A Fine Time With Antares

[CoombellKid]

Having gotten myself a copy of the lastest S&S I eagerly turned to
Richard Jaworski's section called "Seeing Double". With the moon
past first quarter there wasn't any chance of chasing faint Hartung
objects. Richards article for Jul/Aug features doubles in Sorpius,
Which included splitting Antares. I have tried to no avail to split
Antares through my 8" f/6 Newt. So seeing how the seeing was the
best I've seen in months, I mean I had diffraction spikes as well as
diffaction rings or airy disc's, something I haven't seen in awhile.
So I looked into Richards selection and found C & D component
of Nu Scorpii had a similar separation of 2.4 arcsec to Antares and
it's companion which is 2.5 arcsec. I was able to split all four components
(A,B,C,D) of Nu Scorpii. I also found Sigma Scorpii's companion was
at a similar position angle of 273 to Antares and it's companion of 274.
So after I got an idea of separation and position off to Antares I went.
And there low and behold for the first time I was able to split Antares.
It's companion was quite obvious and right where I calculate it would be.

The observation was made under dark rural skies,
S: 8/10 T:8/10 @ 20:00 5/7/06

Give it a go, and tell me if you see it there!!

regards,CS
Rob

[ving]

what a copy cat! :P
i knew i should have registered "seeing double"!!!
and his list is also scorpius!!!
:)

i might have a go at antares tonight :)
thnx rob.

[astronut]

Ving, I'd sue:lol: :lol: :lol:

[CoombellKid]

LOL, sorry didn't see your thread til after I posted this one.
You could always call it "Pissed and Seeing Double" :lol:

I'll take your list with me to Astrofest :thumbsup:

regards,CS

Rob

[gbeal]

Good one Rob. I have had no luck with my 63mm Zeiss refractor, YET, but I am sure I will do it one day. My 80mm splits it easy enough, IF the conditions are favourable. BUT I have also had trouble with the 10" when the seeing wasn't on my side.
A couple of tricks, not that you need them now.
Partial twilight helps evidently, as does a green blue filter, not that they have for me. Some use an OIII.
The best way to establish where the companion is, is via the direction the star(s) move (without tracking). The companion is "leading" the primary.
Gary

[CoombellKid]

Thanks Gary,

It was a real treat to see, going to have another go tonight.
Was told once to use a UHC filter, and I saw a green companion
alright, the same green companion I saw on every bright star.
So I figure that really wasn't working. Never tried a OIII as
I dont have one. I Am going to get one later for my 20mm t5.

I guess I should also mention I use a Pentax 10mm XW with
a x2 meade #140 barlow, which gives me a power of x240

regards,CS

Rob

[mickoking]

I tried to split Antares last night with my 300mm Dob, no go. I spit it last year with my 120mm refractor.

[Starkler]

Its interesting how the companion looks very green and we all know there arent any real green stars. Its just an optical illusion caused by Antares being so red.

I have seen the companion in my 5" newt. Good seeing is the key and that companion always wants to sit right next to the diffraction spike :doh:

[ving]

poor seeing last night... twas a no go... :(

[CoombellKid]

Geoff, the companion appeared more gold than green,
to me anyways. The good thing about a newt on an
EQ mount is you can rotate the diffraction spikes out
of the way :D either way the companion was pretty
much sitting in the outer diffraction ring.

Ving, same here, no go last night the jetstream picked
up and Antares looked like a match head going off. Too
misty here tonight :rolleyes: I'll try again over the weekend
with the moon heading toward full, it may help to tone
down Antares

regards,CS

Rob

[ausastronomer]

The secondary often appears green when split in smaller scopes and blue when split in larger scopes. I think this is an artifact of aperture. AS geoff says, there are no green stars. I always get blue/grey in my 10".

A couple of additional tips on top of those Gary Beal provided. It is extremely seeing dependent, let it gain good altitude (which it has at the moment), good collimation helps a lot as do sharp, high light transmission eyepieces. I can usually tell by looking at other stars and how clean they focus, if the seeing is up to splitting Antares. If the seeing isn't good enough I just move on, I don't waste my time with filters etc; same with Nu Scorpii. For those with smaller scopes it is quite splittable under favourable conditions in a high quality 4" refractor.

CS-John B