Hi all, Last night was a good viewing night and I didn't have anything planned, so I picked up a list of Fine objects for public nights to observe. I found several double stars like Epislon Lyra, SAO30447, 95 Hercules, SAO30012, etc. My telescope is a classic LX200, f/10, 12" with a diagonal and a 13 mm SWA Meade eyepiece. It is mounted on a pier in an observatory. I think that the magnification was a little over 200.
After about an hour of viewing, I started looking at the sky for targets of opportunity. To the south of my observatory, west of the trees, I could see a lonely star that I cannot usually see. A quick check of my planisphere showed me that the star was Antares. I am at 40 degrees N and Antares is at dec -26 degrees. I usually cannot see that far south. What I saw was amazing. The star looked like it was flaming. The colors were intense. The bottom was the brightest red. This red faded into white or perhaps yellow which in turn changed into an intense blue on the top of the picture. I am certain that an atmospheric distrubance caused this view, but I have never seen such a display. When I moved it out of focus, the rings were like a kalidiscope of vivid red and blue. It was a beautiful sight.
I have seen lots of red stars. In fact when I am portable and in the winter, Betelgeuse is my favorite alignment star because its color makes it very easy to identify. That color is a pale nothing compared to what I saw last night.
Anybody have any ideas about what I observed?
Ted
After about an hour of viewing, I started looking at the sky for targets of opportunity. To the south of my observatory, west of the trees, I could see a lonely star that I cannot usually see. A quick check of my planisphere showed me that the star was Antares. I am at 40 degrees N and Antares is at dec -26 degrees. I usually cannot see that far south. What I saw was amazing. The star looked like it was flaming. The colors were intense. The bottom was the brightest red. This red faded into white or perhaps yellow which in turn changed into an intense blue on the top of the picture. I am certain that an atmospheric distrubance caused this view, but I have never seen such a display. When I moved it out of focus, the rings were like a kalidiscope of vivid red and blue. It was a beautiful sight.
I have seen lots of red stars. In fact when I am portable and in the winter, Betelgeuse is my favorite alignment star because its color makes it very easy to identify. That color is a pale nothing compared to what I saw last night.
Anybody have any ideas about what I observed?
Ted
