at start.

 

With the moon washing things out a bit, I decided to spend time hunting down doubles. Lyra was nicely positioned, so I simply worked through the list of doubles in Stellarium for a few hours before clouds took over.

 

The Double Double - ATPF 5.5mm with 2x barlow @436x 

 

(!!) My first time to SPLIT the double double. I'm 64, have been viewing for 16 years, and never split the "DD" before. I attempted in the past with a 70mm LT refractor w/o success, and just ignored it thereafter. But tonight... BAM! Now that was seriously cool!

 

TheHubs even came out and viewed it... or, I should say, he snuck up on me in the dark (!!)  and scared the hooties outta me! Nothing like looking up from being buried light years away in the EP,  to see a gray-clad,  shadowy figure creeping silently toward the front of your scope. 

 

Eps1 Lyr & Eps2 Lyr are separated by 208" at a pa of 172°. Each pair splits to the following:

Eps1 Lyr AB - at 4th & 6th mag; both appeared white.
sep = 2.8"
pa = 5°

Eps2 Lyr CD -- this pair are both 5th mag (some resources 5th & 6th mag?), another tight sep.
sep 2.2"
pa = 79°

Both stars appeared white.

 

I tried the split the DD with an 11mm @ 109x, but could only split Epsilon2 Lyr CD. Epsilon1 Lyr AB remained a bloated star.

 

Zeta Lyrae - in 11mm @ 109x

- Zeta1 Lyr is a 4th mag spectroscopic binary in itself, and appeared slightly bluish.

- Zeta2 Lyr is a 5th mag, also a spectroscopic binary in itself, appeared white.
sep = 43"
pa = 150°

 

Delta Lyrae - in 11mm @ 109x; nice colors blue & golden (to me). 
sep = wide, optical double
pa= 295°

- Delta1 Lyr  a 5th mag bluish color, listed as a spectroscopic binary.
- Delta2 Lyr  a 4th mag star appeared a rich and lovely golden color.  

FUN NOTE: Delta2 Lyr is the top point of what creates a mini Hyades asterism in a reflector view. 

Beta Lyrae A B in  5.5mm EP @ 218x
sep = 47.5"
pa = 148° to 310° ? (discrepancy in data sources). My est for pa was approx. 145° but I'm still trying to figure this pa thing out. 

 

The primary A (Sheliak) - at 3.5 mag, and the secondary B at 7th mag both appeared white.

 

Interesting notes from Stellarium: "Beta Lyr A is actually a multiple star system consisting of 6 components, including A, B, C, D, E, and F. Furthermore, Beta1 Lyr A (Sheliak) is itself a triple system with two other spectroscopic companions."

 

Eta Lyra - attempted; failed to locate

 

And since I was in the neighborhood...

Ring Nebula,  M57 (NGC 6820)
planetary Nebula in Lyra -- 11mm @ 109x displayed a crisp oval with a slightly darker shading on the perimeter. I lost it when I added the barlow, and a quick look at the skies told me time was ending. 

 

I stepped over to the mounted 10x50s to see what I could see from that perspective, but it was degrading fast. I thoroughly enjoyed my first dedicated double star observing session, and another big first for my memory banks with the Double-double split.

 

~De

[desertstars]

@desertstars... I keep reading how the moon doesn't effect double star viewing, but I agree it's difficult to star hop if you can't see the signpost stars. 

 

This was a new thing for me. With the Three-legged Newt (200mm Newtonian reflector) I would have expected to see faint companions stars, moonlight or not. Didn't work that way with the 10x50 glass.

[DyDyMT]

Snapshot Moon Log:

 

It has been a Blue moon,,,,,,,,since I saw the moon!  Trees, clouds, , heaven forbid...sleep?

 

Fortunately, I wandered out this morning to find it was perfectly placed in the view of the 8" Dob I'm now keeping on my front porch. So I grabbed my Pentax zoom (perfect for moon stuffs) and the first thing that caught my eye was this round black hole at the end of a ridge with a perfectly centered white highlight.  At 5something in the a.m. the sun was not up but plenty of light creating some pretty harsh edges.

 

What it reminded me of (fondly in a frustrating way) was the screws that some mfgs. have used in their products under the guise of "safety screws".  Oddly shaped things, not hex, or phillips, or flathead.  Safety Screws? - pshaw! I call Bull-weiners on that, it is just to force you to take it to a (vacuum/fan) repair shop, buy a new one, or spend the $'s on a tool you use once.  Fortunately for me, Hubboid worked on elevators, so he's got the most obscure tools imaginable.

 

Apologies, I digressed.  Point was, I always like to have one object that I track down and have some fun with and this one was Piccolomini (now how cute is that?  A Mini-Me Pickle?), and the highlighted ridge was the Altai Scarp.  (Center top and a tic to the left)

 

I wanted a capture, with time tickin' away, the quickest way possible was with my SvBony SC311 in the Dob.  Not the ideal situation because there is no tracking, but I quickly clicked (say that 3x fast), and came up with at least an image to describe the Piccolomini Experience.  A very fun 5 or 10 minutes with La Luna. 

 

Happy Father's Day to those that are

 

Dyan

 

click for a larger Pickle-o-mini

Edited by DyDyMT, 15 June 2025 - 10:14 AM.

[chrysalis]

Snapshot Moon Log:

 

It has been a Blue moon,,,,,,,,since I saw the moon!  Trees, clouds, , heaven forbid...sleep?

 

Fortunately, I wandered out this morning to find it was perfectly placed in the view of the 8" Dob I'm now keeping on my front porch. So I grabbed my Pentax zoom (perfect for moon stuffs) and the first thing that caught my eye was this round black hole at the end of a ridge with a perfectly centered white highlight.  At 5something in the a.m. the sun was not up but plenty of light creating some pretty harsh edges.

 

What it reminded me of (fondly in a frustrating way) was the screws that some mfgs. have used in their products under the guise of "safety screws".  Oddly shaped things, not hex, or phillips, or flathead.  Safety Screws? - pshaw! I call Bull-weiners on that, it is just to force you to take it to a (vacuum/fan) repair shop, buy a new one, or spend the $'s on a tool you use once.  Fortunately for me, Hubboid worked on elevators, so he's got the most obscure tools imaginable.

 

Apologies, I digressed.  Point was, I always like to have one object that I track down and have some fun with and this one was Piccolomini (now how cute is that?  A Mini-Me Pickle?), and the highlighted ridge was the Altai Scarp.  (Center top and a tic to the left)

 

I wanted a capture, with time tickin' away, the quickest way possible was with my SvBony SC311 in the Dob.  Not the ideal situation because there is no tracking, but I quickly clicked (say that 3x fast), and came up with at least an image to describe the Piccolomini Experience.  A very fun 5 or 10 minutes with La Luna. 

 

Happy Father's Day to those that are

 

Dyan

 

click for a larger Pickle-o-mini

That image reminds me of some of the blueplate pictures that were in library books when i was a kid!

[daveb2022]

...It’s been a different kind of year. Over a month of clear evening skies… it’s something I’ve never seen…ever. But clear is subjective. From my location, it seems like the transparency has been subdued lately. This has been accompanied by daily high winds that continue at night. Luckily, the seeing on average hasn’t changed, and despite the winds, tight doubles have been fun. I’ve been able to split STT 235 and STT 229 with my 4” APO on a slightly above average night of seeing. Looking back at 2020-2024 logs, similar months that were calm produced the same level of seeing. In other words, the wind doesn’t seem to be much of a “seeing” factor this year…another oddity.

 

Unfortunately, the nightly transparency has been disappointing throughout winter and spring. Highly transparent skies never showed up like in past. I log NELM values around zenith, and it has been a sub-standard year. While I accept that LP as well as my own vision might have something to do with what I can see, my intensifiers also provide me with info on the transparency. NV efficiency seems to be in step with what I’m seeing visually. Clear dark nights like I’ve had over the last years are becoming less frequent.

 

So, despite the stable skies, I’ve had to deal with slightly washed-out levels over the past couple weeks. Looking at last year’s log, this year has been a rough one.

 

But the last couple of nights has been above average (for this year) and I’ll take it. I achieved a zenith SQM reading of about 18.50, and considering the past few weeks have averaged about 18.00, I was thrilled.

 

 

 

 

6-14-25
9PM to 1:00AM
Urban city skies from my patio.
C925, NP101
PVS-14 NVD/32mm and standard EP’s.
75°/24%h to 70°/35%h, Light breeze and reasonably calm for once.
SQM/Zenith readings 18.40 to 18.51
NELM mag 3.2 (sub-standard)
Seeing slightly above average for my site. (Pickering level 6+)
Transparency was 2/5 (for my area) and was in-step with NELM value.
Moon at 88%, rising at 11:22PM, and not much of a factor early on.

 

I had no plans, but considering the seeing, I did split a few doubles. HD 106609, HD 106784, HD 106887, HD 107398, STT 256, 17 Vir, HD 108877, HD 109499, and STF 1785. All except HD 106887 split in the APO @154x. 106887 did split with the SCT.

 

 

STT 256 has always been a difficult split with average seeing, and while I could not differentiate between A & B that night, it was stable enough to see the PA was either 280 or 100 degrees. That is a win for me.

 

 

With the galaxy season still up and running, I picked up from where I had left off in the Virgo area on previous sessions. Since I’ve been able every to observe over 30 days straight, I’ve gone through my lists, and have visited about every galaxy on my Jumbo Pocket Star Chart more than once. At least I had the darker sky on my side.

 

 

I observed galaxies NGC 4753, NGC 4666, NGC 4632, NGC 4592, NGC 4517, NGC 4536, NGC 4643, NGC 4472, NGC 4895, NGC 4900, NGC 4665, NGC 4636, NGC, and NGC 4527. Seems 4632 and 4900 were challenging, and the only non-detect of the night was NGC 4592 coming in at about a mag 12.5.

 

 

As Virgo faded into the neighbors roof, I finished the evening with some globular clusters coming into view, and it was nice to get away from smudgeland.

 

 

I observed M3, NGC 5466, M5, M4, NGC 6144, NGC 6235, M62, M19, NGC 6284, & ended the night with NGC 6287. None disappointed. Hard to pick between M4 and M5, but I tend to lean toward M4 as a favorite. NGC 5466 in Boötes was dim (as expected), but still showed about 15 stars scattered in and around the globular. NGC 6144 was similar.

 

 

I did grab a couple snap shots with my phone of a few globular clusters. Not the best conditions, but a good session.

As the moon began to rise, SQM levels tanked, and made the upper 18.20’s by 1AM, so I decided to call it a night.

 

 

 

6-15-25
9PM to 2:30AM
Urban city skies from my patio.
C925, NP101
PVS-14 NVD/32mm and standard EP’s.
75°/24%h to 65°/47%h, 10-12 MPH winds and gusty at times.
SQM/Zenith readings 18.03 to 18.53
NELM mag 3.7 after midnight, and above last month’s average. 
Seeing about average for my site. (just shy of a Pickering level 6)
Transparency was 3/5 and was in-step with NELM value.
Moon at 80%, rising at 11:32PM, and not much of a factor early on.

 

 

 

The evening started kind of bright, but I measured a SQM zenith reading of 18.51 by 10PM. Nice! Early on it was obvious that the seeing was not as stable as I would have wished for, but the transparency was much better than June 14th. Because of the clear skies, I was ready for some galaxy observing and felt the seeing was slightly lacking for doubles.

 

 

Early on I noticed Denebola was very close to Mars and made for a nice couple in the western sky. Looking south, I was amazed that Spica had disappeared. It looked clear. I used one of the intensifiers as a monocular which exposed thin cloud cover that had moved in from behind me. And it kept coming, but never made it past zenith. Ursa Major was wide open so I just went there and used my Pocket Guide closeup chart of UMa. I started from inside of the dipper bowl and finally observed galaxies around the outer regions.

 

 

All the galaxies on the chart were visible. NGC 3642, NGC 3610, NGC 3690, NGC 3613, NGC 3619, NGC 3780, NGC 3898, NGC 3998, NGC 3982, M108, NGC 3631, NGC 3756, NGC 3718, NGC 3729, M109, NGC 3953, NGC 4102, NGC 3945, NGC 4036, and NGC 4041 all resolved. M97 was a planetary nebula and that was a non-detect. I was surprised it eluded me.

 

 

 

 

Jumping into the globular scene, even the smaller clusters were easy to detect. I started at M3, then moved on to M4, NGC 6144, M80, M107, M12, M10, NGC 6309, M14, NGC 6366, NGC 6356, M9, NGC 6342, NGC 6235, M62, NGC 6304, NGC 6316, NGC 6293, M19, NGC 6355, NGC 6440, and NGC 6401 ended the night.

 

 

The Messier objects that really stood out were M3, M5, M4, M10, M12, and M14. But M80, M107, NGC 6366, NGC 6356, M9, M62 and M19 were fantastic as well. The Box Nebula (NGC 6309) was very difficult. Even in past years, this PN has been challenging, but usually much easier to detect than last night. Still, I wasn’t complaining.

 

 

M4 seem to be one I had a hard time looking away from. The background stars were heavy and I’ve always liked M4’s structure. M62 also benefited from the clear sky compared to the prior session. By 1AM it was getting noticeably brighter as the moon was coming up. SQM readings came in around 18.30 and was rapidly deteriorating. I would have liked to observed the moon, but too many roofs in the way.

 

 

 

 

I’m hoping for a similar run tonight. Looks like it might be the last cool evening before the summer bake. I must say needing a hoodie on at this time of year is a bit rare. Future forecast shows possible cloud cover in a few days, but tonight looks like a go, and it’s about 6 degrees cooler than last night. 

Hope everyone is catching a break from the weather.

[DC869]

@daveb2022... man, you haul down some targets! I'm a little jealous of your low humidity %. I seem to get an hour or 2 at most between clouds here, and our relative humidity is hitting that soupy swamp stage. I always enjoy yoir reports. ~De

[daveb2022]

 I'm a little jealous of your low humidity %. I seem to get an hour or 2 at most between clouds here, and our relative humidity is hitting that soupy swamp stage. 

Seems much of the US is clouded out. It's been just the opposite here. But I think the summer hammer is already coming down. When the daytime temps reach 100-105, the humidity is often below 20%.

Humidity kills me. I'll take 100 @ 20%h over 85 @ 80%h anytime.

On my patio, it's usually early morning when the dew sets and the humidity runs high. In mid summer, I've had my 8" dob shed an unbelievable amount water as the sun is coming up.  
 

[DyDyMT]

Quick Surprise! Log:

 

I really didn't have a 'log' to share, as I only got about 20mins with the moon with my 8" Dob, and it was doing the Waffly Watusi ~ being that low in the sky, bad transparency and so close to sunrise.  Plus, I was slightly distracted by every little noise out on the exposed front landing, thinking it was a Problem Child (Bear) that I had to 'encourage' to leave yesterday afternoon after it demolished my bird feeders and would not leave. Just not afraid.  Do I look like a big hot dog?  Maybe.  But Oh, My Gracious, I got a surprise that will keep me smiling all day long. 

 

I'd gotten my Evolution mount back from Celestron (2mos to replace motor board), so I thought what the heck. Even though it's not good in poor skies, or a bright moon (auto-align)  I pulled it out to the front porch for a quick peek at La Luna.  I also got the first chance to try out my Feathertouch focuser on the 8" Edge HD.  (well worth the $'s compared to the stock focuser).

 

Moon looked great, albeit even warblier, and I was really just playing with the Feathertouch.  I thought I might as well try it on a bright star, panned over to the left to a nice bright one, the only one left at 5am, and was initially thinking "dang willarhood, these skies are AWFUL!!!"  That star was nasty out of focus, looked like it had a huge spike?!?   But Feathertouch Fiddling brought in.....SATURN!  Yay!  I can't believe it's been that long since I saw it peeking over the trees last year. But I just checked my leather-log and it was 5/15/2024 so I guess I'm late looking for it.

 

Such a nice surprise for a rather 'eh' morning.  Enjoy your Hump Daaaaaaaaay!

 

Dyan

 

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[DC869]

6-15-25
Scope: 102XLT
25mm, 11mm, 5.5mm
S: F-P  T:3  / 79°F / RH 69%

 

A cloud dodging quick peek report. 

 

Mars & Regulus conjunction - Mars is always underwhelming to me. Reddish contrast to Regulus with it's bright bluish look.  I did not take time to try to split Regulus -- it's on the target list, but I didn't realize it until later.

 

So, just a few for officially recording the double star observations. 

 

Zeta UMa - Mizar A B - easy split w/ 25mm @ 40x. Both appear white to me.
AB sep=14.4"
AB pa= 153° 

Mizar A to Alcor in same FOV
sep = 11.8' (700+ arcseconds)
pa= 71°

 

Alpha Her A B - (A=Rasalgethi) a close pair, split in 5.5mm @ 181x; Alpha HerA @ 3rd mag appeared red-orange to me; Alpha Her B @ 5th mag, appeared a pale bluish tint. Very Nice.
sep= 4.5"
pa= 105°

 

17 Lyrae - attempted again, failed again, ... clouds rolled in ... again (sigh).

 

~De

[DC869]

6-16-25
Time: 22:00 - 23:45 CDT
80°F , 66% RH
S:G. T:3
102XLT / 25mm@40x; 5.5mm@181x

 

The skies looked clear and somewhat haze-free at first glance, given the high humidity. I sneaked in another short session before the clouds and sheet lightning rolled up from the West; a pattern that seems to be the plague norm these nights, yielding no more than a couple of hours of scope time.

 

I concentrated on the sky above my newly cleared backyard observing site (thanks to TheHubs graciously taking out 10 trees in our wooded yard to give me another 15°-20° of sky toward the swath of my E to S horizon.)

 

Ophiuchus and Scorpius were my first intended target areas, but the sky glow yielded failed attempts at M19, NGC 6293 and doubles Omicron Oph and 36 Oph.

 

I swung back to Lyra to try for some doubles there that I had not picked up the previous night, and I also  wanted to see what this 102XLT  achro could do on the Double Double to compare with how it looked in the 8" the other night.

 

17 Lyr - failed.

 

STT 525 in Lyra (HD175653) - maybe, but I couldn't confirm on repeat hops. (Need the RACI finder.)

 

Albireo (STFA 43 AB) was clearing my tree tops in the East so I went there to revisit this gold & blue beauty for consolation and to grab at least one success (besides the DD that I revisited for practice.)
sep = 34.9"
pa =  54°

 

Hercules was a bit higher than I prefer to view with this long tube OTA, but Sarin and Rho were positioned well.

 

Delta Herculis A B -
The 3rd mag primary (Sarin) and 8th mag companion appeared white to me. Nice separation.
sep = 12"
pa = 288°

 

Rho Herculis AB
A close pair, the 4th mag primary is a B-type spectral class, which would be in the pale blue category, but it just appeared white to me, as did the 5th mag secondary.
sep = 4.1"
pa = 321°

 

HD 157910 AB in Hercules -- This  was a chance find at 40x. While hunting for Rho Her, I noted a pair of stars located to the North of Rho Her in the FOV that made me wonder if it was an optical double or what. A check of Stellarium & SkySafari confirmed this pair as the double HD157910 and HD157910B. The 6th mag primary had a slight yellow tinge to me. I couldn't detect color on the 9th mag companion.
sep= 33.5"
pa= 12°

 

Beta Scorpii A B @ 181x
At 2nd mag, Acrab, the primary was easy to spot naked eye. Both it and the 4th mag secondary gave a very slight bluish (grayish?) hint. The listed 20° pa  matched what I saw, but the listed 13.4" of separation seems wider than what I viewed.

 

About the time I think I have angular separation figured out, I find myself SMH. The position angle, however, is making total sense now after using the drift method to find West.

Nu Scorpii A / CD @ 181x
This one was perhaps THE BEST surprise of the night. While watching what I thought was Nu Sco AB drift across the FOV for the 4th time, I suddenly realized that what I thought was the B companion was actually two stars! Why did it take me so long to see that double? Momentary atmospheric clearing? Focus tweaking? Tear reduction?  IDK, but way cool to see.

 

A quick review of Stellarium confirmed that Nu Scorpii is indeed a multiple star system. So, I was seeing 4th mag Nu Sco A and the 6th & 7th mag tight pair, Nu Sco CD. I could never detect Nu Sco B. That very very tight pair will require more study and another visit.

 

The A.L. Double Star observing list didn't indicate a multiple on this target, so that was a totally unexpected delight to observe. No specific color detected on any component.

sep = 41.3" from A to C
pa  =  336°

 

sep = 2.4"  between C D
pa = 56°

 

FWIW, I find sketching these doubles is easier in a smaller circle as far as pa, and to some extent the separation. BUT I struggle to make the stars appear as tiny as they look in the EP. 

 

All in all, another very enjoyable short session while learning more about Double Stars.

 

~De

[chrysalis]

6-16-25
Time: 22:00 - 23:45 CDT
80°F , 66% RH
S:G. T:3
102XLT / 25mm@40x; 5.5mm@181x

 

The skies looked clear and somewhat haze-free at first glance, given the high humidity. I sneaked in another short session before the clouds and sheet lightning rolled up from the West; a pattern that seems to be the plague norm these nights, yielding no more than a couple of hours of scope time.

 

I concentrated on the sky above my newly cleared backyard observing site (thanks to TheHubs graciously taking out 10 trees in our wooded yard to give me another 15°-20° of sky toward the swath of my E to S horizon.)

 

Ophiuchus and Scorpius were my first intended target areas, but the sky glow yielded failed attempts at M19, NGC 6293 and doubles Omicron Oph and 36 Oph.

 

I swung back to Lyra to try for some doubles there that I had not picked up the previous night, and I also  wanted to see what this 102XLT  achro could do on the Double Double to compare with how it looked in the 8" the other night.

 

17 Lyr - failed.

 

STT 525 in Lyra (HD175653) - maybe, but I couldn't confirm on repeat hops. (Need the RACI finder.)

 

Albireo (STFA 43 AB) was clearing my tree tops in the East so I went there to revisit this gold & blue beauty for consolation and to grab at least one success (besides the DD that I revisited for practice.)
sep = 34.9"
pa =  54°

 

Hercules was a bit higher than I prefer to view with this long tube OTA, but Sarin and Rho were positioned well.

 

Delta Herculis A B -
The 3rd mag primary (Sarin) and 8th mag companion appeared white to me. Nice separation.
sep = 12"
pa = 288°

 

Rho Herculis AB
A close pair, the 4th mag primary is a B-type spectral class, which would be in the pale blue category, but it just appeared white to me, as did the 5th mag secondary.
sep = 4.1"
pa = 321°

 

HD 157910 AB in Hercules -- This  was a chance find at 40x. While hunting for Rho Her, I noted a pair of stars located to the North of Rho Her in the FOV that made me wonder if it was an optical double or what. A check of Stellarium & SkySafari confirmed this pair as the double HD157910 and HD157910B. The 6th mag primary had a slight yellow tinge to me. I couldn't detect color on the 9th mag companion.
sep= 33.5"
pa= 12°

 

Beta Scorpii A B @ 181x
At 2nd mag, Acrab, the primary was easy to spot naked eye. Both it and the 4th mag secondary gave a very slight bluish (grayish?) hint. The listed 20° pa  matched what I saw, but the listed 13.4" of separation seems wider than what I viewed.

 

About the time I think I have angular separation figured out, I find myself SMH. The position angle, however, is making total sense now after using the drift method to find West.

Nu Scorpii A / CD @ 181x
This one was perhaps THE BEST surprise of the night. While watching what I thought was Nu Sco AB drift across the FOV for the 4th time, I suddenly realized that what I thought was the B companion was actually two stars! Why did it take me so long to see that double? Momentary atmospheric clearing? Focus tweaking? Tear reduction?  IDK, but way cool to see.

 

A quick review of Stellarium confirmed that Nu Scorpii is indeed a multiple star system. So, I was seeing 4th mag Nu Sco A and the 6th & 7th mag tight pair, Nu Sco CD. I could never detect Nu Sco B. That very very tight pair will require more study and another visit.

 

The A.L. Double Star observing list didn't indicate a multiple on this target, so that was a totally unexpected delight to observe. No specific color detected on any component.

sep = 41.3" from A to C
pa  =  336°

 

sep = 2.4"  between C D
pa = 56°

 

FWIW, I find sketching these doubles is easier in a smaller circle as far as pa, and to some extent the separation. BUT I struggle to make the stars appear as tiny as they look in the EP. 

 

All in all, another very enjoyable short session while learning more about Double Stars.

 

~De

Do check out Xi Scorpii while you're in the area:

 

[DC869]

@chrysalis... thanks! I definitely will do that.

[desertstars]

Observations from 19 June 2025, 2:00am to 4:00am MST (09:00to 11:00 UTC)

 

It’s been a while since I pulled a “dawn patrol,” observing in the early morning to have cooler temperatures and (usually) better seeing conditions. This morning found me out there, in a calm, pleasantly warm early morning (it started at 84°F (29°C) and had dropped to 77°F (25°C) by the time astronomical twilight came on). Seeing conditions were quite good. Coffee can be credited with making this all possible.

 

I wanted to make progress on the AL Lunar II and Binocular Double Star projects before the desert monsoon rolls in. We’re probably a couple of weeks from that happening, but we’ve been surprised by early starts in the past. So I was out there with a short list of double stars, and a shorter list of lunar features. The 10x50 binocular was employed on the list of doubles, with the Newt, equipped with 14.5mm (69x) and 3mm (333x) Orion Edge On Planetary eyepieces, waited in the wings for the 23-day old Moon to rise high enough in the sky to observe. I expected the light of the Moon to make star hoping difficult, but selected stellar targets accordingly.

 

I wasn’t looking for challenging pairs, and ε (epsilon) 1,2 Lyrae (STFA 37AB, CD: sep. 209″, mags. 4.7 and 4.6) certainly presented no difficulties. Well, there was the angle, very close to straight up. Fortunately it really is an easy pair with the 10x50, and so extended neck strain was not required. In that glass this was a matched set of blue-white stars in a splendid field that includes the gleaming diamond of Vega.

 

Nor did δ (delta) 1,2 Lyrae stress me out. The 10x50 revealed them to be a pretty pair of stars, the brighter a pale yellow, with its companion a soft blue-white. They’d be worth a look all by themselves, but the pleasure of the view was greatly enhanced by the busy star field that surrounded them. As sometimes happens with this AL list, I was unable to find a double star catalog designation for this duo. I admired them nonetheless.

 

Next, I aimed the binocular at π (pi) Pegasi and its very near neighbor 27 Pegasi. (They are on the AL list as π and π1.) Once again, there seems to be no catalog information for this as a binary. They were far apart (573″) and both looked white with just a hint of cool blue. The difference in magnitude, 4.3 and 5.6 was noticeable, but not extreme.

 

Enif, a.k.a. ε (epsilon) Pegasi, will be a target for darker skies. The magnitude 8.7, 145″ away, may have been visible in quick glimpses, but I was never sure. I’ve seen stars pushing 9th magnitude in the 10x50, so I’ll blame the moonlight. Enif was worth the visit, being a bright and beautiful reddish-gold star.

 

With the Moon almost high enough for observing, I tried for one more double star, S752 (sep. 106″, mags. 6.8 and 7.3) in Delphinus. It appeared as a fairly close, colorless pair of stars of similar magnitudes. There may have been a touch of warmth visible in them, but it was hard to be sure of this. I’ve added them to the 20x80 list for future consideration.

 

I managed to examine 4 features from the AL Lunar II list before the coffee wore out. I set the 10x50 aside and rolled the Newt out into the open. The seeing conditions by then were about as steady as they get around here, and I was actually able to use the more powerful of the two eyepieces to good effect.

 

In the 14.5mm eyepiece Stadius is a crater that has clearly seen better days. A ghost crater with a pock-marked floor and heavily eroded rim, presumably a victim of the nearby and much more recent impact that created Copernicus. There were several gaps in the remnants of the Stadius rim. Stadius Catenae shares the name of the ghost crater (although it was surely created by debris hurled up from Copernicus) and sits northwest of the largest gap in the rim. At appears as a slightly curved ridge. In the 3mm eyepiece, with patience, I could resolve with certainty 5 of the craterlets forming the chain. Three at the northern end, and two near Stadius. In between was a jumble of rough material that didn’t resolve clearly.

 

Rima Hesiodus was a more or less straight line cutting a shallow diagonal across the last southern bay of Mare Nubium. It started at Hesiodus and disappearing in the rough land between Mare Nubium and Palus Epidemiarum. What appeared to be a continuation of Rima Hesiodus was dimly glimpsed the Palus Epidemiarum. There was just enough shadow relief for it to stand out.

 

Bullialdus and its A and B associates came next. Bullialdus appeared nearly circular with a flat floor surrounding a rounded lump of a central peak. Most of the east facing inner rim was sunlit, revealing a broad slump terrace. The debris apron of the crater overlaps that of Bullialdus A, which showed no real detail with either eyepiece. I get the impression Bullialdus A is the older of the two, and larger impact significantly degraded it. Bullialdus B looked cleaner and sharper, with an irregular look to its outline.

 

Last of all, I visited Mare Cognitum. It’s a roughly egg-shaped area of mare material, its long axis running more-or-less east to west. Its boundaries are ill-defined. Frau Moro, Bonpland, and Parry sit to the northeast, with Guericke south of them. Montes Riphaeus curves slight around the northwest and west sides. That range always reminds me of some sort claw or pincer. South of the mountains are three pale features, one suggesting a mound, that are quite visible, but are not labeled in any reference I own. The simple crater Kuiper marks the heart of the mare.

 

The sky was growing lighter in the east and the birds were waking up around me. I packed up and stowed gear, thinking fondly of breakfast.

[Migwan]

6/22/25 23:30- 01:45,   76°, Calm,   RH 76%,  Baro 30.07 R  (Clear Skies) Trans 4/5, See 3/5,  0% Moon,   NELM 6,  Smoke 0,  PS ?,  Jet 0mph,   LP Atlas SQM 20.29,  755’,   Home,  f10 C11 & ST120

Transparency not quite as advertised.  Bright stars with some LP evident.  Smoke cleared with jet stream being well west of the state blowing to NE.  NOAA forecast was for 6-9Mph SW breeze,  but it was initially calm and  I was sweating a bit and hoping a breeze would kick up.  One did finally about 01:30.

The battery on my red dot was dead, causing a little adventure in scope alignment.  I found it more difficult to align stars to the middle of the red dot finder than I would have thunk.  After that hiccup I started off with M101 Pinwheel galaxy.  The core was very evident and with some brightening to one side. Other than That  I could not see of the spirals,  the rest just being a gray blob that barely bested the light pollution.  After totally missing M57 I went to NGC6826 the blinking planetary nebula.  The central star focused quite sharply suggesting good seeing but anything above 215x was pointless. Up next was M57 which was not too revealing due to the LP.  I could not see the Mag15 stars at the edge of the nebula. No color suggested, just gray.   M51, whirlpool galaxy.  The bridge between the two galaxies was easily evident, but the  spirals in the bigger galaxy took a lot of effort in averted vision to just make them out.  Rather tough but very much worth the effort.  Last up was. M13, M82 & M81.

  At 215x I I could just Make out the propeller in M13.  Not so clear as in  photos, but still quite evident.  The debris crossing M82 was evident with a brightening on an adjoining end.  M32 only showed a core and oval shape.

Some sort of haze, maybe smoke,  moved in with the breeze ending this short session. Certainly not the best ever, but after a long hiatus in observing, it was rewarding.

Edited by Migwan, 23 June 2025 - 10:01 AM.

[weis14]

6/22/25 23:30- 01:45,   76°, Calm,   RH 76%,  Baro 30.07 R  (Clear Skies) Trans 4/5, See 3/5,  0% Moon,   NELM 6,  Smoke 0,  PS ?,  Jet 0mph,   LP Atlas SQM 20.29,  755’,   Home,  f10 C11 & ST120

Transparency not quite as advertised.  Bright stars with some LP evident.  Smoke cleared with jet stream being well west of the state blowing to NE.  NOAA forecast was for 6-9Mph SW breeze,  but it was initially calm and  I was sweating a bit and hoping a breeze would kick up.  One did finally about 01:30.

The battery on my red dot was dead, causing a little adventure in scope alignment.  I found it more difficult to align stars to the middle of the red dot finder than I would have thunk.  After that hiccup I started off with M101 Pinwheel galaxy.  The core was very evident and with some brightening to one side. Other than That  I could not see of the spirals,  the rest just being a gray blob that barely bested the light pollution.  After totally missing M57 I went to NGC6826 the blinking planetary nebula.  The central star focused quite sharply suggesting good seeing but anything above 215x was pointless. Up next was M57 which was not too revealing due to the LP.  I could not see the Mag15 stars at the edge of the nebula. No color suggested, just gray.   M51, whirlpool galaxy.  The bridge between the two galaxies was easily evident, but the  spirals in the bigger galaxy took a lot of effort in averted vision to just make them out.  Rather tough but very much worth the effort.  Last up was. M13, M82 & M81.

  At 215x I I could just Make out the propeller in M13.  Not so clear as in  photos, but still quite evident.  The debris crossing M82 was evident with a brightening on an adjoining end.  M32 only showed a core and oval shape.

Some sort of haze, maybe smoke,  moved in with the breeze ending this short session. Certainly not the best ever, but after a long hiatus in observing, it was rewarding.

Congrats on getting out last night!  I thought about heading to my dark site in Au Gres, but the heat had sucked the energy out of me and I was in bed before the end of twilight.

[weis14]

After typing the last entry, I looked outside and it was still clear.  I recently bought a used 60mm Takahashi refractor as a grab and go scope, so I thought I might take it outside for 60 minutes or so before the clouds showed up to quickly evaluate it.  

 

The session didn't last long.  My correct image 1.25" diagonal didn't have enough in-focus to make my 14mm Delos eyepiece work and by the time I figured out what extensions were necessary for reaching focus to view straight through, the clouds were upon me.  The night was relatively transparent though.  I took a reading with my SQM-L and got 19.3 mpas, which would have been a pretty spectacular night from my backyard.  

[DC869]

Do check out Xi Scorpii while you're in the area:

Xi Scorpii DSC02989.JPG

I finally got a clear night on 6-25-25 to view Xi Scorpii and Struve 1999 in the same FOV. I immediately noted Struve 1999 as a double in a 25mm EP, though it was still not quite split at that magnification. AND the funny part is I didn't realize it WAS Struve 1999 until later as I was trying to figure out that double since Stellarium tagged it HD144087 & HD144088. Sky Safari ID'd it as Struve 1999, which is on my tarfet list. I think the orange-ish color of that pair made it stand out so that's why I saw it first.

Xi Scorpii AB took a lot more work at my limited skill with doubles, but a 12mm EP at 83x gave the evidence of the two stars.

I viewed these two sets of doubles in both 10x50 binos mounted, and in my 102XLT scope. In the 10x50s, I was surprised to be able to tell that Struve 1999 was more than a single star, though not split in binos. I'm sure that having viewed these in the scope first influenced the perception in binos.

~De

[daveb2022]

I finally got a clear night on 6-25-25 to view Xi Scorpii and Struve 1999 in the same FOV. I immediately noted Struve 1999 as a double in a 25mm EP, though it was still not quite split at that magnification. AND the funny part is I didn't realize it WAS Struve 1999 until later as I was trying to figure out that double since Stellarium tagged it HD144087 & HD144088. Sky Safari ID'd it as Struve 1999, which is on my tarfet list. I think the orange-ish color of that pair made it stand out so that's why I saw it first.

Xi Scorpii AB took a lot more work at my limited skill with doubles, but a 12mm EP at 83x gave the evidence of the two stars.

I viewed these two sets of doubles in both 10x50 binos mounted, and in my 102XLT scope. In the 10x50s, I was surprised to be able to tell that Struve 1999 was more than a single star, though not split in binos. I'm sure that having viewed these in the scope first influenced the perception in binos.

~De

STF 1999 is a brilliant looking double I generally visit when in the area. In my 4" @ 154x, there is also a set of stars nearby that appear as a wide, equal magnitude double. I'm guessing it's just an optical double.    

Edited by daveb2022, 28 June 2025 - 09:51 PM.

[jc482p]

I was surprised to be able to tell that Struve 1999 was more than a single star, though not split in binos. I'm sure that having viewed these in the scope first influenced the perception in binos.

I could just split STF 1999 at 28x in my 120ED scope, so maybe it's not a surprise that it would look like a non-split double at 10x.