Observations

My plan for the evening was to look at some stars in Her. At one point I saw a rather nice meteor moving northward through Cyg, approximately parallel to the main axis of the constellation. I also noticed, over the course of the evening, several satellites. They were all moving south to north through the Hercules area. In one case I caught one flashing through my 133x field of view!

I saw the first firefly of the season tonight as well.

NOTES

This was a very nice double. It was barely resolved with the 25mm eyepiece but the best view was with 9mm. At 133x there was quite a bit of separation between the components but not so much as to be "wide"; they made a pleasing pair. The secondary is noticeably fainter than the primary but not excessively so. The secondary appeared slightly blue-grey compared to the primary but it could easily have been an illusion.

NOTES

I observed this star at several magnifications including with the 9mm (133x). I was unable to see the secondary due, presumably, to its faintness. The glare from the primary was excessive when averted vision was used and direct vision was apparently not enough to see the faint companion.

NOTES

I got a very nice view of this cluster in my new 10x60 binoculars. The 10x magnification was enough to show the cluster well without spreading it out too much. The cluster appeared reasonably rich and interesting. I got the impression that it was somewhat oblong in shape.

NOTES

Easily resolved with higher magnifications. I got the best view with the 9mm eyepiece. The secondary is considerably fainter than the primary and somewhat "involved" with the glare from the primary. It is, however, distinct from that glare and visible without any question. The primary was clearly orange while the secondary might have had a slight greenish hue. Overall I found the glare from the primary to be a detraction; I felt that Rho Her was more satisfying overall.

NOTES

Despite the wide separation I found this double somewhat tricky due to the faintness of the secondary. With the 25mm eyepiece (48x) it was difficult, though possible, to see the secondary using averted vision. The glare from the primary was the main problem. At a higher magnification the secondary was more easily seen because it was farther from the primary and thus more inclined to be out of the primary's glare. I got the best overall view with the 12.5mm (96x). Alas, the wide separation and the faintness of the secondary didn't make this a very satisfying double. It didn't really "feel" like a double at all.

NOTES

Easily split using even the 25mm eyepiece. This was a very nice double. The near equal magnitudes and relatively close separation gave a very satisfying view. Both stars appeared basically white although one star did appear to have a slight reddish hue compared to the other. The best overall view was with the 18mm eyepiece.

NOTES

Based on my experience with ADS-10535 I was expecting this double to also be somewhat disappointing. However, despite the wide separation and faint secondary it actually gave a rather nice view. The secondary showed up fine with the 25mm and was easily visible with direct vision. The glare from the primary was also not excessive. I think the main reason why this double was more satisfying than ADS-10535 was because averted vision was not required to see either component.