Tonight, I brought out the Meade NG60-SM, a 60/700mm refractor (discontinued since the early 2010s) - here is the box that it came in:
This is the only long focal length 60mm refractor I have with a 1.25” eyepiece focuser (the other one I have is 60/350mm, also a Meade); all my other long 60mm ‘fracs are of the older 0.965” focuser type.
I used a 32mm Plossl to star hop because the stock MH (Modified Huygens) 25mm
Here were my double star targets (from the “Double Star Marathon Observing List”):
Object, (R.A.), (
gamma Del (46.7), (+16 07), (4.5, 5.5), (9.6)
beta Cep (28.7), (+70 34), (3.2, 7.9), (13.3)
STF 2816 Cep (39.0), (+57 29), (5.6, 7.7), (11.7)
delta Cep (29.2), (+58 25), (3.9, 6.3), (41)
I was able to resolve all 4 pairs using 78x at a minimum, occasionally bumping up the view to 120x and 143x (using Orion Sirius Plossls). Beta Cep was the toughest because of the glare of Beta (3.2) almost overshadowing its companion (7.9). Also not easy because it was lower on the horizon and subject to more city light glow - revisiting it an hour later, the companion became invisible. Despite having almost as faint a companion as beta Cep, the companion to STF 2816 Cep was easy to see because the main star was dimmer (less glare) and located higher above the horizon. Gamma Del was the most visually striking because of the almost equal magnitudes, while delta Cep had the most noticeable color differential (yellow and white/blue), despite the wide separation (41”).
Because of the sharp, starry views they give, long focal length 60mm (and 50mm) refractors are a joy to use.
