| Steve Bodin | ||||
| Star:
Mira (Omicron Ceti)
Date & Time: 2 Nov 2003 9:30pm to midnight Seeing: 2-3 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>. Transparency: poor Location of site: Silverdale WA, USA 47N 123W Site classification: suburb-rural Conditions: temp 30-35F, dry Sky darkness: 4.0 due moon <Limiting magnitude> Telescope: Celestron C8 Eyepieces: DX-8263SL video camera at prime focus Magnification: app. 333x |
I
think that the list data for Mira is there to catch the unwary. I can't
find any reference to a star at 45 sec from Mira, but did find that the
WDS lists four companions. The close companion is a true binary and the
6th Orbit Catalog solution for this November has the star at 0.54 sec at
105 deg PA. This will be a real nutcracker for those observers with a large
scope. I found Mira at about 7th magnitude, but don't know if it is decreasing
or vice versa. If it got down to the 9th mag minimum, my C8 might crack
this one in very good seeing. Anyway, there is one easy 9th mag component
wide to the east and two very faint extras.
Measurements; Aa-B cataloged as BU 1371 and last measured in 1911, 72.94
sec at 73.3 deg PA and 13th magnitude. Aa-C cataloged as H6 1 ,124.3 sec
at 069.8 deg PA. Aa-D cataloged as STG 1 and last Measured in 1923, 163.2
sec at 323.6 deg PA and listed as mag 9.3 but looks more like 12th.
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