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Observation Notes:
If you live near 35 degrees North Latitude, and enjoy overcoming the adversity of observing far southern objects, you may want to give the double star Pi Lupi a try. This pair rises no more than 8 degrees above the horizon where I live. Unlike Gamma Velorum, it is a fairly close double. SItting in the mush above the neighbor’s houses, I had to be very patient to catch glimpses of the two components as separate, swimming points. Discerning color was also difficult with all the distortion, but overall the pair had a bluish white appearance. I estimated a position angle of either 60 or 240 degrees, depending on which was the primary. The Washington Visual Double Star Catalog gives a 1983 value of 70.5 degrees, and a separation of 1.5 arc seconds. The sketch above contains a frozen detail to give you an idea of what the mushy view looked like in general. Clicking the image for the large version may help see that inset better.
| Subject | Pi Lupi (HJ 4728) |
| Classification | Double Star |
| Position (J2000) | Lupus [RA: 15:05:07 / Dec: -47:03:04]* |
| Position Angle* | 70.5° (1983) |
| Separation* | 1.5″ (1983) |
| Magnitudes* | 4.7; 4.8 |
| Spectral Types* | B5; B5 |
| Date/Time | JAN 26, 2007 – 06:40 AM MST (JAN 26, 2007 – 13:40 UT) |
| Observing Loc. | Flagstaff, AZ – Home |
| Instrument | Orion SVP 6LT Reflector (150 mm dia./1200 mm F/L) |
| Eyepieces/Mag. | 10 mm + 2X Barlow (240X) |
| Conditions | Clear, calm, 18° F |
| Seeing | 2/10 Pickering |
| Transparency | NELM Mag ~4.0 |
| References | The Washington Visual Double Star Catalog, 1996.0 (Worley+, 1996) |
*Based on published data.