Doubles, doubles everywhere.

[Brian DeJong]

What do you do when under a ful moon with crappy seeing conditions??  Well, I would like to suggest doubles.  A friend of mine was testing out his new telescope and I was working my way through the list of doubles from the July issue of Sky and telescope.  Under high magnification the contrast was great and the background sky looked nice and black.  It was a lot of fun searching them all down and comparing the virews.

So the next time you look out and see the full moon go out and search out some doubles, there are a lot of them out there.

Here are a few of my favorites.

ALDS87 - 31 Cygni  RA-20.13.36  Dec - +46.44.00
ALDS85 - Beta Cygni  RA - 19.30.42  Dec - +27.56.00
ALDS84 - Theta Serpentis  RA - 18.56.12  Dec - +04.12.00
ALDS73 - Rho Herculis  RA - 17.23.42  Dec - +37.09.00
ALDS77 - 95 Herculis  RA - 18.01.30  Dec - +21.36.00
ALDS68 - Mu Draconis  RA - 17.05.18  Dec - +54.28.00


Have fun with them.

[dsnay]

Agreed! I love to check out doubles from my light polluted front yard. That and open clusters make setting up worth the effort.

Dave

[Grizz]

I never give much thought to doubles...then I'll see one in the EP. After that I spend alot of time searching for them but I never go out with doubles in mind even if I do enjoy looking at them once I get started

Grizz

[Ron]

I never give much thought to doubles...then I'll see one in the EP. After that I spend alot of time searching for them but I never go out with doubles in mind even if I do enjoy looking at them once I get started

Grizz

Craig,

Same here, but I'm going to have to give them more time!  

I usually only get interested in them when someone at a star party is trying to split a very close pair, like Antares.

Ron

[Brian DeJong]

Just noticed that the Astronomical League has a doubles program. they have a list of 100 doubles to observe.   Looks like a nice program to get involved in.  It also turns out that Astroplanner has a full listing of the doubles required for the program.  I am going to start in on it as soon as I get some clear skies again.

http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/dblstar/dblstar1.html

[H44]

Doubles are a great way to test your optics too.

Find one that is near the resolving power of your instrument and see what it can do.  It is not uncommon to find a scope that can split a double beyond its theoretical resolving power.  I had an 8" f/6 once that split 36 Andromeda at a time when the pair were closer than most 8" scopes could not see it as two stars.

They are a lot of fun at star parties!

Brian S.

[Ron]

When is a double truly split?

Do you have to be able to see two distinct stars, or are they split if you can see them occasionally by using averted vision?

Some of the closer ones I have split, I can only see them pop out now and then by using averted vision.

Ron

[H44]

When is a double truly split?

Do you have to be able to see two distinct stars, or are they split if you can see them occasionally by using averted vision?

Some of the closer ones I have split, I can only see them pop out now and then by using averted vision.

Ron

When you can distinctly make out two stars with a dark space between them.  Due to seeing, it may come and go...

[Grizz]

I have a Colored doubles tour for my Autostar that I have never tried. I guess its time to give it a whirl.

Grizz

[Jean-Yves]

Great post Brian, very good idea, I'll give them a try,
Cheers

Jean-Yves