Hazy Cloud & Moonlight - 10th March 2014

On the night of 10th March 2014 the night was clear and I decided to head along to Harperrig Reservoir. The reason is that this is normally a darker location than my back garden and I hoped I might be able to make out a few double stars I had failed to see previously. If anyone is interested I have put a map of Harperrig’s location below which will show where it is in relation to Edinburgh and Livingston.

Unfortunately a few things conspired to mean that I found it hard to see dim objects. The first of which was the moon which was high and bright, whilst the moon is a wonderful sight to see it isn’t conducive to seeing dim objects as it rather bright. In addition, the hazy cloud that was present was providing a brilliant medium for the moonlight to reflect off. This meant that even when I was looking away from the moon everything still looked a bit washed out.

However, I was not one to let this stop me attempting to look at a few things which I will detail below:

Messier 3
RA: 13 42 11.62 Dec: +28 22 38.2
Type: Globular Star Cluster
Magnitude: 6.2

The first object I looked at was Messier 3 which is a Globular Star Cluster located in Canes Venatici. This cluster is massive as is made up of around 500,000 stars which makes it one of the largest and brightest. Unfortunately as I looked at it the cluster was very low on the horizon and with the added light pollution from the moon it meant that I struggled to actually resolve any individual stars in the cluster. It basically looked like a very prominent blurry cloud of light reminiscent of the various galaxies I have looked at.

With a bit of averted vision I think I could make out some stars in the cluster but overall, I think I need to take another look at this DSO when it is darker.

Messier 40 / Winnecke 4 (SAO 28353)
RA: 12 22 12.53 Dec: +58 04 58.6
Type: Double Star
Magnitudes: 9.7, 10.2
Separation: 53.2”
Position Angle: 76°

My next target was Messier 40 which is a double star also known as Winnecke 4 which sits in Ursa Major. The interesting thing about this star is that this was discovered by Charles Messier when he was actually searching for a nebula. However, he couldn’t find a nebula so he just catalogued this double star instead.

To be honest I didn’t find it to be a very interesting double star in its own right and the moonlight actually made it quite difficult to make out both components. The funny thing personally is that the haze and moonlight actually gave the stars a nebulous look which is rather ironic when you consider what Messier had actually been looking for when he catalogued this star.

Cor Caroli / Alpha Canum Venaticorum / Struve 1692 (HIP 63125 / SAO 63257)
RA: 12 56 01.67 Dec: +38 19 06.2
Type: Double Star
Magnitudes: 2.9, 5.5
Separation: 19.2”
Position Angle: 229°

So my final new site of the night via my own telescope was Cor Caroli, the brightest star in the constellation Canes Venatici. The name Cor Caroli means “Charles’ Heart” and it was named this in the 17th Century to honour the executed King Charles I of England and Scotland.

This is quite an easy double to split and see with my telescope although both stars appeared white. Supposedly I may have also been able to see another fainter double in the same region as this star called Struve 1702 but alas I didn’t have this information with me at the time I was looking in the area so didn’t do a search.

If anyone is interested in the locations of the three objects detailed above then just take a gander at the image below taken from Stellarium.

Besides the three new targets I also took a view of various other objects I have seen before such as the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31), Cigar Galaxy (Messier 82), Bode’s Galaxy (Messier 81), Almach, Betelgeuse, Mizar, Pleiades (Messier 45), Jupiter & the Moon.

One nice bonus from being at Harperrig was another member of the Central Scotland Observers Group was present with his 12 Inch Dobsonian telescope and he let me have a quick look through it at a few interesting sites. I got to get a glimpse at the leo triplets which is a small group of galaxies in the constellation of leo although I could only make out two galaxies in the eye piece. I then also got to look at the Christmas Tree Cluster in Monoceros and the Double Cluster in Perseus. I thought that both of these clusters looked stunning and I will need to look at them through my own telescope in the future.

My final sight of the night was a lovely star through the 12 Inch Dobsonian which is called Mu Cephei or more commonly as Herschel’s Garnet Star. As you can imagine by the name, the star appears garnet red and there was no doubt that it really has a very distinctive colour. It was a lovely way to finish the night and I am curious to know how vivid the colour would be without the moon light affecting the viewing. Now I know it exists I will need to make sure I take another look in the future.