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(IAAC) Obj: Castor & Pollux - Inst: 10x50 binoculars



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Observer: Matt Leo
Your skills: Beginner (< one year)
Date/time of observation: March 29, 1998 2030 EST
Location of site: Melrose, MA (Lat 42 30', Elev )
Site classification: Suburban
Sky darkness: 4 <1-10 Scale (10 best)>
Seeing: 4 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Moon presence: None - moon not in sky
Instrument: 10x50 binoculars
Magnification: 10
Filter(s): None
Object(s): Castor & Pollux
Category: Asterism.
Class: star
Constellation: GEM
Data: mag   size 
Position: RA :  DEC :
Description:
In the process of star hopping to the beehive, I noticed that Castor
and Pollux, when framed together in the binocular, make a very nice
color contrast. Where I live, this contrast is not immediately obvious
to the naked eye, but it stands out pretty dramatically when you've
got both stars in a pair of binoculars.  In the binoculars, Castor
appears blue and Pollux is quite red/orange.  The fact that they're
close in brightness makes them especially pretty.
--
For comparison, I checked Pollux out against Betelgeuse, whose color
is much more dramatic to the naked eye than Pollux.  In part, I'd
guess this is because it is somewhat brighter than Pollux: Pollux is
about 4/10 of a magnitude brighter than Castor, and Betelgeuse is
about 6/10 of a magnitude brigher than Pollux.  Through the binoculars
Betelgeuse still looks considerably redder than Pollux.
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My binoculars are rated something like 6.25 degrees FOV. This places
Castor and Pollux near the right and left edges of the FOV.  In my
particular glasses (Nikon Lookout III), the sharpness drops off
towards the edge.  These stars would look really nice in a pair of
7x35 or 8x40 wide angle binoculars.
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