Split the doubles?

[Razz]

I'm not sure if what I did was what I've read called "split the doubles"...Had clear skies tonight so I set up the scope. Well, Jupiter and Saturn were behind the trees around my house so I decided to check out something simple because I'm still new at this. I checked out the Big Dipper's stars. According to Stellarium, at least as I saw it, the Big Dipper is made up of double stars. So I checked them out. To me, they all looked like a single star except for Alioth...that was very clearly 2 stars on my scope. Does that sound about right and did I actually "split the doubles" or did I merely see some other random stars...

[sdbodin]

Well, the only bright double I know is next door to Alioth. That is Mizar and its naked eye companion Alcor. maybe the attached pic will be familiar.

Observing double stars can be a very enjoyable pastime and also doable in bright moonlight when the faint fuzzies are washed out.

Clear skies,
Steve

[Lady Fraktor]

Random trivia, the roman military used the Mizar/ Alcor double as a eye test for their soldiers.

There are optical doubles as well as actual double stars, some are fairly easy like Mizar/ Alcor (optical double) but others are quite close together so splitting them takes magnification and good skies.
Really tough/ close doubles may be referred to as figure 8 doubles as they are to close to split but the 2 airy disks look like a figure 8 or a figure 8 with a thin line between them.
There are various atlases that show many doubles of varying difficulty to view.
Cambridge Double Star Atlas is a good one to start with.

Enjoy the views and the chase as double are a lot of fun

[Razz]

Well, I'll be honest, if that picture was turned so the double was at the bottom right and the other star was at the top left then, yea, that looks like exactly what I saw. I was sure I was on Alioth. Oh well, I'm still have a lot to learn so thanks for the info.
Also, thanks Lady Fraktor for the info and book recommendation you gave me. I just ordered The Cambridge Double Star Atlas.

[Razz]

Ok, I have to ask a question...this just occurred to me...it's in regards to the above picture that was shown to me...a little later, about 3 am, I went back out and got a chance to observe Jupiter...I saw it plus 2 of it's moons...however, and here is where my problem is, I could kind of see bands of clouds but they were in a North/South orientation....now, I'm thinking my viewing is tilted 90 degrees to the left....which explains why I confused Alioth with Mizar....I only say this because the pic provided by sdbodin is 90 degrees tilted to the left of what I saw....My question....what could cause this? Daytime use, example setting up the finder, shows none of these issues....everything is as it should be....

[Lady Fraktor]

Since the dipper rotates around the NCP and you and Steve were likely not looking at the same time (west coast/ east coast) the dipper may have rotated 90° between views.

[sdbodin]

Usually I orient my images with North up, but in this case North was left. Otherwise Alcor would not have fit on my camera chip. My fault, I should have noted the orientation difference.

Also one must take into account whether your scope is equatorially mounted or alt/az. Equatorial mounts will allow a constant orientation with the sky, alt/az do not, they align with the horizon.

Sorry for the confusion,
Steve

[Razz]

Not a problem at all. Thank you for taking the time to correct me. Supposed to be clear skies tomorrow night. If so, I'm going to check it out again. I'm on a mission to see Alioth just because it fooled me...lol...Now that I know more about what I'm looking at, I should be able to see it. Again, thanks for the info.

[Makuser]

Hi Razz. A nice double splitting report from you. Lady Fraktor did a nice job of explaining the difference between a binary system double from an optical double as it appears to us from our point of view when one of the stars are many light years away from each other and not a binary system. Also, you will enjoy using the Cambridge Double Star Atlas by James Mullaney and Will Turion as it is the best:

And you will receive the recent edition which now includes the PA (position angles). Thanks for your report Razz and keep splitting those double stars.

[Baurice]

Mizar is also a double star. In this photo, Mizar is at the bottom right and Alcor is at the top left.

[Razz]

Hi Razz. A nice double splitting report from you. Lady Fraktor did a nice job of explaining the difference between a binary system double from an optical double as it appears to us from our point of view when one of the stars are many light years away from each other and not a binary system. Also, you will enjoy using the Cambridge Double Star Atlas by James Mullaney and Will Turion as it is the best:


Double Star Atlas.JPG


And you will receive the recent edition which now includes the PA (position angles). Thanks for your report Razz and keep splitting those double stars.

Thank you...

[Razz]

Mizar is also a double star. In this photo, Mizar is at the bottom right and Alcor is at the top left.

If that is the case, then what is the star or light next to Mizar? I see a double star in the lower right but a single at the top left...I thought Mizar and Alcor were the 2 stars right next to each other....

[Bigzmey]

Mizar is also a double star. In this photo, Mizar is at the bottom right and Alcor is at the top left.

If that is the case, then what is the star or light next to Mizar? I see a double star in the lower right but a single at the top left...I thought Mizar and Alcor were the 2 stars right next to each other....

Many stars are not just doubles but multiples. Mizar and Alcor is very wide double, it is best viewed under lower power. At high power they appear wide a part (like in that photo). Mizar it self is a double star but with much smaller separation between two components, to separate them one needs to go to higher power. So, on the photo you see Alcor in the upper left and Mizar A and B components in the lower right.

[Razz]

Thanks for that. It was actually the one at the bottom right that I was originally talking about. So, I managed to see exactly what that picture shows. I have a lot to learn but I'm having a good time doing it...

[Baurice]

Thanks for that. It was actually the one at the bottom right that I was originally talking about. So, I managed to see exactly what that picture shows. I have a lot to learn but I'm having a good time doing it...

We are all still learning. If we ever stop, it'll get boring. People I look up to as experts claim they are still learning.