22:15-00:00 CST (Central Sunlight Torture)
The night was 90 F (32.2 C) and humid but the skies were clear. I brought out my AT102ED to check out some new double stars in Bootes and neighboring constellations (ex., Serpens) that I had made a target list for using my Sky &Telescope’s Pocket Sky Atlas, Jumbo Edition.
I first anchored my Alt/Az telescope onto Arcturus to get my bearings. My new green laser pointer system made easy work of this.
From there I moved up to the double star Izar (Epsilon Boötis, ε Boötis) in Bootes. I could easily split the pair with my 5 mm (143X) eyepiece and the addition of the 2X Barlow (286X) brought them out beautifully. The main star was and orange Airy disk and the slightly blue but much fainter companion was just outside the first diffraction ring.
My next stop was the double star Delta Boötis (δ Boo). The main star was orange/yellow and the westerly companion star was about 30% as bright and appeared blue/white. They were easily split even with my 25 mm (29X) eyepiece. Given the close proximity of the pair to our solar system, the angle separation was significant.
Third on my list was Kappa Boötis (κ Boo, κ Boötis) but it was behind a tree at this particular location.
I went to the next on my list, the multiple star system Alkalurops (μ1 Boötis, Alkalurops, Mu Boötis). Alkalurops was a yellow star and easily separated from the double star Incalunis (μ2 Boötis). Incalunis was just barely splittable at 12 mm (60X) but was a clear split at 5 mm. The star on the side of the pair closest to Alkalurops was slightly fainter than it’s companion. Both appeared to be white. Alkalurops was much brighter than both. While taking a final look at the system a fast moving satellite or meteor crossed my field of view!
I swung the telescope south to the star Unukalhai (Alpha Serpentis, α Serpentis). I hopped from there to 10 Serpentis. Then to the double star 6 Serpentis. It was a yellow star and I could see a very faint star some distance to its east but I don’t know if that was its companion or not. I found some information on Wikipedia about it but no comparison photos.
I moved over to the double star HIP 74895 but it was faint and I could only see one star. I can find little information on the pair so I don’t know what it is supposed to look like.
I moved up to the white star MQ Serpentis and though it’s not listed as a double in Stellarium or my Sky Atlas, I could see a very faint bluer star to its east. I could only see the fainter star with my 12 mm eyepiece in my bright city lights. A 5 mm the light loss made it disappear. I’ll have to investigate this. Post note: It turns out that I was seeing a double star! According to Wikipedia, it is now called 5 Serpentis and the old name was MQ Serpentis when it was incorrectly thought to be a variable star.
By now a keen reader may know where I’m headed, to the globular cluster M5 of course. It looked quit large with my 12 mm eyepiece and I could almost see individual stars. I can’t wait to see it in dark skies someday. I did make out a discreet star just to the west of it.
I scanned to the north of M5 until I came across a very obvious double star that looked like a pair of eyes. It was HIP 73716. The were of near equal magnitude and appeared slightly blue in my 12 mm eyepiece. The more northerly star was just slightly fainter.
I scanned around the sky for a few minutes and then decide to call it quits. It was still 88 F (31.1 C) and muggy at midnight though cooler then it has been. Still very uncomfortable. I at least found all of my planned targets, except for the one behind a tree, and had a couple of bonus finds. I don’t know why I like multiple star systems so much. Perhaps it’s because I usually don’t know they are there until I find them and then it’s like “they are all over the place!”. Also, letting my mind imagine a planet where the sunsets are like those on Luke Skywalker’s fictitious, yet plausible planet, Tatooine. Thirdly, I can actually see them in my
