Observations


Date/Time : 2002-08-20-04:00
Observer : Peter C. Chapin
Equipment :
Location :

I've had my telescope (75mm Unitron refractor) in storage for over a year while my wife and I worked on some renovations around the house. I took it out of storage just a couple of days ago and set it up for easy access. Tonight was the first time I've used my scope in months. I had to rebalance it and realign the finder but basically it seemed to work fine.

Tonight was clear, cool, and not nearly as hazy as it has been the last few nights. The moon was fat (only two days from full) and was washing out a good part of the sky. Limiting magnitude in Cyg, on zenith, was probably 4.5 (estimated). However, my targets tonight were double stars and they are not as affected by extra light as deep sky objects would have been.

Note: The technical information on the doubles was taken from "Norton's 2000.0 Star Atlas and Reference Handbook"


Object ADS-14279
Name Gamma Del
Type star/multiple
Constellation Del
Magnitudes A=4.5 B=5.5
Separations AB=9.6"

NOTES

Easily split in the 25mm. Nice view. The stars are close enough to be interesting, but not so close as to be difficult. The stars exhibited a nice color contrast. The brighter star was yellowish and the fainter one seemed to have a blue/white color.


Object ADS-13442
Name Theta Sge
Type star/multiple
Constellation Sge
Magnitudes A=6.5 B=9.0
Separations AB=11.9"

NOTES

Looks like a wide double in the finder. However, in the 25mm eyepiece shows that the brighter star of the "finder double" is the actual double of interest (Theta). The companion is quite a bit fainter than the primary but still easy to see.


Object ADS-13765
Name Gamma Cyg
Type star/multiple
Constellation Cyg
Magnitudes A=2.2 B=9.5
Separations AB=41.2"

NOTES

Right in the middle of the cross. Despite the wide separation I was not able to confirm a sighting of the secondary. I used a variety of magnifications. The secondary might be too faint to see with direct vision but averted vision increased the glare from the primary considerably and could easily bury the much fainter secondary.


Object NGC-6910
Type cluster/open
Constellation Cyg

NOTES

This cluster is immediately to the north of Gamma Cyg and so I thought I might as well check it out while I was in the area. Averted vision showed a clear enrichment of the sky background in one particular spot in the right vicinity (using 25mm eyepiece). There were several bright foreground stars and a sense of many additional stars just out of reach. This object might look very interesting in a larger scope or on a more suitable night.


Object ADS-14259
Name 52 Cyg
Type star/multiple
Constellation Cyg
Magnitudes A=4.2 B=9.4
Separations AB=6.0"

NOTES

Unable to resolve. I used several different magnifications (25mm, 18mm, 12.5mm, 9mm). I'm sure the large difference in magnitudes was the problem. I had hoped that I would have more luck with this than with Gamma Cyg since the primary isn't quite as bright. However, the two stars are also much closer together. Note that this star is involved with one branch of the Veil Nebula (it often shows up very brightly in pictures of the Veil). Of course I was not able to see the Veil Nebula tonight!


Object ADS-14158
Name 49 Cyg
Type star/multiple
Constellation Cyg
Magnitudes A=5.7 B=7.8
Separations AB=2.7"

NOTES

Unable to resolve. I expected this one to be tough in my 75mm Unitron. Although the separation is reasonable, the difference in magnitude, while not extreme, is enough to be difficult when the stars are that close. I took a hard look at the star, however, using all eyepieces up to the 6mm. I could see 49 Cyg as a small, well focused disk surrounded by three clear diffraction rings. The seeing tonight was quite good; even at high magnification the star image held steady. However, I could not see the secondary. I did notice some brightening in one side of the diffraction rings at times, but the rings are not uniform anyway (my 'scope isn't perfect... what can I say) and I wasn't able to confirm a sighting.


Object ADS-14636
Name 61 Cyg
Type star/multiple
Constellation Cyg
Magnitudes A=5.2 B=6.0
Separations AB=30.3"

NOTES

Wide and easy. I was able to split this double in the finder. The stars have about equal magnitudes and both look a bit reddish. Averted vision gave me the impression that there was a cluster nearby. I seemed to see a faint group of stars just to the side of 61 Cyg. There is nothing plotted in any of my atlases so it was probably just a bit of rich Milky Way background.