[Tropo-Bob (Bob)]

I observed these with my Vixen 115mm last night. The weather was very clear, but seeing was lacking. When looking at Jupiter, I saw far less detail than I would have expected. I even took out a second scope at one stage to make sure something was not wrong with my 115mm. (There wasn't)

Fortunately, most of these were not challenging objects so I was able to procede.


Objects of interest:

Kappa Easy 4.5 & 6.7 (in the same field is the very wide double Iota Boo).
This is a lovely pair that was easily split at 36x. They both appeared about the same colour to me, but was not sure if that was a creamy-white or yellow. My awe was enhanced by seeing Iota in the same field with its much wider seperation.

Pi (4.9 & 5.8) Long term binary
I thought these looked creamy white and light yellow, but most of the guides say they are pure white. Maybe the conditions or my eyesight was a little red-shifted last night! They were nicely split at 60x, but very difficult at 36x.

Xi Binary (150 years) 4.7 &7.0- 21Light years away, both are young solar-type stars.
It appeared to be orange with a deep red companion. I was impressed with the colours, but am less certain now, as again my observations seemed to have been redshifted. Again, nice at 60x, very difficult at 36x.

44 Binary (225 years) Closing and more difficult after 2020 says Collins guide. (5.3 & variable (5.8 to 6.4 in 6.5 hours)).
I could not split this. I used up to 180x, but it just looked like a swollen mess. I will try again.

Struve 1835 Colourful double (5 & 6.8) Position 14h 23; +8.27.
Appeared to be yellow with a blue/green companion. Split at 60x, difficult at 36x.


The Main Stars:

All five of these stars were easily visible to the eye.

Alpha Bootis (Boo)Arcturus - Appeared light orange and very bright, of couse.

Beta Boo (Nekkar)- It appeared to be light orange. As often is the case, this was not the second brightest star in Boötes.

Gamma Boo (Seginus)- Appeared yellow.

Delta Boo- Appeared as a deep-yellow colour. I failed to notice its superwide companion. I was not looking for it and it did not 'pop out' to me.

Epsilon Boo (Izar) - Because of the conditions, I could not split this very well tonight; it actually looked a bit of a mess. I saw it much better on the previous night, but failed to make any observations re colour ect. I will report again after seeing improves.

Other remarks:
I did try to observe the faint globular NGC5466, but had no luck. Apparently it is faint and lacks a central core. I star hopped to the exact place but saw nothing. Hopefully, I will get a chance to look for this again with a larger scope under dark skies.