My first target was CTA 102, the blazar in outburst. I misplaced the finder chart I used at Dinosaur Point a couple nights previous; but I was able to remember exactly the pattern of stars to look for. I could not see 31 Peg in the reflex sight, so started with Zeta Peg to find 31 Peg. From there I used my memory; I quickly found the three pairs of stepping stone stars, then the triangle with a double star at its base. Switching to the main scope view at 170x, I found the small faint triangle further east where the blazar was. The blazar was only seen with AV and when seeing stilled. I changed to 277x and could hold the blazar more steady. Having a tracking mount helped greatly. The blazar appeared about 14th magnitude to me. It may be dimming? Again, trying to imaging the age of the thing, and all that is around us, how we came to be.
Next up I decided to try to find Neptune and Uranus, which I haven't looked for in two years.
Neptune was a long star hop from 31 Peg. It was not visible in the 50mm finder and I needed a couple tries to make sure of the field. It was small, non-stellar ball. It was more star like but did not shine as brightly as a star with a similarly sized Airy disk. It seemed greyish blue, and maybe a little mottled?
Uranus, on the other hand, was visible in the finder, but that confused my star hopping since it formed a triangle with Zeta Psc and another star. It was larger and brighter than Neptune, more strongly appearing as a disk, and a yellowish green color.
Some high thin clouds were passing overhead; seeing was about 6/10 but getting better. I decided to soldier on with some double star observing:
HJ 634: Yellow-orange with faint wide B to west, ~3 delta magnitude. [7.28, 12.68; 56"]
STFA 3 / 37 Cet: Both orange, B 3 delta mag, so more intense orange. Wide separation PA to the north. Seen through branches of the meridian tree, a natural apodizing screen. [5.19, 7.85; 49" PA 331°]
Seeing improved to 7/10, so I went up to 553x:
STF 91: Orange-yellow pair, ~2 delta mag, ~4", PA to N. [7.43, 8.56; 4.3"; PA 314°]
STF 84: Yellow A and bluish B. PA west, 2 delta mag. Wide separation. [6.11, 9.52; 16.2" 254°. There is an AC pair, 14th mag and 117" not seen.]
STF 113: Pale orange and slight blue, PA to NW, ~1 delta mag. 2". Pretty. [6.45, 6.99; 1.6", PA 20.7°. B has its own pair C, 0.1"]
Anonymous two stars east of STF 113: Orange; nothing close. Could be fainter (~1 delta mag) white to the north, half a field away?]
STF 122: pretty white and orange; PA to N, ~3 delta mag, 6-8" [6.65, 9.51; 5.7", 329°]
95 Psc: Nothing close. Orange star. Could be very faint to west, ~3 delta mag? [I seem to have observed AB,C, 7.11, 12.90; 139", 224°. AB is 0.3" near equal, and was not seen.]
Mu Psc: Orange. Nothing close; suspect very faint AV star to west ~8" separation. [not matched with Carro catalog, B is widely sep and 7 delta mag!]
S 398: orange with 1 delta mag white to east. [not found in Carro]
STT 31. Orange with very faint glow, AV only, to east. ~4-5", 3 delta mag. [6.46, 10.56; 4", 78°]
STF 138: Tight near equal pair, yellow-white, 2" or so. Is third star, ~2 delta mag much wider to east in the system? [AB 7.5, 7.63, 1.6"]
STF 155: Nice near equal brightness white pair, with similar star to west and a fainter to south. [AB 7.87, 8.01; 4.9"]
Uranus, on the other hand, was visible in the finder, but that confused my star hopping since it formed a triangle with Zeta Psc and another star. It was larger and brighter than Neptune, more strongly appearing as a disk, and a yellowish green color.
Some high thin clouds were passing overhead; seeing was about 6/10 but getting better. I decided to soldier on with some double star observing:
HJ 634: Yellow-orange with faint wide B to west, ~3 delta magnitude. [7.28, 12.68; 56"]
STFA 3 / 37 Cet: Both orange, B 3 delta mag, so more intense orange. Wide separation PA to the north. Seen through branches of the meridian tree, a natural apodizing screen. [5.19, 7.85; 49" PA 331°]
Seeing improved to 7/10, so I went up to 553x:
STF 91: Orange-yellow pair, ~2 delta mag, ~4", PA to N. [7.43, 8.56; 4.3"; PA 314°]
STF 84: Yellow A and bluish B. PA west, 2 delta mag. Wide separation. [6.11, 9.52; 16.2" 254°. There is an AC pair, 14th mag and 117" not seen.]
STF 113: Pale orange and slight blue, PA to NW, ~1 delta mag. 2". Pretty. [6.45, 6.99; 1.6", PA 20.7°. B has its own pair C, 0.1"]
Anonymous two stars east of STF 113: Orange; nothing close. Could be fainter (~1 delta mag) white to the north, half a field away?]
STF 122: pretty white and orange; PA to N, ~3 delta mag, 6-8" [6.65, 9.51; 5.7", 329°]
95 Psc: Nothing close. Orange star. Could be very faint to west, ~3 delta mag? [I seem to have observed AB,C, 7.11, 12.90; 139", 224°. AB is 0.3" near equal, and was not seen.]
Mu Psc: Orange. Nothing close; suspect very faint AV star to west ~8" separation. [not matched with Carro catalog, B is widely sep and 7 delta mag!]
S 398: orange with 1 delta mag white to east. [not found in Carro]
STT 31. Orange with very faint glow, AV only, to east. ~4-5", 3 delta mag. [6.46, 10.56; 4", 78°]
STF 138: Tight near equal pair, yellow-white, 2" or so. Is third star, ~2 delta mag much wider to east in the system? [AB 7.5, 7.63, 1.6"]
STF 155: Nice near equal brightness white pair, with similar star to west and a fainter to south. [AB 7.87, 8.01; 4.9"]
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