Observing Report for September 29/30

[jrkirkham]

SCENE 1:
Friday night as amazing in West Central Illinois. The sky was clear. The temperature hovered around 70F (21C). The air was dry. Smoke from the small campfire kept the bugs at bay. About the only thing keeping the night from being perfect was the full moon. On Friday, however, even the full moon didn’t bother me because I was hunting double stars.

Here were my targets between 8:00 and 9:00 PM.
8:07 Mizar and Alcor at 88x
8:27 Delta Bootis at 88x, a bight central star with a much dimmer companion with a red cast.
8:34 Iota Bootis at 88x, another pair with a brighter central star and dimmer companion
8:48 Mu Draconis THIS was my favorite split of the evening. There are two very tight (separation 2.4”) stars. Both glowed at a dim 5.7 magnitude. The position angle was only 5 degrees. At low power they almost looked like a blur. I still could not get a clean split at 280x. By slightly defocusing I could see (or at least I thought I could see)a pair of discs almost on top of each other. When I bumped up to 565x I could see the separation.

INTERMISSION: A friend saw me out and stopped by for a fireside chat. He stayed for an hour or two. After he left I curled up on one of the bunks in my warm room for another hour or two.

SCENE 2:
About 12:30 AM I went back to the telescope. This time I decided to experiment with Jupiter before resuming my hunt for double stars. Would the close proximity to a full moon bleach out a picture attempt?

Here were my targets between 1:00 and 2:00 AM.
00:52 Delta Orionis at 88x, Mintaka is the westernmost star in Orion’s belt. The bright central star has a dimmer companion.
1:06 Lamda Orionis, this one was fun. It almost appeared to be a small star cluster rather than a double. I don’t know how many stars were in this multiple system, but the central star and its closest companion were the most fun. The central star shone at a magnitude of 3.5. with a separation of only 4.2” there is a dim, magnitude 5.5 companion hiding in the light of the bright star. This was another one that took me up to 565x.
1:21 Theta 1 Orionis, This is the famous Trapezium in the Orion Nebula. I could make out five stars.
1:21 Theta 2 Orionis, This is a small cluster of stars close to the Trapezium.

EPILOGUE: That’s about all there was. I had to get some sleep because I as planning to meet my nephew early to pick up some tail cams and do a little off roading.

[messier 111]

I see it was a superb evening under the stars.
nice photo, thx.

[StarBru]

What a great night of observing, and a wonderful image of Jupiter! Which telescope(s) were you using?

[jrkirkham]

What a great night of observing, and a wonderful image of Jupiter! Which telescope(s) were you using?

I used the C11 for everything.

[John Baars]

Nice report and great picture of Jupiter. Thanks!

[helicon]

Nice report Rob and some impressive double and multiple star work at high powers.

It sure helps to be an observer who knows what they are doing to ferret out some of these companions. Congrats, also, on nabbing the VROD for the day (10-3-2023)!

[Bigzmey]

Some nice splits and a beautiful capture of Jupiter, Rob!

Mizar and Alcor are very wide optical pair, 707" apart, best seen at low power (binoculars or RACI). However, Mizar itself is a double with dimmer secondary at 14.4" separation. I wonder if you spotted it.

Congrats on the VROD!

[John Baars]

Congratulations on the VROD!

[jrkirkham]

Some nice splits and a beautiful capture of Jupiter, Rob!

Mizar and Alcor are very wide optical pair, 707" apart, best seen at low power (binoculars or RACI). However, Mizar itself is a double with dimmer secondary at 14.4" separation. I wonder if you spotted it.

Congrats on the VROD!

Yes, I went back to look at my logs and make sure. I think have it in my sketch. I'm not a good sketcher, but I actually have a couple of brighter stars with a couple of dim specs in the field of view. One spec is a little farther away, but basically between the two brighter stars at an angle and the other closer to one of the brighter stars. I didn't estimate the position angle on either of them. I'm not sure I recognized them as part of the pair.

[Unitron48]

Nice session! Great image! Congrats on the VROD!

Dave

[Bigzmey]

Some nice splits and a beautiful capture of Jupiter, Rob!

Mizar and Alcor are very wide optical pair, 707" apart, best seen at low power (binoculars or RACI). However, Mizar itself is a double with dimmer secondary at 14.4" separation. I wonder if you spotted it.

Congrats on the VROD!

Yes, I went back to look at my logs and make sure. I think have it in my sketch. I'm not a good sketcher, but I actually have a couple of brighter stars with a couple of dim specs in the field of view. One spec is a little farther away, but basically between the two brighter stars at an angle and the other closer to one of the brighter stars. I didn't estimate the position angle on either of them. I'm not sure I recognized them as part of the pair.

The secondary of Mizar has similar brightness as Alcor, I am sure you saw it at 88x, but as you say for us, double splitters, it is important to do it properly and estimate PA, magnitude and separation. If you want to have another go they are:

Mizar/Alcor - STF 1744 AC - 2.2, 4.0, PA 70, sep 706.9"
Mizar - STF 1744 AB - 2.2, 3.9, PA 152, sep 14.4"

There is another ultrawide pair listed for this system in WDS catalog:

SMR 4 AD - 2.2, 7.6, PA 100, sep 493.2"

It is a great target for outreach because many know about Mizar/Alcor and then you zoom in and split Mizar itself.

[jrkirkham]

I doubt I make it out this week (clouds), but the next time I go out I'll have another look at it to be clear.

[kt4hx]

Well done Rob, with some nice doubles action, plus a fantastic image of Jupiter. Congrats on the well deserved VROD.