h 99

 
William Schart
Star: h 99
Date & Time: 4th, March, 2002, 8:36 pm, 
CST
Seeing: 8 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Location of site: Killeen, TX, USA.
Site classification: Suburban
Sky darkness: 4-4.5 <Limiting magnitude>
Telescope: Celestar 8" SCT
Magnification: ---

 

 AKA hj99. Very wide spaced, about mag 2.5 difference, easily split at low power. The primary was yellow and the secondary blue. In a change of 8 stars (counting this pair as 2) running N-S. At the S end, 3 of the stars are in a narrow triangle, a sort of Sagitta effect. I measured the separation at 178.4”, PA 178.4d. Since there was no PA published in the list, I obtained some information from WDS: it gives 221d in 1880, and 202d in 1918, so this seems reasonable.

 
Glen Chapman
Star: h 99
Date & Time: 11/03/02  20.40 UT -8h
Seeing: 6 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Location of site: Sydney, Australia
Site classification: Urban
Sky darkness: 4.5 <Limiting magnitude>
Moon: Nil
Sky conditions: Clear though heavy humidity suggests faint high haze
Transparency:  <1 worst - 10 best>
Temperature: 25º C
Telescope: 8" Dobsonian
Magnification: 53x, 84x		 Primary notes as pale yellow. Secondary offered no colour.

Notes Easy star hop from Zeta Mon to slightly South of SAO 130. Because of the wide nature of the split care needs to be taken to identify the correct star. Will be in the reach of the smallest instrument, forming a delightful triangle with a nearby field star.
 

 

 
Steve Bodin
Star: h 99
Date & Time: 15 March, 9-11pm local
Seeing: 4->2 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Transparency: 8 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Location of site: Silverdale WA USA
47ºN 123ºW
Site classification: Suburban
Sky darkness: 6.0 <Limiting magnitude>
Telescope: Celestron C 8
Eyepiece: Eyepiece: Video camera PC164C, 3X teleconverter
Magnification: Full TV screen  0.046 degrees equal to appx 1000x visual, but that depends on how far or near one stands to the TV.		 Wide double, just fits on the TV screen. Measures: 60 sec, PA 174 deg.

 

 
John M. Ryan 
Star: h 99
Date & Time: Wednesday March 20, 2002 
Seeing: 7+ <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Location of site: Barreras, Salamanca, Spain.
Site classification: Rural,Suburban.
Conditions: Clear, calm with temp. about 8º C. 
Sky darkness: 4+ <Limiting magnitude>
Moon: 1/2 lit moon shining brightly
Telescope: Meade 7" Mak Cas
Mount: Losmandy GM8
Magnification: 300X and 84X		 Found and split this double with the 32mm at 84X. It is in a field with a closer double a few minutes below h99. The other double is much closer in separation and with equal components about mag 9 or 10. You can note the difference in magnitudes of h99 with the primary about 3 mag less also with the wide separation. Both components have a slight tint of blue. Rating 4

 
Patrick Thompson
Star: h 99
Date & Time: 21st March 2002, 20:05 UT 
Seeing: 7 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Transparency: 4 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Location of site: West Wickham, Kent, UK. 51°23' N, 0°0'E
Site classification: Suburban garden
Sky darkness: 3.5 <Limiting magnitude>
Moon: 47% waxing crescent
Telescope: 8" Meade LX-90 SCT f/10
Eyepieces: Meade 40mm and 26 Super Plossl
13.8 and 8.8 mm Meade SWA
Magnifications: 50x, 80x, 145x, 230x 

 

 Wide double very easy @80x. Yellowish primary and bluish white secondary in an almost due N-S orientation.

Background field of about 15 stars down to about mag 11.

Rating (1(best) - 5(worst))      : 3

Ambience: A mild night and a pleasantly quiet one with not much traffic noise or activity in neighbouring homes. Poor transparency with a big, bright first quarter moon hovering in Taurus and hazy clouds that became progressively worse throughout the session. Had a quick look at Ikeya-Zhang with binoculars before getting on with the main business of the night. It's low and in a very poor area of the sky from this location but still easily spotted and has an impressive, almost vertical, tail a good 5º long.
 
 

 

 
Luis Balanzino
Star: h 99
Date & Time: Wed March 20, 2002
20h to 22h UT 
Seeing: 7 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Transparency: 8 <1 worst - 10 best> 
Location of site: Göteborg, Sweden
57°43' N, 11°58' E 
Site classification: Suburban area with moderate light pollution.
Temperature: 5º C 
Sky darkness:4.5 <Limiting magnitude>
Moon: Present age 6,75d 
Telescope: Russian TAL-1 equatorial reflector 110mm f/7.3 
Eyepieces: 25mm and 12.5mm TAL Super Plossl, 15mm TAL Kellner, 3x TAL Barlow 
Magnification: 32x, 54x, 97x, 161x, 193x 		 WDS   AB sep 60"  P.A. 181º
Nothing remarkable with this double, except the denomination from Sir John Herschel. Close to F Hydrae, wide and easy at only 32x, despite the faint companion. Probably resolvable with binoculars. Primary white, no color detected in the companion. Rating 3
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
Kevin Barker 
Star: h 99
Date & Time: 11th, April, 2002
Seeing: 6-7 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Transparency: 7 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Location of site: Auckland, New Zealand. 
Site classification: Suburban Backyard
Sky darkness: --- <Limiting magnitude>.
Telescope: Zeiss APQ 130/1000
Mount: Zeiss Ib mount, setting circles.
Eyepieces: Zeiss 0.965” orthoscopics,
4, 6, 8, 10 and 12.5 mm, H 40, Zeiss 4 ocular turret. 
Zeiss 2X barlow lens.
Magnification: 250x, 333x, 500x		 Yellow/white and white/blue.  Easy wide double.

 
Dave Moore
Star: h 99
Date & Time: 16th April 2002: 22.46 BST
Seeing: --- <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Location of site: Charminster, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK (51 N 1 W)
Site classification: Urban 
Sky darkness: 4.2 <Limiting magnitude>. Bortle: 8/10 
Telescope: Meade LX-90 
Eyepieces: 30mm and 12.5mm Celestron Ultima, 8mm Televue Radian 
Magnification: 67x, 160x, 250x		 Wide unspectacular pair at 67x. The primary is brighter than the fainter secondary. No colour is detected.
 
 
 

 


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