Nu Ceti (Struve 281)

 
Steve Bodin 
Star:  Nu Ceti (Struve 281)
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		 Close pair and very different magnitudes. I like this type of star as the primary seems to have a faint reflection off to one side. Primary is quite white and listed as a type Am spectral type, companion looks blue, but hard to tell for sure. Measurement; 8.2 sec at 081.3 deg PA.


 
 

 

 
Eddy O'connor 
Star: Nu Ceti (Struve 281)
Date & Time: November, 19th  2003
10.30-12 mid-night local; UT +10
Seeing: 7 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>. 
Transparency: 8 <1-10 Scale (10 best)>
Location of site: Terara, New South Wales
Australia, Long.150.38 ; Lat  -34.52. 
Site classification: suburb-rural
Conditions: Temp 16° No Moon
Sky darkness: <Limiting magnitude> 
Telescope: 8" F9 Newtonian. Eyepieces
Eyepieces: 16mm and 12mm Ortho
Magnification: 
Harshaw Scale: 1 <1-5, 1 best>		 Mag. 4.9/9.0; Sep. 8.1" The primary is a rich Golden colour and the contrasting companion is a ghostly Ashen colour. The pair form an almost perfect square with three other stars of near equal magnitude. Stunning. 
 
 












 

 
Michael Sutherland 
Star: Nu Ceti (Struve 281)
Date & Time: 21 Nov 2003, 10:00 - 10:10 PM PST
Seeing: 4 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>. 
Transparency:  OK to poor
Location of site: Beaverton, OR, USA
Site classification: Suburban, (330 ft elevation)
Conditions: Cold, (30 deg F, -1 deg C), slight frost
Sky darkness: ~3  <Limiting magnitude> 
Telescope: Stellarvue 80mm Nighthawk, F6
Eyepieces: 4mm Tak Hi-Ortho
Magnification: 120x		 I can't say I split this one. I kept trying different EP combinations and waiting for the air to settle. The Tak ortho gave the best images but the best I can say is I saw a flare with maybe a spot at about the 70 deg position.

Unfortunately, that was it. All of Cetus was now behind the Red Oak which despite the temperatures, refuses to loose most of it's leaves. As I type this the clouds have all returned, so I don't know when my next opportunity will be. Till then.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
John M. Ryan
Star:  Nu Ceti (Struve 281)
Date & Time: 25:10:03 23:45 local time
Seeing: 8 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>. 
Transparency:  Good
Location of site: Barreras, Salamanca, Spain
Site classification: Rural
Conditions: Temp. 10ºC, calm
Sky darkness: 8 <Limiting magnitude> 
Telescope: Celestron 9.25" SCT
Eyepieces: none
Additional: Stella Cam Ex video camera, prime focus
Magnification: 		 The video camera is black and white so no color can be noted. This double consists of two components about a dirrerence of four in magnitude and a close split noted on laptop screen. This double has the appearance of a golf ball along side of a basketball almost touching. The most interesting double of the evening and the video cam captured all of its glory. Theta = 76.3º and rho = 7.25"
 

 
William L. Schart
Star: Nu Ceti (Struve 281)
Date & Time: Saturday December 20, 2003
Seeing: 7 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>. 
Transparency: --- <1-10 Scale (10 best)>
Location of site: Texas, USA
Site classification: suburban
Conditions: ~50°F, or 10-12°C, mostly calm, occasional gust of wind. 
Sky darkness:  4 <Limiting magnitude> 
Telescope: C8
Eyepieces: 25mm, 17mm, 10mm, 6.5x 
Magnification: 80x, 120x, 200x, 300x 		 A challenging pair: a bright yellow primary and a much dimmer secondary. At first I could not make out the secondary. but a bit of study and it popped into view: after that, it was pretty easy to locate it. This pair, along with 5 other stars, forms a trapezoid, with Nu being the mid-point of the larger base. The other stars are much dimmer, say around mag 8.
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
Bill Green
Star: Nu Ceti (Struve 281)
Date & Time: 27 December 2003
19:00 to 22:00 (UT -5)
Seeing:  7 to 8 <Pickering>
Transparency:  <1-10 Scale (10 best)>
Location of site: Catawba, VA U.S.A
37° 16' N 79º 57' W
Site classification: Rural
Conditions: 0% cloud cover, excellent
transparency, light surface breeze
Sky darkness: 4.0  <Limiting magnitude>
( 1st 1/4 moon)
Telescope: TV NP101 f/5.4 APO Refractor
Mount: TV Gibraltar
Eyepieces: Nagler type 6 (11, 5, 3.5, & 2.5mm)
Panoptic 24 used as finder
Magnification: 216x
  		 This double was easily located and easy split. Star B was easy but periodically and briefly "disappeared with direct vision. It was easily recovered using averted vision. Diffraction rings from A posed not problem in viewing B due to the 8.1" separation. Star A appeared white, or ash to me. Star B, although faint, seemed to display a clearly blue tendency. 
 
 

 

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