Some stars before the storm

 There is a 3.5-inch blanket of new snow on the ground this morning (Sunday).  Last night started out clear, with a nice view of the 2.8-day crescent moon during twilight.

Olympus E-M5iii + 40-150mm f/4.

 Clouds were moving in from the south as I photographed the Summer Triangle in the west over Bristol Head.

Olympus E-M1iii + 12mm f/2 + Hoya Sparkle-6 filter.

 There are three famous double stars in the region of the Summer Triangle.  They are Epsilon Lyrae ("Double Double"), Albireo (Beta Cygni), and 61 Cygni (the "Flying Star").  The finder chart below shows where they are located.  I photographed them with a GSO 4.5-in (114 mm) f/12.5 Classical Cassegrain (1427 mm focal length) and a Sony A7iii camera.

 

credit: SkySafariAstronomy.com

Vega and Epsilon Lyrae (upper right).  Rokinon 135mm f/2.

Epsilon Lyrae.  Full image area.  North to the right. GSO Cassegrain.

Epsilon Lyrae, a closer look.  North is up.

Each of the two stars seen here is also a double star, hence the nickname "Double Double".  Resolving the two tight pairs requires good optics and high magnification (about 100x or more).

Albireo.  Full image area.  North to the right. GSO Cassegrain.

Albireo, a closer look.  North is up.

Albireo is famous for the contrasting colors of the two stars: golden and blue.

61 Cygni. Full image area. North to the right. GSO Cassegrain.

 

61 Cygni, a closer look.  North is up.

61 Cygni is known as the "Flying Star" because of its large proper motion (movement relative to the background stars).  This rapid movement is related to its close distance:  11.4 ly.  It is the 12th closest star system.

The image quality from the 4.5-inch Cassegrain is less than I would like.  There is some asymmetry to the star images that indicates a probable collimation issue.  I'll have to work on that some day.  For now, this scope is going into the closet.

GSO 4.5-inch Classical Cassegrain