Although weather forecast was cloudy skies for last night, I set up my 10" LX90 about sunset to try to get some viewing before the clouds closed in.  Wanted to try my new 17mm Nagler on Episilon Lyrae.  Skies were mostly clear when I set up - and remainded so during astronomical twilight.  Lyra was obscured by trees, so I viewed some other targets while waiting for this constellation to show itself.  Saw an interesting carbon star in Canes Venatici, Gamma CVn (SAO-44317), and a few doubles in Coma Berenices and Bootes.

About 10:30pm noticed that Vega was well clear of the trees in the eastern sky, so I shifted to Lyra.  No trouble finding Epsilon Lyrae, and after the telescope settled down could very clearly discern both doubles with the 17mm eyepiece, at about 147x magnification.  Put in the older 9mm plossl I have (about 278x magnification), and although the view wasn't as spectular as the Nagler, the splits were certainly more noticeable.  Observed for several minutes and sketched the fov - before the expected cloud cover came in.

Thanks for the sketch. It is nice to know that there are others out there who enjoy looking at double stars.  Epsilon Lyrae is a treasure to be sure. 

L

 Thanks for sharing George. We just returned from North Carolina after a few days in Maggie Valley. The skies were too cloudy Friday and Saturday night for viewing, but we had a good time anyway.

You may be interested in sketching the "Other Double Double" in Lyra, namely Struve 2470/74.  It's much more attractive and far easier to split than Epsilon.  There is a third Double Double in Lyra but it's not very aesthetically pleasing.

Dave Mitsky

DaveMitsky:

You may be interested in sketching the "Other Double Double" in Lyra, namely Struve 2470/74.  It's much more attractive and far easier to split than Epsilon.  There is a third Double Double in Lyra but it's not very aesthetically pleasing.

Dave Mitsky

Thanks Dave, I've made a note of that and will give it a look-see next opportunity.

Kevin Bozard:

 Thanks for sharing George. We just returned from North Carolina after a few days in Maggie Valley. The skies were too cloudy Friday and Saturday night for viewing, but we had a good time anyway.

 Hi Kevin - our local astronomy club had its monthly star gaze not too far from Maggie Valley friday night - on Mt. Pisgah.  Clear Sky Chart was blue, and weather.com indicated clear skies, but both were wrong.  A few of us tried to wait out the clouds, but they were as thick as ever at 11:00 pm so we packed up and went home. 

Set up the 80mm Stellarvue Nighthawk II last night and viewed this and a few more doubles. Could barely see separation with 17mm Nagler (~28X), so used a 9mm Plossl (~53X)and could see good separation. Imaged it with the Canon 40D at ISO1600 for 38 second exposure (~22X magnification).

 NCTiger - Not only do I think the "double-double" is nice telescopically, but it's my favorite for testing the scope's collimation. If I can split the two pairs' components, I'm satisfied with the collimation since double stars are a bit away from my favorite targets (galaxies, PNs, GCs, nebulae and open clusters).

    As a mater of fact, I was out two nights ago adjusting the scope's collimation and using the Epsilon pair as a test, since it was high in the sky 2 hours after dusk.

    Mr Q