Milky Way, Nova V462 Lupi, Barnard's Star

 We were pounded by wind all day yesterday, but late at night it was pleasantly calm.  The sky was also quite dark, with a measured value of sqml=21.69 mpsas.

Some moving bands of green and purple airglow were mixed with the rising Milky Way. 

E-M1iii + Leica 9mm f/1.7 + Sparkle-6 filter.

 

Leica 9mm f/1.7 + Sparkle-6 filter

 

The three vertices of the Summer Triangle are Vega (top), Deneb (left) and Altair (lower right).

 

The position of Nova V462 Lupi is marked with a white circle.

 Nova V462 Lupi appears to have reached maximum brightess at slightly brighter than magnitude 6.  I can see it with some effort using a 10x50 binocular. It is an easy sight in a 60mm f/6 telescope at 18x.

Nova V462 Lupi.  Vivitar Series 1 135mm f/2.3 lens + Metabones Speedbooster + Kase Astroblast filter.

 Compare the above image from last night with the chart for the corresponding region from Sky Safari, which shows no star at that position:

credit: SkySafariAstronomy.com

 Barnard's Star is a red dwarf and the second closest star system after the three-star Alpha Centauri system.  It is 5.96 ly distant and has a visual magnitude of 9.5.  I find it difficult to pick out with 10x50 binoculars, even with this very dark sky.  It is an easy target for a small telescope, however.  It is an interesting fact that the second-closest star system can't be seen without optical aid.  This is true for most of our nearest-neighbor stars, which are dim red dwarfs.

Location of Barnard's Star is marked with a white circle.  Leica 9mm + Sparkle-6 filter.

 

Barnard's Star (circled).  Vivitar Series 1 135mm f/2.3 + Metabones Speedbooster.