Observations

As with last night my plan for tonight was to observe double stars. I focused this evening on Aql using my "SkyAtlas 2000" and Antonin Becvar's "Atlas of the Heavens Catalog 1950.0" to prepare my observing plan.

The moon was close to full and it washed out a significant amount of the sky. The air was fairly clear and free of haze, however. There were a few clouds now and then that caused some problems, but they could be worked around. The seeing was good, but not as good as last night (perhaps this was because I was observing objects just over the roof of my house). Stellar images appeared steady at medium magnification but showed a lot of distortions at extreme magnification ("extreme" means 200x with my 75mm Unitron).

NOTES

This double was easily split. I could barely make out the secondary using the 25mm but it showed up without any problems at higher magnification. I liked the view with the 12.5mm best. The secondary is quite a bit fainter than primary. Overall this was an Interesting double.

NOTES

I was unable to resolve this double. Although this pair is quite close, the nearly equal magnitudes made it seem approachable. I found the double surprisingly easy to locate (work from Aql). I examined the star closely at all magnifications. With the 6mm (200x) I got a sense of the star being oblong but I can't say that I was able to resolve it. The stars appear rather faint with direct vision. It might be easier to resolve on a darker night.

NOTES

I was able to resolve this one with some difficulty due to the brightness difference. Interestingly I got the best view with my low power eyepiece (25mm). Direct vision focused the stars nicely and the faint secondary was still visible resulting in a rather satisfying view. The primary didn't create an excessive amount of glare under those conditions. Averted vision showed the secondary more brightly, of course, but also increased the glare.

NOTES

This double was very easy in the 25mm eyepiece. I could even resolve it in my 8x finder. Actually I found the finder view rather nice. In the scope the stars were almost too far apart to be interesting. There wasn't any color contrast that I could notice.

NOTES

This double is considered a test for a 75mm telescope. I have split it at times in the past however I was unable to do so this night. I studied the star at all higher magnifications. In the occasional moments of good seeing I got the impression that it might be resolving, but I couldn't confirm that.

NOTES

Surprisingly I was able to resolve this double. I did find it tricky, however. The secondary looked almost like an artifact in the diffraction rings of the primary. However, there was really no mistaking it. The secondary was clearly visible. I got a good view with the 9mm eyepiece.