September 23, 2008
Love - who understands it?
Looking at giant Rigel this morning - 40,000 times brighter than our Sun - I found myself pondering two questions: 1. Why do I love double stars so? 2. And why do I love this little 80mm Orion Eon telescope...
April 03, 2008
More observations with 120ST and "Contellation View"
April 3, 2008 - 3:15 am - 5:30 am - T4-5, S3 This was a wonderful, refreshing session, though cold got to my hands once ina while. What I did most of the time was play with the Orion...
March 15, 2008
Seeing the "Pup" - how can you be sure?
There's a lot of excitement this observing season about seeing Sirius "B" - known affectionately as "The Pup" since it is a white dwarf that orbits Sirius, the "Dog Star." It's especially hard to see because: The Pup is close...
February 20, 2008
Rascal or Rasalgethi - I got you this time!
February 19-20, 2008 Rasalgethi, which had fooled me a few morning ago, didn't escape this morning. This is one of those very rare red supergiants - one of just ten we can see with the naked eye, but even more...
January 31, 2008
Less is OK, but more is better . . . much better
January 30-31 - Another "double" night - double stars, and observing on both the pm and am sides, but there was also some time for some more images through the AT66 with MallinCam video. My main focus was to test...
May 03, 2007
Viewing a second 'double double' and 'discovering' a third!
Seems I learn something new every night – and maybe discover something new to. I always thought the Double Double was, well THE Double Double. I'm talking about the well-known – and challenging pair of double stars known as Epsilon...
April 14, 2007
3.5mm Hyperion , 80 ED, split the Double-Double
You know I like the Hyperion 8-24 zoom. Add to that the 3.5mm, 68-degree Hyperion from Baader Planetarium. I tried it briefly last night on the 8-inch LX90 and found it the most comfortable, high-powered eyepiece I have used....
April 13, 2007
Pick a double star - any double star . . .
A simple challenge: Choose a reasonably close double star. Look at the pair in your scope with an eyepiece of fixed focal length that splits the pair cleanly, but not widely. That is, you should see black sky between them...
