Sky & Telescope - November 2021 - 56

POSS-II / STSCI / CALTECH / PALOMAR OBSERVATORY
NOVEMBER 2021 OBSERVING
Suburban Stargazer
Ken's Martini Glass
to 200×, cupped my hands, and stared
hard. That teased out a few halo stars.
The bottom line: Top-tier globulars
like M2 fight the light!
Extras, Anyone?
I powered the refractor down to 38×
and headed northeast toward double
star 24 Aquarii. Whoa - not so fast . . .
I almost sailed past an easy duo, which
I identified as Σ2809. Located 1.1° eastnortheast
of M2, Σ2809 displays 6.2and
9.4-magnitude components, 31″
apart. Nudging the apo further brought
me to 6.6-magnitude 24 Aquarii. Did
something vanishingly faint lie beside
it? I revved up to 200× again: Aha! An
11.8-magnitude attendant flickered
weakly 36″ southward. The lopsided duo
is listed as BU1212.
Given the novelty of a clear November
night, I decided to do a little more
exploring. Trolling at 38×, I quickly
reeled in three doubles lined up in a
½°-long row about 1° northeast of
24 Aquarii. The first - not an official
pair - is 7.7- and 9.5-magnitude stars
separated by 3′. The second, comprising
8.9- and 9.2-magnitude mates 26″ apart,
is Σ2817. The third, another unofficial
set, exhibits 7.0- and 10.3-magnitude
stars separated by 56″. These three wee
ornaments modestly decorated my
low-power field. A fourth little bauble,
dubbed CHE316, beckoned ½° southeast
of Σ2817. Its 9.2- and 10.5-magnitude
components lie 38.4″ apart. CHE316 is
no gem, but its proximity to the row-ofthree
made it hard to miss.
In total, I netted half a dozen doubles
trending northeastward from M2 in a
3° sweep. Surveying this unexpected
sextet wasn't immensely exciting, just
cozily satisfying in a backyard astronomy
kind of way. It's why I do this stuff.
And best of all, I didn't get wet.
¢ Contributing editor KEN HEWITTWHITE
praises the Water Jar every time
he takes a shower.
56 NOVEMBER 2021 * SKY & TELESCOPE
The Olives
HD 213895
BU 1515
60 Aquarii
HD 213583
BU 77
MINI-MARTINI Immediately southeast of the Water Jar, 5.9-magnitude 60 Aquarii dominates a
Y-shaped asterism the author calls " the Martini Glass. " In telescopes, 60 Aquarii sparkles with a
slight yellowish hue, 7.9-magnitude HD 213895 shines more strongly yellow, and 8.1-magnitude
HD 213583 glows yellow-orange.
Water Jar Wonders
Object
Type
Σ2909
BU1515AB
BU1515AC
BU77
Σ2862
M2
Σ2809
BU1212
Σ2817
CHE316
Double star
Double star
Double star
Double star
Double star
Globular cluster
Double star
Double star
Double star
Double star
Mag(v)
4.3, 4.5
6.0, 11.5
6.0, 11.9
9.3, 9.9
8.0, 8.4
6.6
6.2, 9.4
6.6, 11.8
8.9, 9.2
9.2, 10.5
Size/Sep
2.4″
100.9″
127.4″
2.8″
2.5″
16′
31.1″
36.2″
26.1″
38.4″
RA
22h 28.8m
22h 34.0m
22h 34.0m
22h 34.0m
22h 07.1m
21h 33.5m
21h 37.6m
21h 39.5m
21h 42.4m
21h 44.4m
Dec.
-00° 01′
-01° 34′
-01° 34′
-01° 47′
+00° 34′
-00° 49′
-00° 23′
-00° 03′
+00° 27′
+00° 08′
Angular sizes and separations are from recent catalogs. Visually, an object's size is often smaller than
the cataloged value and varies according to the aperture and magnification of the viewing instrument.
Right ascension and declination are for equinox 2000.0.
Sky & Telescope - November 2021

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