Noel Carboni combined the Hyperstar III and mini-WASP data for this image.

The famous Double Cluster in Perseus.

Noel Carboni just processed this earlier Hyperstar III data of the globular cluster M56 almost lost in a rich Milky Way background star field.

The same night I got the California nebula data with the mini-WASP array, I also got some earlier Double Cluster data with the array, and, some M33 deep data with the Hyperstar III.  The Hyperstar was using 20-minute subs for the M33 image – that’s deep!!  That’s the equivalent of 1 hour and 40-minute subs with the Sky 90 or 3 hours and 20-minute subs with the TS 80s.  Noel processed this deep M33 image just last night and will add it to our earlier efforts on this one.

The Double Cluster image is the lower half of a 2-frame mosaic.  The upper frame will make Stock 2 the subject and hopefully I will provide Noel with enough frame overlap to be able to bolt the two images together.  As you can see – stars – lots of stars

Nice clear night (so far) tonight and I have both the mini-WASP array and the Hyperstar III grabbing data.  Took one of two frames with the mini-WASP and then moved onto the California nebula for some half-hour subs (that’ll be interesting)  - the Hyperstar is taking 20-minute subs of M33

And here is an 8 x 5-minute test shot of the Ruchbah region taken with the TS 80.  Hot pixels aplenty, but star quality as you can see very good considering the chip wasn’t even flat!

I have returned the faithful old M25C to the Hyperstar and taken the new M26C into the mini-WASP observatory (North dome) awaiting the arrival of the TS 80mm triplet APO.  Expect rain and cloud for at least the next 6 months.

And here’s that recent Kappa Cassiopeia data expertly processed by Noel Carboni.

Whilst working on the mini-WASP array last night I took a quick image of a reasonably bright star with the one good scope and camera.  The central star is Kappa Cassiopeia and the two open clusters above it are NGC 146 (on the left) and NGC 133 (on the right).  This is just 4 x 15-minute subs.

Spica

Star name:                                          Spica

Other names:                                      Alpha Virginis, Azimech, Alaraph, Dana

Constellation:                                     Virgo

Other ID:                                             67 Virginis, HR5056, HD116658, SAO157923, HIP65474

Magnitude:                                         +1.04

Absolute magnitude:                          -3.55

Luminosity, Sun = 1:                          12,100

R.A. 2000:                                          13hr 25min 11.5793sec

Dec 2000:                                           -11deg 09min 40.759sec

Spectral type:                                     B1 III-IV/B2 V (Beta Cephei type variable, rotating ellipsoid)

B – V colour index                              -0.24

Temperature:                                      22.400 K

Mass, solar masses:                            10.25 +/- 0.68

Radius, solar radii:                             7.4 +/- 0.57

Distance in light-years:                      260 +/- 20

Spica is the brightest very blue star in the night sky, the brightest star in Virgo, and the 15th brightest star in the whole (north and south) sky.  Spica is a close binary with an orbital period of about 4 days.  Spica is a Beta Cephei type variable which has a brightness variability over a 0.1738 day period, in addition, due to the presence of its companion star, Spica is also a rotating ellipsoidal variable leading to an apparent magnitude change of 0.03 over the binary orbital period. Note that this is not an eclipsing binary, but an effect of gravitational distortion due to the close companion star.  As Spica is close to the ecliptic it can be occulted by the Moon and sometimes by the planets as well.  From my 51 degree north location Spica can be seen close to my southern horizon during the spring.  In 2012 as Spica crossed my southern horizon it was accompanied by Saturn which travelled almost directly above it creating a nice photo-opportunity for a wide field setup.