Vega and the Double Double - April, May 2008
Vega and the Double Double - April, May 2008
You say Wega and I say Vega
Spring in New England is rarely warm, but a bright star in the East can warm the heart when you first see it each year. Summer is on the way! Let's see who can be first to make a nice description of Vega (brightness, color, etc.). A little to the north of Vega is Epsilon Lyra. It looks like a star, but look carefully with the naked eye, binoculars and as small a scope as possible. Is it one, two or fours stars that you see at each level of magnification. Who will split these first, and with the least magnification.
Rating:
Vega: Easy -- Not as bright as Sirius, but plenty bright in the NE after about 11pm.
Epsilon Lyra: Easy to Moderately Hard For first timers figuring out which of the stars is eps Lyra is a nice first step. Then confirming it as a double with binoculars will give you a nice sense of accomplishment (Some can see the double naked eye, but it takes keen eyes). With a four inch scope and good seeing you can resolve each of these two stars into close double stars. For more information: http://seds.org/Maps/Stars_en/Fig/lyra.html
Spring in New England is rarely warm, but a bright star in the East can warm the heart when you first see it each year. Summer is on the way! Let's see who can be first to make a nice description of Vega (brightness, color, etc.). A little to the north of Vega is Epsilon Lyra. It looks like a star, but look carefully with the naked eye, binoculars and as small a scope as possible. Is it one, two or fours stars that you see at each level of magnification. Who will split these first, and with the least magnification.
Rating:
Vega: Easy -- Not as bright as Sirius, but plenty bright in the NE after about 11pm.
Epsilon Lyra: Easy to Moderately Hard For first timers figuring out which of the stars is eps Lyra is a nice first step. Then confirming it as a double with binoculars will give you a nice sense of accomplishment (Some can see the double naked eye, but it takes keen eyes). With a four inch scope and good seeing you can resolve each of these two stars into close double stars. For more information: http://seds.org/Maps/Stars_en/Fig/lyra.html
Last edited by BobSikes on Sun May 11, 2008 12:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
A VERY wide Double Star
If you have a low horizon, or can find gaps between houses and trees, you can spot the Winter Star sinking into the west while the Summer Star has poked up over the eastern horizon. But not for long. Get out there at about 10pm.
But first, check out my shot of this very widely placed pair of stars (an optical double for The Exorcist Girl) . Be sure to scroll the image horizontally.
http://home.comcast.net/~sikesassne101/ ... 20Vega.jpg
[The Stars are 160 degress apart and both only 13 deg above the horizon. Good Luck! Shot with my new Olympus E510 - f2.8 35mm lens, 2 sec exposures and lots of stitching with HP panorama maker]
But first, check out my shot of this very widely placed pair of stars (an optical double for The Exorcist Girl) . Be sure to scroll the image horizontally.
http://home.comcast.net/~sikesassne101/ ... 20Vega.jpg
[The Stars are 160 degress apart and both only 13 deg above the horizon. Good Luck! Shot with my new Olympus E510 - f2.8 35mm lens, 2 sec exposures and lots of stitching with HP panorama maker]
Bob M,
Hehehe close Bob it's a wider field EP but not that wide!
Bob S,
Does splitting both componants of Epsilon Lyra at 11:45p on 4/16 with a 30 mm EP work for you? It works out to 135.466666666x. And I think about 20 degrees off the horizon. Again Bob M, Joe, & myself confirmed this.
Hehehe close Bob it's a wider field EP but not that wide!
Bob S,
Does splitting both componants of Epsilon Lyra at 11:45p on 4/16 with a 30 mm EP work for you? It works out to 135.466666666x. And I think about 20 degrees off the horizon. Again Bob M, Joe, & myself confirmed this.
Clear skies,
Mark
iOptron CEM25P w/ Tri-pier
CGEM DX
LXD750 w/ CDS #1697
LXD75 w/ #497 autostar Hypertuned
Antares 8" f/5 Newt
Antares 4" f/15 "Vixen Spec" long focus refractor
Orion 4" f/7 ED refractor
Astro-Tech 65mm Quad APO
and so much more
Mark
iOptron CEM25P w/ Tri-pier
CGEM DX
LXD750 w/ CDS #1697
LXD75 w/ #497 autostar Hypertuned
Antares 8" f/5 Newt
Antares 4" f/15 "Vixen Spec" long focus refractor
Orion 4" f/7 ED refractor
Astro-Tech 65mm Quad APO
and so much more
Nice with low power
Nice job with a 30 mm eye piece! I always have to use a 12mm= to really split it with the 8"
What was the scope, focal length, mag?
BobS
What was the scope, focal length, mag?
BobS
Re: Nice with low power
16" LX200 at UMD f.l. is 4064 mm so 135.5x. The seeing wasn't good at all so close to the horizon.BobSikes wrote:Nice job with a 30 mm eye piece! I always have to use a 12mm= to really split it with the 8"
What was the scope, focal length, mag?
BobS
It was a very impromptu gathering. All works fine at the observatory, and we even called the police to let them know we would be there.
Clear skies,
Mark
iOptron CEM25P w/ Tri-pier
CGEM DX
LXD750 w/ CDS #1697
LXD75 w/ #497 autostar Hypertuned
Antares 8" f/5 Newt
Antares 4" f/15 "Vixen Spec" long focus refractor
Orion 4" f/7 ED refractor
Astro-Tech 65mm Quad APO
and so much more
Mark
iOptron CEM25P w/ Tri-pier
CGEM DX
LXD750 w/ CDS #1697
LXD75 w/ #497 autostar Hypertuned
Antares 8" f/5 Newt
Antares 4" f/15 "Vixen Spec" long focus refractor
Orion 4" f/7 ED refractor
Astro-Tech 65mm Quad APO
and so much more
First with 16"
First to Split the Double Double -- 16" Scope Division Winners
Contrats to our first winners. Now how about first to split the double double with a 12", 10", 8", 5", 4", 90mm, 60mm, Light Thimble, etc.
Go for it folks!
As Mark pointed out, Vega is pretty low in the sky right now. The higher it gets in the sky the better your chance is to split it.
BobS
Contrats to our first winners. Now how about first to split the double double with a 12", 10", 8", 5", 4", 90mm, 60mm, Light Thimble, etc.
Go for it folks!
As Mark pointed out, Vega is pretty low in the sky right now. The higher it gets in the sky the better your chance is to split it.
BobS
Oh come on now... Vega is only low if your looking at it at 11:00PM. When I was outside at 4:00AM Vega was right overhead, almost at zenith.As Mark pointed out, Vega is pretty low in the sky right now. The higher it gets in the sky the better your chance is to split it.
Paul...
16" f/5 Night Sky Truss (Midnight Mistress)
10" f/5 Home built Dob with Parks mirror.
Pre-Meade PST
Celestron Skymaster Binos 25-125x80
Meade Travelview Binos 10x50
See that 16" in the sleek black dress? She is all mine. :)
16" f/5 Night Sky Truss (Midnight Mistress)
10" f/5 Home built Dob with Parks mirror.
Pre-Meade PST
Celestron Skymaster Binos 25-125x80
Meade Travelview Binos 10x50
See that 16" in the sleek black dress? She is all mine. :)