Deploying my stuff earlier, I went out after 2100 hours, and after being out for a short period, one of my neighbors decided to turn his back porch light on for about 15 minutes or so. After that bit of aggravation, I got down to business. My main thrust would be a few doubles in Gemini, using my Interstellarum atlas as my guide. Then I would wrap up taking quick looks at a few old friends. So with that, let’s get going!
Equipment used:
12 inch
TV Ethos 13mm (116x, 0.9° TFOV, 2.6mm exit pupil)
Pentax XW 10mm (152x, 0.5° TFOV, 2.0mm exit pupil)
Pentax XW 7mm (217x, 0.3° TFOV, 1.4mm exit pupil)
Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas (IDSA)
Nu Geminorum (Gemini, double star, mag1=4.1, mag2=8.0, sep=111.6”, PA=331°):
Using 116x in the 12 inch, this was a very wide and easy pair of white stars. There was an obvious brightness differential as implied by the listed magnitudes. The secondary star is listed as HD 257937.
15 Geminorum (Gemini, double star, mag1=6.7, mag2=8.2, sep=25.2”, PA=203°):
Just over half a degree NNW of the previous pair, this wide pair was very easy at 116x. They were uneven in brightness, but not as obviously so as the Nu
20 Geminorum (Gemini, double star, mag1=6.3, mag2=6.9, sep=19.7”, PA=211°):
I located this pair about 2.5° SSE of Nu
STTA 74 (Gemini, double star, mag1=7.1, mag2=8.8, sep=56.7”, PA=265°):
This easy and wide pair was uneven in visual brightness at 116x. The primary seemed blue-white while the secondary was white.
STF 889 (Gemini, double star, mag1=7.6, mag2=9.9, sep=6.2”, PA=122°):
Just 14.5’ southwest of the previous pair and in the same field of view I located this obvious pair. At 116x the pair was obviously uneven in brightness, and much closer together than the previous ones. However, they were still an easy split. I found the primary to have a subtle yellow tone while the secondary was white.
STF 1000 (Gemini, double star, mag1=8.0, mag2=9.0, sep=21.7”, PA=68°):
Up next was this slightly uneven pair of white suns, that were easily split using 116x. Interestingly, the primary component, HD 51690 also has a very tight mag 9.1 companion with a miniscule 0.23” separation that was of course out of reach visually.
The pair STT 520 was plotted in the IDSA, and I easily found what I thought was this double. Seeing two very widely spaced white stars that were of uneven magnitude at 116x. However, when writing this up, I discovered that the primary star, HD 55356, is in fact an extremely tight pair of mag 7.0 and 8.8, with a separation of only 0.60”. So in reality I did not see this pair. So in this case, it was the double that wasn’t!
STF 1110 (Gemini, double star, mag1=1.6, mag2=3.0, sep=4.2”, PA=60°):
This famous double star is more properly known as Alpha Geminorum or Castor. Easily swept up using 116x, the pair appeared rather uneven in brightness. Despite poor seeing conditions and disparate brightness I could discern them cleanly split. I did try at 152x, and they were easier of course, as an uneven pair of white stars.
STF 1108 (Gemini, double star, mag1=6.5, mag2=8.8, sep=11.6”, PA=179°):
Easily spotted with 116x, this unevenly bright pair was fairly wide. My eye saw the primary as yellow and the secondary as white.
STT 179 (Gemini, double star, mag1=3.6, mag2=8.2, sep=7.2”, PA=241°):
More formally known as Kappa Geminorum, this pair was iffy at 116x because of the glaring from Kappa. I then moved up to 152x and spotted the secondary as a clean split as a pair of white stars. After affixing its position I then returned to 116x and could pick up the secondary as a clean split, though a little tighter.
WNC 2 (Orion, double star, mag1=6.1, mag2=6.9, sep=3.0”, PA=159°):
For my final double this evening I moved over to Orion, west of the belt stars. In moments of steadiness in the seeing, Winnecke 2 was split as a pair of white pretty evenly bright components. I took looks at 152x and 217x, and they duo were easier to discern regardless of the seeing.
I was tired and a little chilled and ready to head back inside. But before I did so, I took a quick look at a couple of old favorites for a change of pace.
In the 12 inch at 116x this complex was bright and fairly detailed. It displayed numerous tendrils of nebulosity emanating outward from the center, which was dominated by the Trapezium cluster. While not as showy as it would be at our dark site, it was nonetheless a beautiful object. M43 was a dim afterthought immediately adjacent to the primary component to the north.
The field of the famous “Running Man” nebula was viewed with 116x north of the M42/43 complex. The prominent main stars were easily viewed and I was getting hints of possible nebulosity around them. However, given the poor seeing conditions and brightness of the stars, it could have simply been light scatter.
South of the M42/43 complex I easily picked up the field around Iota Orionis, and was seeing hints of nebulosity around it and nearby stars. This may have been real, or simply some light scatter in the poorer seeing conditions.
My final object was the famous Crab Nebula. Aiming the scope at mag 2.9 Zeta Tauri using the Rigel Quikfinder, I then moved to the 8x50 optical finder and using the two widely spaced 6th mag stars north of Zeta, I aimed the scope just west of the westernmost of these two stars and moved to the eyepiece. I immediately spotted the nebula within my field of view of the 13mm (116x). It was a little to the dim side but still easy. It was evenly illuminated across its face, large in angular size and was more or less oval in shape, but ragged along its edges. I did drop in the DGM NPB filter which boosted the contrast noticeably. This also caused the interior of the crab to appear uneven in brightness and the edges a little more ragged.
I was now finished. I put in a couple of hours in the back yard, dealing with an occasional neighbor’s light and enduring our brightening sky. It is amazing how much it has changed over the past few years, but I know I am far from alone in that problem. It simply is how it is in so many locations nowadays. Anyway, it appeased my desire to do some observing during a little break in our generally cloudy weather. But I can state here that chasing a few double stars did not appease me in the same manner as does chasing
Hope you get a chance to get out soon wherever you live. Keep looking up friends.
It would be even better if you use your frac, but I don't want to push my luck. 
Member of the RASC
