It was 8:30pm Sunday night, the last clear night we are going to have for a while. Knowing full well that 0400 would arrive soon, I shifted into a higher gear. In 15 minutes the tripod, mount and scope were up and the iOptron mount went through its GPS alignment. A
First up Mizar and Alcor. This is a nice pairing of two white stars. The 4 inch did its thing, and delivered a good solid image.
How many times had I used Polaris to align my scopes, all the times. How many times have I actually looked at it, none. So I decided that would be next. There is no missing the yellow primary and the Ab companion star in close proximity was visible with it. Somehow I missed or did not notice the B star.
Next Castor and Pollux. Castor was significantly dimmer of the two and seemed to be more yellow, then the orange of Pollux.
Izar was next and it's gold/yellow paired nicely with the blue/white of its companion.
I was just getting ready to move to the next star when the sound of a tractor pulling into the field across the road hit me. In minutes my observing area would be filled with dust. Thus ended the session. It wasn't an hour, but not a bad session for something I don't do very often.
