I can relate wholeheartedly to your tale Grant. I had very clear memories of what this double looked like in my 1980 Tasco 114mm reflector - 2 beautiful glowing gems side by side with interacting airy disks. I was also worried about my eyesight when I dug my old scope out and set it up a few years ago. I put it down to poor seeing and not letting the scope cool. It wasn't until I put my new 8" on it I realised something fishy was going on
Looks like its all downhill until about 2025, then about 2075 before we'll get a similar distance apart again (just doing some quickly playing in Starry Night).
You're right - we must be getting old when we notice the stars have moved around...
