Matt, whats the 3,5mm lv vixen like

[davidpretorius]

well worth it ving, lovely little blue companion, seen it twice now.

am trying to image it like asi did!

[ving (David)]

saw it visually dave or with your toucam?

[Robert_T]

Originally Posted by ving

antares with a 8"? why the hellnot!
seeing is everything of course

under average to good seeing conditions I found I could split Antares fairly comfortably with the Takahashi 210 (8.25in) and I have done it on one occasion under excellent seeing with the Mewlon 180 (7 inch).

cheers,

[ving (David)]

what magnification did you use robert?

[davidpretorius]

visually, twice late last month during that patch of great seeing i got.

I have been using antares to star test prior to imaging with the 5mm lv vixen. Upon focussing, i noticed the little blue guy and remember asi having mentioned it last year.

The next night i tried to image along with that quartet of yours in the area and then the next night i was able to view again.

I do like what i saw thru the two three taks at snake valley.

Once thing on my hit list is to spend a whole night just looking thru one

[Robert_T]

Originally Posted by ving

what magnification did you use robert?

needed to be >200x to get it comfortably Vingo

[ving (David)]

thanks robert-o


might give a shot soon then dave. got other observing plans for tonight tho

[matt]

DP. The LVW range gets progressively smaller as the focal length increases.

So, the 3.5mm is the largest of them all, and the 22mm is the smallest. There is also a 42mm in the range, but I'm unsure of dimensions.

It's all to do with how they achieve those 65 degree fields of view.

I seem to recall the same things happens with the XWs??? I think Mike's 7mm would be larger than my 10mm, but I could be wrong on this.

I'm sure someone will confirm or correct

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by matt

a 130mm newt?

Yep, this one.

[matt]

I can happily report I managed the Antares split this morn!!! (3-30am)

Seeing was only average so it was a little "mushy" with the 5mm LVW in my 8" newt at 200x...

But there it was .... the little blue pup right beside it's larger orange mumma

You're right. It's very do-able in the 8". I think it's gonna look very nice in steadier seeing.

Thanks for encouraging me to have a go at it.

[davidpretorius]

well done, it is a nice colour eh!

[matt]

Yeah. I like it Davo.

I'm actaully starting to warm to the idea of chasing doubles. Especially when you get such a dramatic contrast in colours.

38Gem also has a similar red-blue pairing.

They do make for a very nice view, especially when so many other objects really don't feature much colour at the eyepiece. Cheers

[davidpretorius]

there is another one i am chasing and i noticed it is now in the morning sky

gamma 2 delphini

orange / blue.

I really want to image this couple

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by Starkler

Im fairly certain that I glimpsed Antares pup with my 130mm newt.
What counts most for this is the seeing conditions.

Geoff,

Your absolutely right here.

I have split Antares many times in scopes down to a 4" refractor. When the seeing is very steady its not all that difficult in a 5" newt. The seeing is the thing

CS-John B

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by JohnG

Am going to have another go at Antares with the FS-102, I thought, I had it last year, could see something but wasn't 100% sure, I will be using around 7 - 5mm although I have a 3mm Radian.

JohnG

John,

I have split Antares several times in a TAK FS-102. Also split it the other night pretty easily in Rocket Boy's TAK TOA-130. In the smaller Apertures like 4" and 5" your going to need around 150X to 200X and good seeing. The other important factor is to wait until it has good elevation. There is no point even wasting your time while its down low.

CS-John B

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by davidpretorius

there is another one i am chasing and i noticed it is now in the morning sky

gamma 2 delphini

orange / blue.

I really want to image this couple

David/Matt

Not sure if you guys were here when we had the "Monthly Observing Challenge". The files are still available and I have posted a link to them. I selected the double stars and did the write ups for them. If you haven't observed these doubles before they are all really nice. Several have a lovely colour contrast. If your interested in Double/Multiple stars, these are worth observing now and in the coming months and suited to smaller/medium apertures. Here they all are with a link to the page contining the write ups:-

May 2005 - X Velorum (Dunlop 95) in Vela

June 2005 - 24 Comae in Coma Berenices

July 2005 - HN40 at the heart of the Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius

August 2005 - Gamma Delphinus

September 2005 - h5003 in Sagittarius

October 2005 - Rho Ophiuchus in Ophiuchus
BTW Mike is the one who spells "Ophiuchus" incorrectly in the Challenge notes, com'on Mike learn to speeellll thats an easy one

November 2005 - Theta Eridanus (Acamar) in Eridanus

December 2005 - Sigma Orionis in Orion

Another very nice double worth taking a look at which is currently nicely placed early evening is h3945 in Canis Major. This is a really nice bright yellow/blue double and not too dissimilar visually to X Velorum only it's not quite as bright being about Mag 4.5. It is about 2 degrees south of a nice open cluster in NGC 2362.

There are also 4 or 5 nice orange/blue doubles within about 3 degrees of X Velorum. Not as bright but still nice and easily separated at about 60X to 80 X with medium aperture. Not sure of their names (I think 1 is Dunlop 89) but they are easy to find by just panning in a line between Eta Carina and the Gem Cluster

CS-John B

[JohnG (John)]

Originally Posted by ausastronomer

John,

I have split Antares several times in a TAK FS-102. Also split it the other night pretty easily in Rocket Boy's TAK TOA-130. In the smaller Apertures like 4" and 5" your going to need around 150X to 200X and good seeing. The other important factor is to wait until it has good elevation. There is no point even wasting your time while its down low.

CS-John B

Thanks for that John.

I thought I had it last year but wasn't sure, if the seeing here on the coast ever settles, I will definately try it after midnight, hopeless at the moment, thanks for the tip.

Cheers

JohnG

[matt]

Thanks John

That little lot should keep me busy for a while

Very kind of you, as always.

[ving (David)]

congrats on the split matt