I haven't split Sirius in decades, but from what I remember, very high magnification was needed. What scope do you plan to use? If a Newt with a rotatable tube, you can use the spider diffraction spikes to your advantage by putting the pup between the spikes. They will draw glare away from Sirius itself and slightly improve contrast close to the main star's diffraction disk. You may need at least 10" of aperture to resolve it at current separation. Perfect skies help, as well as optics at thermal equalibrium. And get it as close to the meridian as possible (highest altitude). Good luck, let us know how you do! On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 9:22 PM, Debbie <astrodeb@beyondbb.com> wrote:
The forecast for Southern Utah calls for clear and cold skies all week long. I may get the refractor out on the driveway if the seeing is excellent. Was hoping to try to split Sirius so I was wondering what the ideal magnification would be to see the pup. May also try for "e" and "f" stars in the Trapezium as well. Has anybody split Sirius in the past couple of years?