Mu Hercules 

 
Tomás Vazquez
Star: Mu Her 
Date & Time: 21/05/2000, (TU): 23:59:16. 
Seeing: 4 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)> 
Location of site: 37 24 N. 5 58 W. Sevilla, Spain 
Site classification: Urban 
Sky darkness: 3 <Limiting magnitude> 
Telescope: Celestron C8” D:203mm. f/6,3 
Magnification: CCD ST-4 Camera 
 
 
 		 Integration Time: 8 Seg. 
Reading Software CCD: LUCAS 1.1 
Treatment Software: LAIA 3.1g 
Image Position: North up, East left 

The A component is one of the brightest stars (Mag. 3.4) from the east area of Hercules and easy to locate. The B component is not easy to see from city polluted skies (Mag 9.6), but the separation (36”) facilitates things a lot. PA is 248, with spectral type G5IV. 
Visually, both components seem white-orange to me. 

 
 
 
Penny Fisher
Star: Mu Her 
Date & Time: 5/26/00, 10 p.m. EDT 
Seeing: 6 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>  
Transparency: 5 
Location of site:  Englishtown NJ, 40.25  N  74.333 W  
Site classification: Suburban  
Sky darkness: ??  <Limiting magnitude>  
Telescope: 8 inch Dob  
Magnification: 47x (26 mm) 
  

 

 Good separation, the secondary was very very faint,  but well separated from the primary. Primary seen as yellow. Secondary was a blueish-purple. 

 
 
 
 
Ilario Melandri
Star: Mu Hercules 
Date & Time: 26 May 2000 – 01.28 UTC  
Seeing: 7 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>  
Location of site: Italy, Ravenna, San Romualdo, Lat 44 32’N Lon 12 08’E 
Elevation: 0 m 
Site classification: Rural  
Sky darkness: 5 <Limiting magnitude> 
Temperature: +16C 
Telescope: 150 mm f/15 achromatic refractor (lens by Romano Zen, Venice). 
Magnification: 140 x (eyepiece Clave Plossl 16 mm) 
 		 Note: the m 10.6 component at 1” was not visible. 
 
 
 
 
Patrick J. Anway 
Star: Mu Hercules (ab) 
Date & Time: May, 28, 2000  03:00 UT 
Seeing: 6 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)> 
Location of Site: Munising Michigan USA 
Site Classification: Rural 
Sky darkness: 6 <limiting magnitude> 
Sky condition: No moon; no clouds 
Temperature: 39*F   4*C 
Telescope: Unitron 75mm, f/16 refractor on equatorial mount 
Magnification: 67X, 100X, 200X (Vixen 18mm, 12mm, 6mm orthoscopics) 
 
 		 Difficult at 67X due to magnitude of secondary (10.1), yet detectable with averted vision. I could not detect color. Smyth describes it as "a delicate double", with A - "pale straw-color" and B - "cerulean blue". 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Richard Harshaw
Star: Mu Hercules 
Location of site: Northern Kansas City, Missouri (USA). 94d 30m west longitude, 39d 15m north latitude 
980 ft above Mean Sea Level 
Date of observations (UT): 29 May, 2000; 0330 hours 
Site classification: suburban 
Sky conditions: 
Seeing--  8 out of 10 (long periods of 10!!) 
Transparency-- 8  out of 10 
Limiting visual magnitude-- 4.5 
Telescope: Celestron C-8 
Eyepiece: 20mm Erfle (105x) 
 
 		 Magnitudes:  3.4 (G5IV), 10.1 (M3V) + 10.6, 11.2 
Sep/PA's:  AB = 35/249 (both increasing), Bb = 1/4, AD = 256/236 
(both fixed) 
Year of last measurement:  1987 
Distance (light years):  27 
Luminosity (in suns):  2.52 

The D star was extremely difficult. 
Bb was elongated at 524x and with a diffraction mask in place. 

Colors:  Intense Yellow (!!) for A, probably White for B; the others 
were too faint to tell. 
 
 
 
 
Ilario Melandri
Star: Mu Hercules 
Date & Time: 3 June 2000 – 23 UTC 
Seeing: 9 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>  
Location of site: Ostellato, Ferrara, Italy 
Elevation: 0 m 
Site classification: Rural  
Sky darkness: 5.5  <Limiting magnitude> 
Temperature: +15C 
Telescope: Takahashi FS102  
Magnification: 235x (eyepiece OR7 + barlow 2x) 
 		 Seen only the m 10.1 component at 35”. 
 
 
 
 
Eddy O'Connor
Star: Mu Hercules 
Date & Time: Time: 11 p.m local; UT +10. Sunday, June 4th 2000. 
Seeing: 6 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)> 
Transparency: 10/10 
Location of Site: Terara, New South Wales, Australia, Long.150.38 degrees; 
South 34.52. 
Site Classification: Suburban 
Sky darkness: Northern sky to mag. 6; Southern to 6.5 <Limiting magnitude> 
Instrument: 8"  F9 Dobsonian 
Magnification: 72X (25mm K Eyepiece) 
 		 This is an easily separated pair, well contrasted in brightness with colours Yellowish and Deep Blue. A's closer companion not spotted. Hartung sees Bright Gold and Red! (Some people have all the fun!). 
 
Ambience: This night was even darker than two nights previously and I could spot five stars in the Coal Sack as the night wore on. Ducks quite noisy in a nearby stream where they are starting to nest. (Note to Ornithologists: Why do sensible birds like ducks nest in Winter, during our coldest nights and when the foxes are about?). Observed an impressive Meteor passing through Hercules. A message from the Strong One? 
 

 
 
 
Patrick Kelly
Star: Mu Hercules 
Date & Time: 6/3/200 10:45pm 
Seeing: clear, 8  <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)> 
Location of Site: Baltimore, Maryland USA 
Site Classification: Urban 
Sky darkness: 4 <limiting magnitude> 
Telescope: Takahashi FS102 (102mm)f/8 refractor on AP 400 equatorial mount 
Magnification: 37x (22mm Panoptic) and 45x (Tak 18mm LE) 

 

 

 Faint 10.1 mag (9.5 in Burnham) companion was best seen under low power and averted vision. Noted a possible light orange tint to the primary but this may be questionable. 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
John M. Ryan
Star: Mu Hercules 
Date of Observation: 7/06/00 22:15UT   
Location of Observation: Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca, Spain 
40º 36' N, 6º 32'W, Elev. 800 Meters 
Seeing: 5 to 6 (1 - 10, 10 best) 
Transparency: 7 to 8 
Limiting Mag. (naked eye): 4  
Site classification:  
Instrument: Meade 8"SCT 
Magnification: 62X, 100X and 167X (32,20 & 12mm plossl) 		 Separation (Clear or Touching):Clear 
Magnitude Comment: Primary very bright compared to components. Had to use averted vision to try and see 11.2 component (not sure). No way with the seeing to observe the 10.6 component at 1 arc second. 
Color Comment: Both white 
General Comment: This is a double with deep magnitude contrast between primary and components all which are dim. 
 
 

 
 
 
Pino Bandini
Star: Mu Hercules 
Location of site: Ravenna, Italy 
Date of observations (UT): 
Site classification: Urban 
Sky conditions: 
Seeing: 4 (10 best) 
Temperature: +25C 
Limiting visual magnitude: -- 
Telescope: Celestron C8 
Magnification: 200 x (eyepiece Plossl 10 mm) 
 
 		  
 
 
 
Mary Flanagan
Star: Mu Hercules 
Date & Time: 23 Jun 2000 05:39; 12:39 CDT 
Seeing: 7 and deteriorating <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)> 
Transparency: 8 (1-10)  
Location of site: Apple Valley MN, USA 
 93d 14m 25s W; 44d 45m 17s N 
Site classification: Suburban   
Sky darkness: ~mag 4.5 at best <Limiting magnitude>  
Telescope: 8" f/6 Dobsonian 
Magnification: 80x 
 
 		 The primary is a light, cheerful yellow. It took averted vision to see the secondary, and I was unable to see any color at this magnification.