BTW, Sirius B was the first White Dwarf discovered in 1862, and I think Joe was basically correct in that most Planetary Nebulas do have a White Dwarf and those that do not contain the Degenerate White Dwarfs (the universe does contain degenerates, ha ha). I have only seen the central star in the Ring a few times, as I recall several people saw it with the Grim one night. Sirius B is a challenge, but several SLASer's have the refractors for it, Patrick, Siegfried, and Bob Moore come into mind. I also wonder why my e-mails get bounced, I seem to be able to reply but not able to generate my own posting. Thank You to Rich and Patrick for eventually getting them posted. Erik --- chuck.hards@gmail.com wrote: From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] White dwarfs and YOU Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:04:27 -0700 Rich, thanks for making sure Erik's posts came through. Funny because I was getting them as recently as a few days ago. I think the key to what Bishop wrote (Observer's Handbook 2009 edition, pg. 309, "Expired Stars") and my recollections, is that Sirius B and Omicron 2 Eridani B are the only white-dwarves *easily seen with a small telescope. *You're not going to see the central star in M57 from your backyard with a 6-inch Newtonian, nor are you going to find the companions of cataclysmic variables with a similar set-up. These two are also very close, as such things go. Om 2 Eri B is only 16.5 light-years distant, Sirius B is what, 8.5? These objects are virtually in our own "back yard". And Om 2 Eri B has the advantage of not rubbing shoulders with the second-brightest star in Earth's sky- it's much more easily seen in the eyepiece. It's a good star-party target that is easily found. "Who wants to see a dead star, one that no longer glows from nuclear fusion?!" I sure would if I were a jr. high kid interested in science. That only leaves the definition of a "small telescope" as grist for the nit-picker's mill. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com