Struve 1954. Delta Serpentis

 
Steve Bodin 
Star: Struve 1954 (Delta Serpentis)
Date & Time: 6 May 2003 11 pm to 1 am
Seeing: 4-5  <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>. 
Transparency: poor
Location of site: Silverdale WA, USA
47N 123W
Site classification: suburb-rural
Conditions: temp 40F, damp
Sky darkness: 4.5 due moon <Limiting magnitude> 
Telescope: Celestron C8
Eyepieces: not used
Additional: DX-8263SL video camera at prime focus and 3x, 6x
Magnification: app. 333x, 1000x and 2000x		 One of my favorites, bright and reasonably close. Yellow-white primary and a dusky blueish secondary. Masurement, 4.34 sec at 174.1 deg PA.











 

 
Stuart Clough 
Star: Struve 1954 (Delta Serpentis)
Date & Time: 5th May 2003, 21:45 - 23:15 UT
Seeing: 6 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>. 
Transparency: good
Location of site: Hipperholme, Halifax, W. Yorks UK 53 44N 1 49W
Site classification: Suburban
Conditions: 7C, clear sky, moderate SSWly breeze
Sky darkness: 4.5  <Limiting magnitude> 
Telescope: Orion Optics UK GX 250 10" Newtonian
Eyepieces: 20, 12.5, 9,  & 6mm: 
Magnification: x60, x96, x133, x200		 A bright pair showing clear evidence of duality at x60 and well split at x133, the best view. The PA is easy to estimate being close to the north/south line. Both stars appeared white to me with just the slightest hint of yellow in the primary.
 
 




 

 
Luis Balanzino
Star: Struve 1954 (Delta Serpentis)
Date & Time: May 9-10, 2003, 21h to 0h UT 
Seeing: 6 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>. 
Transparency: 6 <1 worst - 10 best> 
Location of site: Göteborg, Sweden
57°43' N, 11°58' E 
Site classification: Urban area with
considerable light pollution 
Temperature: 10º C
Sky darkness: 4 <Limiting magnitude> 
Moon: In Leo, illuminated fraction 0,54
Telescope: Meade ETX-90 Maksutov 
(90mm f/13.8) on photo tripod
Eyepieces: 25mm and 12,5mm TAL Plossl,
15mm TAL Kellner, 2x TAL Barlow 
Magnification: 50x, 83x, 100x, 166x		 Very nice, one of the best doubles in Serpens for small instruments. The components are yellow, very bright and close and I need about 100x to split them well. Magnificent at this power.
 
 










 

 
Tim Leese
Star: Struve 1954 (Delta Serpentis)
Date & Time: 11 May 2003. 00:50 UT.
Seeing: 5/6 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>. 
Transparency:  <1 worst - 10 best> 
Location of site: Northwich, Cheshire. UK.
53° 15' N -2º 33' W
Site classification: Suburban
Temperature: 
Sky darkness: 3.0 UMi <Limiting magnitude> 
Conditions: Moon, quite bright in a clear, if unsteady, sky.
Telescope: 200mm f/6 Newtonian reflector.
Mount:  Vixen GP.
Eyepieces: 18mm, 9mm, 6mm Orthoscopics
Magnification: X67, X133, X200
   		 18mmOr------------ I could only just split this pair tonight, but eventually observed a nice pair of yellowish and white stars.There were a few more stars in the fov which gave the impression that this double was at the nose end of a delta wing.

9mmOr + apodising screen--------- A very nice view  at times of steady air.  Both stars seemed to be a yellowish colour using this magnification.

6mmOr--------Earlier, I had inadvertently used my 6mm eyepiece (easily done in the semi-darkness ) instead of my 9mm eyepiece. This gave a Carlsberg Special Brew type of view.   I noted :  Both stars-----mushy and defocused, not a sharp image but very unsteady 
for most of the time.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
Eddy  O'connor
Star: Struve 1954 (Delta Serpentis)
Date & Time: May 30th 2003. 
10.30 - 11.30 p.m local; UT +10
Seeing: 6 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>. 
Transparency: 8 <1 worst - 10 best> 
Location of site: Terara, New South Wales,
Australia, Long.150º.38 ; Dec. S 34º.52
Site classification: 
Temperature: 14ºC
Sky darkness:  <Limiting magnitude> 
Conditions: High humidity. No Moon
Telescope: 8" Newt. F9
Eyepieces: 25mm K, 12.5 mm Ortho
Magnification: 
Harshaw Scale: 1 <1-5: 1 best>
  		 Mag. 3.8/4.84; Sep. 4.1". This is centred in a group of three stars marking the Serpent's neck. A brilliant White pair with the fainter star showing hints of Azure at medium power. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 





 

 
Mike Sutherland
Star: Struve 1954 (Delta Serpentis)
Date & Time: 1 June 2003, 2:00 AM PDT
Seeing: 7 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Transparency: good
Location of site: Hancock Field Station, OR, USA
44d 55'N, 120d 25' W
Site classification: rural, (1,585 ft elevation)
Sky darkness: 6 <Limiting magnitude>
Transparency:  <1 worst - 10 best>
Conditions: temp 45F, dry
Telescope: Takahashi 102mm, Perspicillum
Eyepieces: 12.5mm CMG, 5x Powermate
Magnification: app. 328x
 
 

 

 Both components were blue/white, (mostly white). Measurements: 4.56 deg Sep.
and 174 deg PA.

OK, OK, I'll try to actually admire the stars BEFORE I start playing with my
CMG next time. Anyone reading this report, (other than other double-nuts),
would wonder why anyone would stay up late just to measure how far apart a
couple of faint dots of light are. "He doesn't even say they're pretty!"
 
 

 

 
John M. Ryan
Star: Struve 1954 (Delta Serpentis)
Date & Time: 27:04:03 10:30 local time
Seeing: 7 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Transparency: Fair to poor, some very
light clouds
Location of site: Barreras, Salamanca, Spain
Site classification: Rural
Sky darkness: 7 <Limiting magnitude>
Transparency:  <1 worst - 10 best>
Conditions: Temp. 14ºC, Light wind
Telescope: Celestron 9.25" SCT
Eyepieces: none
Magnification: Stella Cam Ex video camera, 2.5X Telemate
 

 

 The video camera is black and white so no color can be noted. This double is a close one with two bright components. With my current setup this double was easy to measure and shows that about 3arc-seconds is easy to do but will need another barlow to get closer. This would have been dificult for the CCD camera. The final result is an average of five measurements. Theta = 173.9º and rho = 3.90"

 
William L. Schart
Star: Struve 1954 (Delta Serpentis)
Date & Time: 6th, June, 2003
Seeing: 7 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Transparency: --- <1 worst - 10 best>
Location of site: Killeen, TX
Site classification: 
Sky darkness: 3.5 <Limiting magnitude>
Conditions: Clear sky
Telescope: Celestron C8
Eyepieces: 25mm and the 12.5mm CMG 
Magnification: 80x, 160x 
 

 

 A tighter pair than the ones up to now, I was just able to split this at low power. Quite bright, but just below the threshold tonight for naked eye visibilty. Sep 6”, PA 172.9 (ave 5 meas). Published: 4.1", 174.
 
 

 

 
Tom Teague
Star: Struve 1954 (Delta Serpentis)
Date & Time: 2003 June 14 (2210 UT)
Seeing: 5 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>. 
Transparency: --- <1 worst - 10 best> 
Location of site: Chester, UK
Site classification: Suburban
Sky darkness:  Poor (astronomical twilight)
Conditions: Clear, still, no dew.
Telescope: Zeiss AS 80/1200 refractor
Eyepieces: 
Magnification: x48, x75, x120, x210		 Not split x48, although I suspect it might be if the seeing were better.  Just separated x75, easy at higher powers.  Both components white. In 1833, Webb gives the colours as: “y. w., ashy” and in 1850: “w., blsh. w.”  Espin, in a later edition of Webb’s book, quotes the description by Franks: “w., grnsh. y.”  The admirable Admiral Smyth called this pair “an elegant double star”, describing A as “bright white” and B as “bluish white”, adding that: “under the very best vision, both have a bluish tinge, which, in such a pair, is rather against the theory of contrast”.  Harshaw rating: 2.

 

 
Mary Flanagan
Star: Struve 1954 (Delta Serpentis)
Date & Time: June 18/19 2003
10:30 PM-12:30 AM CDT
Seeing: 5 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Transparency:  7 <1-10 Scale (10 best)>
Location of site: Apple Valley MN, USA
93d 14m 25s W; 44d 45m 17s N
Site classification: Suburban
Sky darkness: 4.5 <Limiting magnitude>
Telescope: 12.5" f/5 Starmaster EL Dob
Eyepieces: TV Plossls: 32mm, 15mm, 11mm
Magnification: 148x
 

 

 Just barely able to split this one; it was pretty bloated. Both components 
white. Looked like a fuzzy snowman.
 

 

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