Re: Einstein's cross

Mark,

Jimi tried many times and failed. 

And I've seen some amazing stuff through his 48".  Some of the highlights was the jet of M-87 (easy), the jet of 3C273, busting apart Shk 19, etc.  Three of us; Gary Myers, Jimi and myself confirmed the jet of 3C273 by drawing what we saw before we looked at each others sketch and the image.

The mirror on that thing is something else.  Best 30"+ mirror I've seen including my own 30" Starmaster, which already have killer optics.

CS,
Alvin

--- On Mon, 2/8/10, Mark Johnston <mark@No-Spam> wrote:

From: Mark Johnston <mark@No-Spam>
Subject: Re: [TAC] Einstein's cross
To: "TAC mailing list" <tac@No-Spam>
Date: Monday, February 8, 2010, 8:38 PM

 
I observed it with Shneor and Gregg at Blue Canyon...to give you an idea that it can be doable under 6.2 skies.  Key = steady skies
 
I've observed it using Kennedy's 28" f/3.66 reflector at SSP 2006 while it was about 20 degree above the NW horizon.  It looked like a faint direct vision double star.
 
I do have several other lensed objects in one of my pdf's (Selected Galaxy Trios) on my website.  I know it has nothing to do with it, but just stuck it at the end of that document.
 
As far as I know it...no one has observed all four lensed points of light simultaneuosly using any telescope, including Jimi's 48".  I've seen two of the four with my 22"...then the other two.  The two brighter ones are far easier than the other two.  I don't remember which ones off the top of my head.
 
Alvin

--- On Mon, 2/8/10, Shneor Sherman <szsherm@No-Spam> wrote:

From: Shneor Sherman <szsherm@No-Spam>
Subject: Re: [TAC] Einstein's cross
To: "TAC mailing list" <tac@No-Spam>
Date: Monday, February 8, 2010, 10:45 AM

I've observed the Double Quasar at Blue Canyon, in Alvin Huey's 22" and Gregg Blandin's 25", on the same night. In Gregg's scope, you could see both images, which were grayish and constantly visible. In Alvin's scope, they were blue, but were in and out of view in sync. That was maybe 12 or 13 years ago. I've since observed them at Shingletown (RIP) in my 22". It does take a very good night.
Clears,
Shneor Sherman

--- On Sun, 2/7/10, Steve Gottlieb <astrogottlieb@No-Spam> wrote:

From: Steve Gottlieb <astrogottlieb@No-Spam>
Subject: Re: [TAC] Einstein's cross
To: "TAC mailing list" <tac@No-Spam>
Date: Sunday, February 7, 2010, 11:43 AM

On Feb 7, 2010, at 9:51 AM, Julien Lecomte wrote:

   So it looks like, under the right conditions, an experienced observer
can visually see it as a non-stellar object, not quite round, with a
scope in the 14" range. I might give it a try this fall with my
(hopefully ready by then) 16" scope. Has anybody on this list ever
been able to see it as 4 clearly separated components?
     Here are the individual V magnitudes for the components:  17.4, 17.4, 18.4, 18.7

But keep in mind all 4 components fit in a circle just 2 arcseconds in diameter.  In other words, cleanly resolving all 4 components is equivalent to trying to resolve four mag 17.4-18.7 stars in a smaller space than one pair of the Double-Double!

A much easier lensed quasar to try and resolve (but still very difficult!) is the Double Quasar in Ursa Major near NGC 3079.  The individual components are V = 16.4 and 16.8 and the separation is 6".   I've only seen it as a single faint "star" in an 18-inch, but some observers have split it (usually in a larger scope).

Steve
  

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Who's observing/imaging where? http://observers.org/OI-calendar/
GSSP is coming, July 10-14 http://www.goldenstatestarparty.org
TAC's imaging mailing list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TAC-Imaging/

-- 
Who's observing/imaging where? http://observers.org/OI-calendar/
GSSP is coming, July 10-14 http://www.goldenstatestarparty.org
TAC's imaging mailing list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TAC-Imaging/