Star:
Nu Geminorum
Date & Time:
UT 09 Jan 2001 20:27
Seeing: 4
<1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>.
Location of site:
Hamburg, Germany
Lat/Long: 53 34
N, 9 59 E
Site classification:
Suburban sky
Sky darkness:
-- <Limiting magnitude>
Binoculars:
Vixen Ultima 9x63 + tripod
FOV: 5d
Weather:
Cloudy with periodic holes.
Observing aids:
Camera tripod
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What an evening! After threatening horrible clouds for tonight's lunar
eclipse, the Hamburg sky cleared up (sort of). Very thin, fast moving clouds
gave way to some great clear patches, and some wonderful views. At UT20:37,
I had a great view through my binoculars of four rather bright stars almost
on the eclipsed Moon's limb, and saw one disappear behind it before the
clouds came again. Fun to track them down in SMP too.
What an opportunity, I thought, while the eclipsed Moon is in Gemini
to go for a binocular Gemini "33 Doubles" target. I went for nu (for the
second time), and here is my report.
Decided to try to see nu Geminorum during total lunar eclipse. Moon
closeby in Gemini, maybe 10 lunar diamaters away, but it was eclipsed.
I had tried this object before without success.
nu itself is not difficult to find: it lies along a line between gamma
and mu Gem. In binoculars, it forms the lower corner of a triangle with
16 Gem and SAO 78395, both very easy from this location with the binoculars.
With dark adaptation, and when the fast moving thin clouds had passed,
nu's companion (SMP: SAO 78420, mag. 8.0) was indeed visible, but very
difficult - it came in and out of view. The difficulty was not the separation
(a generous 113" according to 33 Doubles), but the local light pollution.
However, I observed this several times to make sure I had got it. Patience
with the clouds and slightly averted vision did the trick, but the companion
was still a very faint blur. nu had no discernible colour to me.
Est PA: 300 degrees, companion seems to lie NW from nu.
A nice "hit" with a nearby eclipsed Moon.
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