Millie shared her Almach notes

Millie sent me an email.

I read your blog.  Glad you had good time in Algonquin and did some observing in spite of bad weather.  I noticed your observation of gamma [Andromedae or] Almach.  I was observing the same star at CAO using  my RC 203mm 'scope and Dietmar's SW ([or] Sky Watcher) 120mm refractor. 

She shared her observing results from the weekend, plus one from a few years back.

Observing #1
Date:  Aug. 30/2006   Place: backyard
Sky cond.:  clear, good seeing
Telescope:  102mm SW on EQ4 (no goto)
Star:  Gamma AND (Almach) A & B not able to split B & C (sep. 0.4").  At 71.4x stars were touching.  At 100x split by hair.
A=yellow, B=bluish green

Observing #2
Date:  Aug. 6/2012  Place: CAO (GBO)  
Sky cond.:  clear, seeing good
Telescope:  203mm RC on EQ5 goto
Star:  Gamma AND, A & B only.  At 116x fairly close.
A= yellow, B=blue

Observing #3
Date:  Sep. 15/2012  Place: CAO (THO)  
Sky Cond.:  clear, seeing good
Telescope:  120mm SW on EQ5 goto
Star:  Gamma AND, A & B only.  At 191x fairly close.
A= orange, B=blue

She went on to say:

I was able to split Izar in the SW, very clear split no spikes on main star.  Also viewed the "double double" in Lyra.  Very clear split in SW scope.  I decided to keep my RC for now.  [And] you were right, primary mirror needs collimation.  Thanks for your help.

I'm pleased she's sticking with it. I think she'll enjoy the large aperture. It is also satisfying that she's come to trust her eyesight, splitting tight doubles in small apertures.

In addition, it is neat to compare her observations to mine... From Mew Lake Saturday night, Friday night, Thursday night. And then to go back further, like she had, into my notes to Aug 2010 and Sep 2007.