| Daniel Carlos Osanai | ||||
| Star:
Alpha Centauri (Rigil Kentaurus)
Date & Time: May 11th, 2001 02:38 UT Seeing: 7 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)> Location of site: Escobar, Argentina Site classification: Suburban Sky darkness: 4~5 <Limiting magnitude> Telescope: Celestron SCT 8" f/10 Eyepieces: TeleVue Plössl 40 mm, Celestron ULTIMA 30 mm, TeleVue Radian 8 mm. Star: Alpha Centauri (Rigil Kentaurus) Date & Time: May 13th, 2001 01:22 UT Seeing: 6 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)> Stability: 8/10 Location of site: Escobar, Argentina Site classification: Suburban Sky darkness: 4 <Limiting magnitude> Temperature: From 10ºC to 3ºC Telescope: Celestron SCT 8" f/10 Eyepieces: ULTIMA 30 mm, Radian 8 mm, Barlow 2x Magnification: 71x, 167x, 267x |
Easy pair of wide separation. A
looks white and very bright. And B, banana color, is less brillant than
the first component. C is Proxima Cen and it was very very difficult to
see it, very faint (+11), colorless.
It is red dwarf at about 14h 30m and
-62° 42', about 2° away to the SW from AB.
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| Eddy O’connor | ||||
| Star:
Alpha Centauri (Rigil Kentaurus)
Date & Time: Sunday, May 13th 2001, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m local; UT +9. Seeing: 5 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>. Transparency: 6/10 Location of site: Terara, New South Wales, Australia. 150º.38E; 34º.52S Site classification: Conditions: High humidity and low fog. No Moon. Temperature: 9ºC Sky darkness: 5.5 <Limiting magnitude> Telescope: 8" Newt. F9 Eyepieces: 25mm K, 12.5 mm Ortho Magnification: 73x, 146x |
I feel in the Country of Double Stars there is Alpha Cent and there
is the rest. I view it through my kitchen window for most of the year to
discover if the skies are clear and on almost every viewing night
I use this star to centre my finderscope. I have seen it in small telescopes
where the glittering pair bring amazement to young and old alike. I have
also seen it in big machines where the car headlight comparison is not
fanciful. I have even spotted Alpha in daylight low and Venus-like
in tropical skies in a small telescope. Always I am moved by the light
power of this pair of stars, so obviously a connected pair, so similar
and yet showing subtle differences in illumination and colour.
Comments: The glare is the first thing you notice, then the neatness and order of the arrangement and finally the differences. These differences are most clearly noticeable when I bring the big binox to bear on the pair. Then I notice the hint of Ochre in the companion set beside the Pearl-white Primary. I also noticed last night for the first time that this pair is set in a very dark field with fainter stars just emerging near the rim of a half-degree wide field. No intruding stars in the field to distract from - in my opinion- the best double in the skies. Ambience: My observing session started with my second sighting of LINEAR
2A and the first glimpse of a tail.(If your name is Luis stop reading now!)
This comet appears to be heading for greatness as tonight I could clearly
see it naked-eye. The landscape is still and the rich aromas of decaying
leaves and vegetation fill the humid air. The early approach of Winter
sends people indoors and verandah lights
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| Glen Chapman | ||||
| Star:
Alpha Centauri (Rigil Kentaurus)
Date & Time: 13/05/01 18.45 +10 UT Seeing: 7.5 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>. Location of site: Sydney, Australia Site classification: Suburban Conditions: Good Temperature: 21ºC Sky darkness: 4.8 <Limiting magnitude> Telescope: Pixie 8’ Dob Magnification: 50X |
Clean split at 50X Very bright, B component seems brighter than published
Notes: Primary is white tinge with yellow. B shows more golden in keeping with KO spectral class. Considered one of the most elegant doubles in the southern, if not all the sky. Often described as headlights when seen through higher powered scopes. Will in a few thousand years form a close optical double with Beta Cent. With Canopus and Sirius sliding away to the west taking with them the memories of an Australian Summer. Scorpio, with Mars in attendance begins her frigid climb into our skys. Overhead the wheeling of Centarus and Crux reach a dramtic climax as an arm of the Milky Way extends from horizion to horizon. At times as the dew forms heavily on man and telescope, it is hard to know where the fog begins and the milky way ends. This time of year I search and find old friends Fatso - Omega Centauri - R and T Cent, my winking doubles companions of variable stars. Even NGC 5128 seems brighter after another long absence.
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