15 Aquilae -- Double Star in Aquila
On the morning of August 5, 2018, I finished a difficult observation and drawing of a
dust-muted Mars. Once finished with Mars, I needed to relax a bit longer with the
telescope before calling it a night. Since the transparency of the sky was not good, it
pretty much ruled out looking at any deep sky object (Mars was so bright that the
transparency was not an issue). Thank goodness for double stars, since many are
bright enough to be enjoyed even with marginal sky transparency.
15 Aquilae fit my needs perfectly. It is an attractive double-star that is easily split and
easy to find; a simple star-hop from Gamma Aquilae. The largest component of
15 Aquilae shines with the total output of 83x that of our sun. The age of the double
stars is around 4 billion years.
Between making a complex drawing of Mars and a simple drawing of the double-star
15 Aquilae, I managed to spend enough time at the telescope to fill my need for
observing – at least for that night.
dust-muted Mars. Once finished with Mars, I needed to relax a bit longer with the
telescope before calling it a night. Since the transparency of the sky was not good, it
pretty much ruled out looking at any deep sky object (Mars was so bright that the
transparency was not an issue). Thank goodness for double stars, since many are
bright enough to be enjoyed even with marginal sky transparency.
15 Aquilae fit my needs perfectly. It is an attractive double-star that is easily split and
easy to find; a simple star-hop from Gamma Aquilae. The largest component of
15 Aquilae shines with the total output of 83x that of our sun. The age of the double
stars is around 4 billion years.
Between making a complex drawing of Mars and a simple drawing of the double-star
15 Aquilae, I managed to spend enough time at the telescope to fill my need for
observing – at least for that night.
A Double-Star After Viewing Mars