Unfriended of the stars of late.

"Some nights have been 
wholly unfriended of the stars of late".

Joseph H. Elgie author of "The stars night by night".

Of late, the  nights of Pembrokeshire have definitely been "unfriended" of stars!

Between the mist, rain and snow blizzards, astronomy has taken a back seat this past month or so.

But never mind, tonight looked perfect for stargazing. 

Several of the Little Bear stars were on show, a welcome sign of a possible good night's viewing.

Maksutov 90mm/f13.8 Catadioptric

It was time to take out the little 90mm Maksutov.

As big bright Orion was well placed ,first light in the viewfinder went to the uppermost star in Orion's Belt, Mintaka, a lovely white primary with a slightly bluish secondary. 

The trapezium's  four stars next, all perfectly round shining white, not a hint of flare or fuzziness.

Rigel's secondary was difficult to locate tonight, but it was possible to pick out its obvious blue tint.

Next Messier 44 the beehive or in Latin Praesepe.  With a 40mm plossl all looked bright and clear. 

Though to my mind, the Beehive always shows its best in binoculars.

Over then to Leo, and one of my favourite doubles Algeiba. 
A yellow primary with a green/yellow secondary. 

Occasionally the secondary to my eye appears slightly purple in colour. 

Plate 7 clearly showing Rigel's bluish  comes.

Atmospherics, different types of telescope and eyepieces, and probably my mood at the time combine to alter the colour of some double stars.

Over we go to Gemini. Castor next. 
Both primary and secondary beautiful ice white in colour. 

The primary and secondary could be twins, though the secondary is slightly smaller.

The little Maksutov sat on a chair and with the help of its red dot finder I was able to locate all objects that came to mind. 

I may one day look for a long legged tripod, but for now the little table top legs of the Maksutov will more than suffice for my style of observing.

If you want a portable all round decent scope for hunting down double stars, I highly recommend these little telescopes.


Clear skies 

Mark

The wonky Plough in Orion's Belt.

Saturday 27th of January 2018 - 10x50 binoculars- Gibbous light

Apart from clouds hugging the nearby hill of Foel Drygarn, tonight's sky was clear and bathed in a wonderful gibbous moonlight.

Over the village of Crymych, only the 1st to 3rd magnitude stars were visible.

Out of all the twinkling luminaries, the three stars of Orion's belt grabbed my attention.

With only binoculars to view, I spent several minutes just observing the belt. The stars near Alnilam took on the appearance of the Plough asterism, albeit a bit of a wonky plough!

What could be called the "pointers" of the wonky Plough, laid a direct path to the beautiful yellowish/orange star called 31 Orionis.

Orion's belt and its surrounding meadow of stars can keep the binocular astronomer busy for hours.

Even though this evenings sky was washed out by moonlight, and my binoculars are one step away from the dustbin! (I must find myself a better set) it was a joy tonight to wander amongst the stars of the Three Kings.



Clear Skies

Mark.
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