Here's my list of double stars for this month. 

Dave Mitsky

Eighty binary and multiple stars for May: 1 Bootis, Struve 1782, Tau Bootis, Struve 1785, Struve 1812 (Bootes); 2 Canum Venaticorum, Struve 1624, Struve 1632, Struve 1642, Struve 1645, 7 Canum Venaticorum, Alpha Canum Venaticorum (Cor Caroli), h2639, Struve 1723, 17 Canum Venaticorum, Otto Struve 261, Struve 1730, Struve 1555, h1234, 25 Canum Venaticorum, Struve 1769, Struve 1783, h1244 (Canes Venatici); 2 Comae Berenices, Struve 1615, Otto Struve 245, Struve 1633, 12 Comae Berenices, Struve 1639, 24 Comae Berenices, Oto Struve 253, Struve 1678, 30 Comae Berenices, Struve 1684, Struve 1685, 35 Comae Berenices, Burnham 112, h220, Struve 1722, Beta Comae Berenices, Burnham 800, Otto Struve 266, Struve 1748 (Coma Berenices); h4481, h4489, Struve 1604, Delta Corvi, Burnham 28, h1218, Struve 1669 (Corvus); H N 69, h4556 (Hydra); Otto Struve 244, Struve 1600, Struve 1695, Zeta Ursae Majoris (Mizar), Struve 1770, Struve 1795, Struve 1831 (Ursa Major); Struve 1616, Struve 1627, 17 Virginis, Struve 1648, Struve 1658, Struve 1677, Struve 1682, Struve 1689, Struve 1690, 44 Virginis, Struve 1719, Theta Virginis, 54 Virginis, Struve 1738, Struve 1740, Struve 1751, 81 Virginis, Struve 1764, Struve 1775, 84 Virginis, Struve 1788 (Virgo)

Challenge binary star for May: 48 Virginis

Notable variable star for May: R Hydrae (Hydra)

Notable carbon star for May: SS Virginis

The stars listed above are located between 12:00 and 14:00 hours of right ascension.

Thanks for the list Dave - I was putting together a short list for tonight (expecting some clear skies, but nearly full moon).  Your list is a big help.

Clear Skies,

George

You're welcome, George.  How did the observing go?

Dave

DaveMitsky:

How did the observing go?

We haven't had real good conditions here in a couple of weeks [beautiful blue skies during the day, but right at sunset, clouds drift in] - but I did get out last night for a little while before the moon got too bright and the cloud cover came in.  Limited view of the sky from my backyard, but did get to view a few doubles before visibility went completely out.  Still a neophyte as far as splitting doubles so I went for a few widely separated.  Started out on Cor Coroli and Mizar (to get my feet wet so to speak), then viewed a couple of more in Canes Venatici and Ursa Major before shutting down early.  Sketched a couple of interesting ones I saw in Photoshop (PSE4):

Again thanks for the list.

George

Those are great sketches.  Next time you have clear skies be sure to have a look at Struve 1604 in Corvus.  It's a great multiple star system. 

The weather has been miserable here for many months.  I've done very little observing compared to years past.

Dave Mitsky 

DaveMitsky:

Next time you have clear skies be sure to have a look at Struve 1604 in Corvus.  It's a great multiple star system. 

Got the chance last night.  Had to set up my telescope in the front yard [trees obscure that section of sky from my back and side yards - more about the front yard location below], but observed Struve 1604 with the 17mm Nagler (about 147X) - really great sight.  Can't discern colors - moderate light pollution from my location seems to wash out most colors, but really enjoyed that multi-star target.  Then went to Struve 1659 - WOW! that asterism was impressive.  Did a photoshop sketch of what I saw:

Viewed a few other good double stars - Algorab (Delta CRv - SAO-157323); 6 Leo (SAO-117751); 24 Com (SAO-100160) - colors really came through nicely on this one; 32+33 in Coma Berenices (SAO-100311) - again the red and blue colors really nice; and finally BU-800 in Coma Berenices could discern double, but couldn't make out the third star.  In addition - observed Saturn, M-104 and M-13 before calling it a night.

Setting up in my front yard was an adventure in itself.  The yard slopes severly, so the LX90's tripod had to be leveled (no real problem), but trees obscured the view of Polaris, so I had to guestimate the direction of ncp.  Seemed to work okay - my gotos were spot on!  The real problem with the front yard was my dogs - they're used to staying with me during my observing in the fenced back yard - last night they had to stay inside and howl much to the chagrin of my wife.

Yes, 24 Comae Berenices happens to be a particular favorite of mine.  There's an image posted at http://www.starimager.com/Image%20Gallery%20Pages/Double%20Stars/24%20Coma%20Berenices.htm

Dave Mitsky

Our local astronomy club's star party was clouded out Friday night - a number of us showed up at the dark sky site, but the clouds never parted so we left about 11:00 pm never having set up our telescopes.  I had a list of a number of double stars I wanted to view with my 10" LX90, among other targets, but it wasn't to be.

Anyway, Saturday night didn't look any better, mostly cloudy at sunset, but at about 10:00 pm, the skies cleared so I set up my 80mm Stellarvue refractor in my backyard.  Even though the skies were mostly clear, transparency wasn't too great - I could barely see Polaris and Vega had a nice halo through my binoculars.

Viewed a number of doubles at 28x magnification.  Most interesting one was Iota and Kappa Bootis - could view both in the same fov.  Easily split Iota (mag 5/7.5; 38.5 arc' separation), and after viewing awhile was able to see split of Kappa (mag 4.5/6.5, 13.3 arc' separation).  Only viewed a couple of more before the clouds finally arrived and drove me inside about 11:30 pm: