TheSkySearchers

04/15/2024

Location: home, Bortle 7.
Equipment: SW 182mm Mak on iOptron AZMP mount.

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)

The weather finally turning for the better. Sunday morning I have managed sunny window to try my new Lunt 50mm HA Solar scope, and Monday evening I got clear night sky.

20:30. I have started with asteroids. However, half Moon was high and combined with light pollution has worsen my star detection limit considerably. There were hardly any faint background stars visible in the EP, which made identification asteroids very difficult. After a few misses I decided to leave asteroids for now and switch to doubles.

21:08. Last week I had a productive session in Virgo and since it was again in the good portion of sky I have continued where I left there.

VIRGO DOUBLES

STF 1668 (7.8, 8.1, 1.1”) – yellow pair, snowman split at 245x, split by hair at 386x.

Gamma Vir (aka STF 1670, 3.5, 3.5, 12.1, 8.9, 9.5, ab2.6”, ad175.8”, ae260.4”, af422.5”). AB – beautiful pair of rich golden stars, highly recommended! This time however I came for the wide components, D, E and F. All three are white, providing nice contrast to the AB colors (148x).

STF 1673 AB (9.2, 10.9, 53”) – yellow pair (84x).
STF 1674 (8.8, 9.3, 2.4”) – yellow pair, tight split (148x).
STF 1677 (7.3, 8.1, 15.9”) – yellow pair (84x).
STT 577 (5.8, 8.7, 143”) – rich orange color of the primary is the main attraction of this wide pair (84x).
BUP 145 AC (6.1, 10.0, 139.2”) – beautiful combination of two off-white colors: snow-white and silvery (84x).

STF 1681 (8.9, 8.9, 9.2”) – pale yellow pair (84x).
STF 1682 (6.6, 9.7, 12.5, ab29.3”, ac142.1”) – colorful A (golden) and B (silver) pair with gray spec of C in a distance (148x).
STF 1683 (8.4, 10.7, 15.7”) – orange, navy (84x).
STF 1689 (7.1, 9.1, 29.2”) – orange, bluish (84x).
Delta Vir (aka BUP 146, 3.6, 11.8, 192.1”) – rich golden main with silvery spec in a distance (84x).

STF 1690 (7.2, 8.9, 5.9”) – blue, white, nice colors (84x).
STT 256 (7.3, 7.6, 1.1”) – yellow pair, tight clean split (386x).
STF 1693 (9.9, 10.5, 8.7”) – yellow pair (84x).
STF 1703 (8.1, 11.4, 8.7”) – yellow, gray (148x).
STF 1701 (7.6, 9.9, 21.4”) – golden, bluish (84x).

STF 1704 (5.8, 10.3, 20.8”) – snow-white, dark blue, nice color contrast (84x).
STF 1706 (7.8, 12.1, 31”) – orange, gray (148x).
STF 1708 (9.2, 10.4, 11.6”) – yellow, grayish yellow (84x).

Epsilon Vir (aka BUP 147, 2.8, 11.9, 272.8”) – once again the main attraction is the beautiful bright golden color of the main. Secondary is a gray spec in a distance, detected with AV (148x).

STF 1710 (9.5, 10.5, 2.6”) – yellow, gray (386x).
BU 928 AB (8.7, 9.6, 2.4”) – yellowish pair (386x).
STF 1712 (10.2, 10.6, 9.1”) – yellow pair (84x).
STF 1716 (8.3, 10.5, 12.9, ab2.9”, ac75.3’) – yellow, silver, gray (386x).

Finished around 23:00. Despite the bright Moon I have enjoyed this session better than last week. Mainly due to better seeing. Not just because I was able to push to high powers and split a few tough doubles, but also because the stars looked sharper, with richer colors.

I should also give it to the 7” SW Mak. It has been my main telescope for doubles for the last three years and it still amazes me to what crazy-high powers I can push it on doubles, and how beautifully sharp and colorful the stars look in it.

Great doubles run, Andrey! You are really digging out some faint ones!!

Certainly VROD worthy.

Dave

Thanks for your nice VROD worthy report.
Porrima , Vindemiatrix and Auva were clearly the highlights of the evening.
Amazing what good seeing, a good instrument and an experienced observer can do with the quality of the observations!

Thanks Dave and John!

Great report Andrey; I wish I had clear and warmer night skies. Good for you on the doubles as well, that's amazing! Now I wanna get a Mak...

Yup, a very nice VROD-worthy report, thanks for sharing

All the best,

Thefatkitty wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:41 pm Great report Andrey; I wish I had clear and warmer night skies. Good for you on the doubles as well, that's amazing! Now I wanna get a Mak...

Yup, a very nice VROD-worthy report, thanks for sharing

All the best,

Thanks Mark! I have/had a few Maks over the years. While smaller Maks (5" and below) are usable, I don't feel they offer anything special. Ones I owned had soft focus, dim views and washed-out colors. In this range I certainly prefer fracs. From 6" and up that's where Maks get interesting.

For a long time I wanted 6" APO frac, but not anymore since I feel 7" Mak is a good substitution at a fraction of cost, weight and size.

Very nice report Andrey and certainly VROD worthy as nominated. The views through the 7" Mak sound like a revelation. Congratulations on winning the VROD for the day!

viewtopic.php?p=270631#p270631

Thanks Michael!

Congratulations on the VROD!

congrat on the vrod and happy birthday .

Thanks John and Jean-Yves!

Very fine report Andrey, and a well deserved VROD. I wish I could see the colors in stars as well as I used to! Excellent run of doubles and agree with Dave, some fine dimmer systems there.

Thanks Alan! And we are back to rain and clouds again. This is the cloudiest winter/spring as far as I can remember.