There was an hour of relatively clear air between 11 and midnight on Sunday night (12/28). I set up my e-cheapo Celestron 114GT after-work computer GOTO scope outside the back door. Shuttling between outside and inside the door for some hot chocolate, I looked at a couple of color contrast doubles in between the "feet" of Gemini - gam and mu Gem under light polluted skies between the cloud fronts: Transparency: SAO Scale - 2 - more than 25% of the sky is cloudy, less than 50%. Hazy water vapor at altitude ZLM: 17.7 mpsas; 3.7v Op: Aves, SLC, UT Scope: 114mm short tube refractor at 36x. All targets were an easy split and had good contrast visibility at this power and sky conditions. Target List Id SAO Characteristics | Notes 15 Gem 78739 25.4" (2002) 6.7, 8.2 Hass: Tangerine orange/bluish red. [6.2v] Amber 16 Gem is at edge of field. Kaf: Looked yellow orange/blue orange. 2 degs sw of mu Gem (Tajet Posterior). 20 Gem 95795 19.7" (2002) 6.3, 6.9 (optical double) Haas: Unequal-gloss white. Kaf: Nearly equal yellow-blue. 1 deg nw of gam Gem (Alhena). del Ori ----- 52.8" (2003) 2.4, 6.8 Mintaka as GOTO alignment star. Western star in Orion's Belt. Classic white/blue. These are part of a larger target list for Gemini. The NOAA Conus water vapor animated image shows a clear pocket heading for SLC tonight (12/29). http://www.weather.gov/sat_tab.php?image=wv - Clear Skies, Kurt Gemini after-work colorful doubles observing list (Extended objects included only for reference/GOTO targeting purposes) Id SAO Characteristics | Notes (Beginning at north-east corner of Gemini box traveling south.) Castor ----- AC 71" 1.9, 3.8 Triple wide-field. Haas: Showcase pair lemon-white. Mullaney: blue-white binary with 3rd orange star; compare diamond white with orange Pollux, bet Gem. Dist. 15.6 parsecs. del Gam 79274 5.8" (2003) 3.6, 8.2 Wesat, Wesat. Haas: Brillant white, yellow. Belmont: yellowish/blue. Dist. 18 parsecs. Eskimo Neb -- NGC 2392 38 Gem 96265 7.3" (2004), 4.7, 7.8 Haas: Showcase . . . lemon white/grey snowball. M35 -- NGC 2168. Per French at p. 54, contains Otto Strueve 134. OSS 134 78038 31", 7.6, 9.1 French: golden/bluish. Bright pair off-center in M35 open cluster. (Turning west along southern "feet" of Gemini box.) mu Gem 78297 2.9v Waypoint star in this list. Dist: 71 parsecs 15 Gem 78739 25.4" (2002) 6.7, 8.2 Hass: Tangerine orange/bluish red. [6.2v] Amber 16 Gem is at edge of field. Belmont: yellow/blue; orange/orange. 16 Gem 78402 6.2 Hass: [6.2v] Amber 16 Gem is at edge of field of double 15 Gem. 18 Gem 78297 nu Gem. A-BC 116.6" (2002), 4.1 8.0 Haas: Grand sight! A brillant Sun-yellow star with a small blue companion super-wide apart. 20 Gem 95795 19.7" (2002) 6.3, 6.9 (optical double) Haas: Unequal-gloss white. Mullaney: yellow-white/bluish. gam Gem 95912 Alhena. 145", 1.9, 11.2; 143.5", 1.9, 10.9 (Wide triple, faint) Haas (Webb): Pretty field. (Turning north of gam Gem on west side of Gemini box to above Pollux.) eps Gem 78682 Mebsuta. 110.6", 3.1, 9.6 Dist: 231 parsecs Haas: Sun yellow with speck next to it [at low power]. Belmont: yellow/yellow. Dist: 28 parsecs pi. Gem 60340 Triple. AB 19.3" (1998), 5.1, 11.4 AC 92.0" 5.3, 10.4 Haas (Smyth): "Delicate triple star . . . topaz yellow; bluish; dusky". Belmont: orange/bluish triple. Dist: 172 parsecs. (Returning south of gam Gem on west side of Gemini box.) ksi Gem 96074 Xi Gem. Alzier. Waypoint star. 30 Gem is in field. 30 Gem 96051 27.2" (1904), 4.5, 11.1 Haas: Difficult but striking. . . . citrus orange that shows a ghostly speck of light at the edge of its glow. Cone Neb. NGC 2264, NGC 2261?, Caldwell 49 Sources: Belmont Society. 2008. Belmont Society Colorful Double Star List. url: http://www.jouscout.com/astro/belmont/belmontd.htm (last accessed Dec. 29, 2008) French, Sue. 2005. Celestial Sampler. Sky & Telescope Pub. Haas, Sissy. 2006. Double Stars for Small Telescopes. Sky & Telescope Pub. Mullaney, James. 1998. Celestial Harvest. Dover.