Consolation prize

by David Kingsley

I was sorry to see the bands of clouds streaming across California for much of day. The satellite loops suggested more of the same for tonight, so I bailed on Fremont Peak or Coe. I did put my 7 inch Starmaster outside when I got home from work about 7:30 pm. Had a quick dinner and then went out to the driveway to try to catch a view of Mira's spectrum when near maximum. Very nice view with lots of complex spectral lines using a blazed grating from Star Spectroscope. For comparison, I swung the scope over to Sirius. The hydrogen spectral lines were so sharp I knew the seeing must be pretty good. A quick look at M42 confirmed a rock solid view of the trapezium, with 6 very tight and steady stars. Out of force of habit, I decided to take a look at Sirius with higher power. I've tried off and on to see the Pup in the Oak Classic for almost 9 years. I've been skunked every time. Tonight I put in a 5 mm AP planetary eyepiece that gives about 200x in the 7 inch scope. And for the first time ever, there was Sirius B! The Pup showed up as a dim fleck of light trailing behind the blazing primary, a bit south of due east, on the following side. I could sometimes hold the companion for for entire passes across the eyepiece field (a striking contrast to the fools gold that I've seen on other occasions, in the form of eyepiece reflections that change in position or brightness as Sirius drifts across the field). Bands of clouds started coming through again shortly after this view, so I came into pack for a science conference in Washington DC. An hour in the driveway was less than I was hoping for on a third quarter Saturday night. But I had a big smile on my face anyway as I came back inside.

--David Kingsley