Location: home,
Equipment:
EPs:
TV Plossl 32mm, 50 deg (84x, 2.2mm exit pupil, 0.59 deg TFV)
TV Delite 18.2mm. 62 deg (148x, 1.2mm exit pupil, 0.42 deg TFV)
TV Delite 11mm, 62 deg (245x, 0.7mm exit pupil, 15’ TFV)
TV Delite 7mm, 62 deg (386x, 0.5 exit pupil, 9.6’ TFV)
TV Delite 4mm, 62 deg (675x, 0.27 exit pupil, 5.4’ TFV)
It has been three months since my last session. This was the cloudiest winter ever and storms did their best to arrive on weekends and holidays.
On the positive side our garden is doing great after all the rain. Everything is blooming. Here are pics of our orange, peach, and avocado trees.Went inside to have a dinner and came out around 20:00. Usually, AZMP auto-alignment is fast and easy. This time it failed to align at first. Could be something to do with the recent time change or maybe it did not like sitting for 3 months in the basement.
Next round went better but then I had problem with the mount talking to the SkySafari on my phone. Took almost an hour to sort it out.By 21:00 it was all resolved. I have started with Jupiter, but it was low to horizon and boiling in the
I have proceeded with my main course for the evening – splitting doubles. Finding good hunting ground at my backyard observing spot is tricky. I try to avoid western half of the sky where light pollution is stronger. But then in the eastern half there are a few large trees, so I have to observe in between. Also, there was some dew precipitating, and I did not want to expose my scope corrector plate to the sky by aiming too high. After taking all factors into account I have narrowed it down to the south-eastern portion of the sky where Virgo was rising. Virgo is famous for it's galaxies, but it is also a treasure trove of fine doubles. I have done many sessions there and still have plenty to go.
VIRGO DOUBLES
RST 4484 (8.5, 8.4, 0.7”) – tough but neat pair of yellow stars, snowman split (245x, 386x).
STF 1619 (8.1, 8.3, 10.5, ab7”, ac99.1”). AB - close pair of bright, lemon stars, C – silver dot in a distance, nice colors and contrast (84x).
STF 1620 (9.1, 10.4, 2.2”) – pale yellow, gray, clean tight split at 386x.
STF 1621 (10.2, 10.6, 1.7”) – white pair, touching split, two fuzzy orbs at 675x.
STF 1623 (9.0, 10.5, 45.9”) – yellow, bluish (84x).
HEI 3 (8.8, 10.8, 2.7”) – white pair, fuzzy at high power, touching split (386x).
STF 1628 (9.5, 10.1, 11.8, ab9.5”, ac45.3”). AB – yellow pair (84x), C – faint gun metal spec in a distance (148x).
STF 1629 (10.0, 12.2, 24.7”) – white, silver (245x).
STF 1635 (8.6, 9.7, 13.4”) – yellow, bluish (84x).
HJ 210 AB,D (8.5, 10.2, 24.8”) – yellow, silver (84x).
FOX 175 (8.4, 10.1, 62.2”) – yellow, silver (84x).
STF 1644 (9.2, 9.9, 19”) – white pair in the same
HDS 1754 (8.6, 10.6, 7.4”) – yellow, gun metal (148x).
BU 797 (9.1, 9.4, 10.1, ab0.6”, ac77”). AB – FAIL, AC – yellowish, white (84x).
STF 1661 (9.2, 9.2, 2.3”) – yellowish pair, tight clean split (245x).
S 639 (6.8, 10.0, 10.2, ab56.8”, ac164.9”) – wide triple with beautiful golden main and white companions (84x).
STF 1665 (9.1, 9.7, 8.6”) – orange pair (84x).
ENG 47 (4.8, 8.8, 10.6, 9.0, ab176.8”, bc100.9”, ad320.9”) – attractive wide system of richly golden main with three white companions (84x).
I have finished around 23:00. It was a good run.
