ANN: Gamma Virginis 2005

Latest Hanwell Community Observatory double stars news: Gamma Virginis 2005,
the most spectacular binary star event of the century - don't miss it!

http://www.hanwellobservatory.org.uk/

"David Randell" wrote in message
...
Latest Hanwell Community Observatory double stars news: Gamma Virginis
2005,
the most spectacular binary star event of the century - don't miss it!

http://www.hanwellobservatory.org.uk/


Thanks for the news on this one David,

It would be interesting to see how close to periastron an image of the pair
can be obtained by applying the imaging and processing techniques pioneered
by the webcam planetary imagers.

Robin

On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 13:02:00 -0000, "Robin Leadbeater"
wrote:


"David Randell" wrote in message
...
Latest Hanwell Community Observatory double stars news: Gamma Virginis
2005,
the most spectacular binary star event of the century - don't miss it!

http://www.hanwellobservatory.org.uk/


Thanks for the news on this one David,

It would be interesting to see how close to periastron an image of the pair
can be obtained by applying the imaging and processing techniques pioneered
by the webcam planetary imagers.

Indeed ;-) Easy target (in terms of location) but not so comfortable
with the small separation. I notice that observations have been done
at x800+ !
--
Pete
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk

In article , Pete Lawrence wrote:
On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 13:02:00 -0000, "Robin Leadbeater"
wrote:


"David Randell" wrote in message
...
Latest Hanwell Community Observatory double stars news: Gamma Virginis
2005,
the most spectacular binary star event of the century - don't miss it!

http://www.hanwellobservatory.org.uk/


Thanks for the news on this one David,

It would be interesting to see how close to periastron an image of the pair
can be obtained by applying the imaging and processing techniques pioneered
by the webcam planetary imagers.

Indeed ;-) Easy target (in terms of location) but not so comfortable
with the small separation. I notice that observations have been done
at x800+ !

Crikey. That's going to be a bit of a challenge in the 3"..!

Jim
--
Find me at http://www.ursaMinorBeta.co.uk
"Brace yourself, this might make your eyes water."

Pete Lawrence wrote:

On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 13:02:00 -0000, "Robin Leadbeater"
wrote:



"David Randell" wrote in message
...


Latest Hanwell Community Observatory double stars news: Gamma Virginis


2005,


the most spectacular binary star event of the century - don't miss it!

http://www.hanwellobservatory.org.uk/



Thanks for the news on this one David,

It would be interesting to see how close to periastron an image of the pair
can be obtained by applying the imaging and processing techniques pioneered
by the webcam planetary imagers.



Indeed ;-) Easy target (in terms of location) but not so comfortable
with the small separation. I notice that observations have been done
at x800+ !

My thanks also to David Randell for this wonderful and rare imaging
opportunity! One of my pride and joys with my C14 is/was the work on
double star systems!

Anthony.

Thanks for the heads-up, David. I wondered what the source is for
"the commonly-quoted periastron date of 2007-8" that you site. I am
running the binary star spreadsheet based on the "Sixth Catalogue of
Orbits of Visual Binary Stars", and it shows periastron occurring
pretty much in line with your May 2005 time frame.

That orbit results in a periastron separation of 0.35". It should be
interesting to see how much closer than that they come, as your
analysis predicts.

Tom




David Randell wrote:
Latest Hanwell Community Observatory double stars news: Gamma
Virginis 2005,
the most spectacular binary star event of the century - don't miss
it!

http://www.hanwellobservatory.org.uk/

... I notice that observations have been done
at x800+ !

Hi Pete,

....and the altazimuth mounted instrument is not driven either!

Christopher Taylor regularly uses x825 on his 12.5" f/7 Newtonian for double
star work. The paraboloid used in this instrument has a very good figu
it is dated 1908 and was made by Calver. There are a few pictures of the
instrument on our website. I've used this telescope on several occasions
and can vouch for the fine images it returns.

The observing site at Hanwell also benefits from good seeing; but remember
that this is visual observing, and not integrating images over long periods
of time. I know that some observers find these high magnifications way above
what they might normally use, even on a similar sized-aperture instrument.
But for observing 'tight' double stars, where the seeing is good and you are
working close to the limit of the optics, its not that uncommon to do this.
I have frequently used x525 with my 10" f/5 Newt for observing double stars.
With exceptional seeing, I have taken the magnification to over x750 when I
wanted to examine the structure of the Airy patterns for signs of duplicity,
e.g. the elongation of conjoined Airy discs. Not the classic instrument for
high resolution observing, but one with very good optics, and again,
benefiting from good seeing at an English Midlands site.

Regards,
Dave Randell

Thanks for the heads-up, David. I wondered what the source is for
"the commonly-quoted periastron date of 2007-8" that you site. I am
running the binary star spreadsheet based on the "Sixth Catalogue of
Orbits of Visual Binary Stars", and it shows periastron occurring
pretty much in line with your May 2005 time frame.

That orbit results in a periastron separation of 0.35". It should be
interesting to see how much closer than that they come, as your
analysis predicts.

Hi Tom,

I'll ask Christopher Taylor - who wrote the article. But I'm not clear what
you are after: is it the source of Strand's 1937 orbit mentioned, or
examples of the secondary sources in the literature that still use it?

Regards,
Dave

On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 14:51:11 -0000, "David Randell"
wrote:

... I notice that observations have been done
at x800+ !

Hi Pete,

...and the altazimuth mounted instrument is not driven either!

Christopher Taylor regularly uses x825 on his 12.5" f/7 Newtonian for double
star work. The paraboloid used in this instrument has a very good figu
it is dated 1908 and was made by Calver. There are a few pictures of the
instrument on our website. I've used this telescope on several occasions
and can vouch for the fine images it returns.

The observing site at Hanwell also benefits from good seeing; but remember
that this is visual observing, and not integrating images over long periods
of time. I know that some observers find these high magnifications way above
what they might normally use, even on a similar sized-aperture instrument.
But for observing 'tight' double stars, where the seeing is good and you are
working close to the limit of the optics, its not that uncommon to do this.
I have frequently used x525 with my 10" f/5 Newt for observing double stars.
With exceptional seeing, I have taken the magnification to over x750 when I
wanted to examine the structure of the Airy patterns for signs of duplicity,
e.g. the elongation of conjoined Airy discs. Not the classic instrument for
high resolution observing, but one with very good optics, and again,
benefiting from good seeing at an English Midlands site.

Very impressive Dave and thanks for the account. A certain 15"
refractor in Selsey gets it's vision back this evening. This may make
a good test for it.

Thanks for bringing it to our attention. It's a must see event.

--
Pete
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk

Pete Lawrence wrote:

On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 14:51:11 -0000, "David Randell"
wrote:



... I notice that observations have been done
at x800+ !


Hi Pete,

...and the altazimuth mounted instrument is not driven either!

Christopher Taylor regularly uses x825 on his 12.5" f/7 Newtonian for double
star work. The paraboloid used in this instrument has a very good figu
it is dated 1908 and was made by Calver. There are a few pictures of the
instrument on our website. I've used this telescope on several occasions
and can vouch for the fine images it returns.

The observing site at Hanwell also benefits from good seeing; but remember
that this is visual observing, and not integrating images over long periods
of time. I know that some observers find these high magnifications way above
what they might normally use, even on a similar sized-aperture instrument.
But for observing 'tight' double stars, where the seeing is good and you are
working close to the limit of the optics, its not that uncommon to do this.
I have frequently used x525 with my 10" f/5 Newt for observing double stars.
With exceptional seeing, I have taken the magnification to over x750 when I
wanted to examine the structure of the Airy patterns for signs of duplicity,
e.g. the elongation of conjoined Airy discs. Not the classic instrument for
high resolution observing, but one with very good optics, and again,
benefiting from good seeing at an English Midlands site.



Very impressive Dave and thanks for the account. A certain 15"
refractor in Selsey gets it's vision back this evening. This may make
a good test for it.

Thanks for bringing it to our attention. It's a must see event.

Excuse me? Must see event? This is a MUST imaging event !!!! :-)

Anthony.