Weather has been variable from a teasing haze to thin overcast, so not much observing done. I had about an hour earlier this week on the moon with Big Blue, under good seeing at 553x, scanning the terminator. The most striking view was Clavius, which was filled mostly with shadow except for craters C & D: the complete rims of both these craterlets were illuminated and shown like crisp rings of light over the dark. As time passed a faint, thin strip appeared to connect the two, and a rough slope to the south of D emerged. The western rim of Clavius appeared as a bright, ragged parenthesis. To top it, at the moon's southernmost limb, an illuminated mountain range floated separate from the rest of the moon, above the surrounding shadow; it was probably part of the ring mountain Drygalski, which according to Rukl is only partly visible during favorable librations.
I've been gathering materials to retrofit my 20-inch with motors and tracking, and hope to have that project completed soon.
Friday, December 29, 2017
Thursday, December 21, 2017
some aries doubles
Had a brief but satisfying session with Big Blue last night, trying to restore my sanity after a stressful work week. Transparency was 3/5, seeing 6/10, and cold, but it was satisfying nonetheless. 277x except for one observation. I poked around at random a bit, noticing a lot of yellow and orange carbon stars in the area; they seem particularly dense in this area.
Gamma Ari = STF 180: equal yellow-white, wide, bright. [AB seen, 4 stars in system]
01H 53M 31.76S +19° 17' 38.6" P.A. 1 SEP 7.4 MAG 4.52,4.58 SP A1PSI+B9V DIST. 50.3 PC (164.08 L.Y.)
STF 240: Equal white ~9th mag, ~5"
02H 17M 15.74S +23° 52' 24.8" P.A. 53 SEP 4.8 MAG 8.32,8.60 SP F0 DIST. 111.86 PC (364.89 L.Y.)
Hjl 1019: New designation for me. I assume the pair is a very wide separation, 1-2 delta mag star to the west-ish. I tried to see something close to A but no luck. [Correct on the wide pairing; B is a 0.4" pair!]
02H 29M 13.68S +23° 28' 08.4" P.A. 323 SEP 217.1 MAG 6.10,9.61 SP A5M DIST. 95.24 PC (310.67 L.Y.)
STFA 5: Near equal light orange, very wide. [AB seen. B has a C pair 0.6" and 4 delta mag -- should try it on the 20-inch]
02H 37M 00.52S +24° 38' 50.0" P.A. 275 SEP 37.8 MAG 6.50,7.02 SP F5V+F7V DIST. 41.75 PC (136.19 L.Y.)
BU 306: ! Very nice white and 3 delta mag bluish B, nicely seen 4". I think this is my first Burnham at 277x. [AB seen. AC too faint.]
02H 43M 51.25S +25° 38' 18.0" P.A. 19 SEP 3 MAG 6.40,10.36 SP A3V DIST. 104.28 PC (340.16 L.Y.)
BU 525: Star is decidedly not round but does not show shape other than a stretching, even at 553x. If not a close pair it would be the faint blue star very wide separation. [It's the close pair; evidently seeing not good enough to split; I have split 0.6" before.]
02H 58M 53.11S +21° 37' 03.9" P.A. 277 SEP 0.48 MAG 7.47,7.45 SP A3 DIST. 151.52 PC (494.26 L.Y.)
STF 333: Equal bright white -- stacked offset to each other -- just split with seeing. [AB seen. AC wider separation.]
02H 59M 12.73S +21° 20' 25.6" P.A. 209.9 SEP 1.33 MAG 5.17,5.57 SP A2VS+A2VS DIST. 101.94 PC (332.53 L.Y.)
Tau Ari = Cou 259: Bright, maybe oval? Pair the faint and very wide instead? [Marginal; saw the deformation to the disk but not the actual star, which might split clean in better seeing or the 20-inch]
03H 21M 13.63S +21° 08' 49.5" P.A. 217 SEP 0.9 MAG 5.34,8.09 SP B5IV DIST. 156.01 PC (508.9 L.Y.)
STF 381: ! Orange-yellow with 2x fainter B, very close split, with seeing; tough one. [Good catch considering the seeing]
03H 23M 19.33S +20° 58' 13.9" P.A. 108 SEP 1 MAG 7.56,8.75 SP G5
63 Ari: Seems to be very close, very much fainter B, but comes and goes with seeing. [Doubtful, too close.]
03H 22M 45.24S +20° 44' 31.4" P.A. 296 SEP 0.3 MAG 5.28,8.13 SP K3III DIST. 97.37 PC (317.62 L.Y.)
Gamma Ari = STF 180: equal yellow-white, wide, bright. [AB seen, 4 stars in system]
01H 53M 31.76S +19° 17' 38.6" P.A. 1 SEP 7.4 MAG 4.52,4.58 SP A1PSI+B9V DIST. 50.3 PC (164.08 L.Y.)
STF 240: Equal white ~9th mag, ~5"
02H 17M 15.74S +23° 52' 24.8" P.A. 53 SEP 4.8 MAG 8.32,8.60 SP F0 DIST. 111.86 PC (364.89 L.Y.)
Hjl 1019: New designation for me. I assume the pair is a very wide separation, 1-2 delta mag star to the west-ish. I tried to see something close to A but no luck. [Correct on the wide pairing; B is a 0.4" pair!]
02H 29M 13.68S +23° 28' 08.4" P.A. 323 SEP 217.1 MAG 6.10,9.61 SP A5M DIST. 95.24 PC (310.67 L.Y.)
STFA 5: Near equal light orange, very wide. [AB seen. B has a C pair 0.6" and 4 delta mag -- should try it on the 20-inch]
02H 37M 00.52S +24° 38' 50.0" P.A. 275 SEP 37.8 MAG 6.50,7.02 SP F5V+F7V DIST. 41.75 PC (136.19 L.Y.)
BU 306: ! Very nice white and 3 delta mag bluish B, nicely seen 4". I think this is my first Burnham at 277x. [AB seen. AC too faint.]
02H 43M 51.25S +25° 38' 18.0" P.A. 19 SEP 3 MAG 6.40,10.36 SP A3V DIST. 104.28 PC (340.16 L.Y.)
BU 525: Star is decidedly not round but does not show shape other than a stretching, even at 553x. If not a close pair it would be the faint blue star very wide separation. [It's the close pair; evidently seeing not good enough to split; I have split 0.6" before.]
02H 58M 53.11S +21° 37' 03.9" P.A. 277 SEP 0.48 MAG 7.47,7.45 SP A3 DIST. 151.52 PC (494.26 L.Y.)
STF 333: Equal bright white -- stacked offset to each other -- just split with seeing. [AB seen. AC wider separation.]
02H 59M 12.73S +21° 20' 25.6" P.A. 209.9 SEP 1.33 MAG 5.17,5.57 SP A2VS+A2VS DIST. 101.94 PC (332.53 L.Y.)
Tau Ari = Cou 259: Bright, maybe oval? Pair the faint and very wide instead? [Marginal; saw the deformation to the disk but not the actual star, which might split clean in better seeing or the 20-inch]
03H 21M 13.63S +21° 08' 49.5" P.A. 217 SEP 0.9 MAG 5.34,8.09 SP B5IV DIST. 156.01 PC (508.9 L.Y.)
STF 381: ! Orange-yellow with 2x fainter B, very close split, with seeing; tough one. [Good catch considering the seeing]
03H 23M 19.33S +20° 58' 13.9" P.A. 108 SEP 1 MAG 7.56,8.75 SP G5
63 Ari: Seems to be very close, very much fainter B, but comes and goes with seeing. [Doubtful, too close.]
03H 22M 45.24S +20° 44' 31.4" P.A. 296 SEP 0.3 MAG 5.28,8.13 SP K3III DIST. 97.37 PC (317.62 L.Y.)
Sunday, December 17, 2017
abandoned trip
I went down to Fremont Peak again tonight, full of hope to get more of a hang of the scope but especially to chase some special objects. Wispy clouds swept the sky on the drive down, and upon getting to the observatory I could see most of the north horizon was clouded. I opened up anyway, and ate my dinner. I was able to get internet signal, so I checked the satellite and saw the solid white wall coming down from the north. I suppose I could have stayed, and tried the setting circles, and at least a few objects, but I knew my heart wasn't in it, so I closed up (making sure of the turnbuckles and the other closing items...). I did pan around with my Vixens for a while, to get some astro satisfaction. Of course the sky remained more or less clear, making me second guess my decision. If I didn't know I'd have a long and difficult day at work tomorrow I would have stuck it out, but you can't win every battle. There will be other times.
Thursday, December 14, 2017
challenges with the challenger
Hungry for some deep sky viewing, I headed up to Fremont Peak Tuesday night 12 December to use the Challenger. I wanted to learn how to set and use the setting circles, and had a list of some objects to find, but no fixed agenda. I arrived at 4:30pm and opened up, setting a fan behind the primary and collimated the focusers, one of which was far off. I read through the user manual for the setting circles and thought I knew how it worked. The sky looked pretty good; a north wind blew away most of the southern California wildfire smoke, and as the satellite predicted there was a bubble of good transparency above.
I went about trying the star alignment. The first star is Polaris, but I could not, for the life of me, get the Challenger to point to it. Challenger is on an English cross axis mount, which means anything viewed along the meridian has an awkward eyepiece position; also the scope movements are not intuitive. I eventually assumed if I just let the scope sit on top of the axis and remain level, it would automatically be pointed to Polaris (or North Celestial Pole, to be precise) – which probably is incorrect but it was the best I could come up with. Then I followed the instructions to align first to Altair and then to Aldebaran. So far so good. I tried to select an object and see if I could move the scope to it, supposing I should watch the screen to see if the coordinates would change as I moved the scope and move to zero – but I could find no such function. I was pretty frustrated and just turned the computer off. I was frustrated too trying to move the scope into a good position to observe, and be able to reach the eyepiece, and to star hop (which was a real challenge). I did eventually find only one intended target, a PN in Cepheus; the rest of the night I poked around in Eridanus since it was a more convenient place to look.
I just hate the mount, it is too difficult to move manually and the eyepiece positions are often inaccessible or uncomfortable. And I can’t figure out the DSC to find things. The scope it too awkward to move for star hopping, and the finders are not conveniently placed. On the plus side: it’s a 30-inch scope, so it shows a lot. The tracking is rock steady; even at 900x everything stayed still. One of the finders is a 6-inch refractor which puts up very beautiful images. It’s in a convenient location, and has an attached room to get warm or take a nap. It’s on a mountain so the sky is not too bad… I want to love this scope but so far it has not won me over. I’m willing to give it more time.
All the same, it was a very good session, with some very “challenging” objects:
KjPn 6 = PN G111.2+07.0 = K 4-58.
R.A.: 22h49m02.2s Dec.: +67°01'39"
Magnitude: 18.2. B mag = 16.5, R mag 12.4. 10”x6”
30-inch f/4.8, Fremont Peak. 12/12/2017, 7:30-8:30pm
Trans: 4/5, Seeing 6-7/10. SQML 20.72. Haze from wildfire smoke mostly cleared in early evening but some extinction remained.
It took a long effort to wrestle the Challenger telescope to point to Iota Cephi, then to star hop through the eyepiece at 118x, using a printed finder chart and the telescope’s slow motion control paddle, into the correct position. The target lay to the south of a flattened dipper asterism which arcs above it. No hint of the PN at 281x or 457x; OIII, Hbeta, or UHC filters did not help. As on the finder chart, just north of the PN is an arc of three stars N-S, curved like a parenthesis. The closest and brightest star in this curve is 23” to the north of the PN (as I found later on Aladin). I could see the brighter two stars at 281x and the third, the faintest and furthest north, at 457x with direct vision. Adding a barlow, at 915x, I still had no hint of the PN for about 10 minutes of peering into the eyepiece. Then, while dropping my eye downward, a small, excessively faint grey mass formed itself in the correct position in relation to the arc of stars. I saw it almost without meaning to: after filling my eyes with light then glancing slightly and slowly away, it emerged of its own accord. The PN was very small but slightly larger than the three now somewhat bloated reference curve stars, and I registered the PN had a N-S elongation. Filters had no effect, and in fact the three reference curve stars disappeared in OIII and UHC. The PN was very intermittent and seeing-dependant; over the next 20 minutes I saw it appear 4 times, but palpably enough to convince me of its reality. I did not view a photo in advance, just the AAVSO finder; my field sketch matches the DSS image pretty closely. For now I’ll take this as a marginal observation until I can repeat it.
HCG 30:
a = MCG+00-12-051: moderately bright, small, elongated 3:1 NW-SE, diffuse halo and brighter core; star close to the SE. 12.6v
b = MCG+00-12-054: slightly south west of a, as bright but smaller, 2:1 elongation.
c = PGC 15624: on-stellar small smudge to the north of a, very faint and small.
d = PGC 15636: excessively faint and very small non stellar puff to the NE of b, averted vision only and only about 50% of the time.
Arp 67 = UGC 00892, irregular galaxy. Faint, small, somewhat distorted, round halo and brighter elongated core with averted vision. I sense some “cometary” haze emerging from the outer SE halo [this appears to be an elongation of the spiral arm]
NGC 1653: Round, quasi stellar nucleus, bright round core, diffuse halo. Moderately large and bright. There is a star in the west haze of the halo. E0, 12.0
NGC 1681: Bright, distorted bean shaped core, near stellar nucleus, diffuse mottled halo, 2:1 W-E. Sb, 12.9V
I went about trying the star alignment. The first star is Polaris, but I could not, for the life of me, get the Challenger to point to it. Challenger is on an English cross axis mount, which means anything viewed along the meridian has an awkward eyepiece position; also the scope movements are not intuitive. I eventually assumed if I just let the scope sit on top of the axis and remain level, it would automatically be pointed to Polaris (or North Celestial Pole, to be precise) – which probably is incorrect but it was the best I could come up with. Then I followed the instructions to align first to Altair and then to Aldebaran. So far so good. I tried to select an object and see if I could move the scope to it, supposing I should watch the screen to see if the coordinates would change as I moved the scope and move to zero – but I could find no such function. I was pretty frustrated and just turned the computer off. I was frustrated too trying to move the scope into a good position to observe, and be able to reach the eyepiece, and to star hop (which was a real challenge). I did eventually find only one intended target, a PN in Cepheus; the rest of the night I poked around in Eridanus since it was a more convenient place to look.
I just hate the mount, it is too difficult to move manually and the eyepiece positions are often inaccessible or uncomfortable. And I can’t figure out the DSC to find things. The scope it too awkward to move for star hopping, and the finders are not conveniently placed. On the plus side: it’s a 30-inch scope, so it shows a lot. The tracking is rock steady; even at 900x everything stayed still. One of the finders is a 6-inch refractor which puts up very beautiful images. It’s in a convenient location, and has an attached room to get warm or take a nap. It’s on a mountain so the sky is not too bad… I want to love this scope but so far it has not won me over. I’m willing to give it more time.
All the same, it was a very good session, with some very “challenging” objects:
KjPn 6 = PN G111.2+07.0 = K 4-58.
R.A.: 22h49m02.2s Dec.: +67°01'39"
Magnitude: 18.2. B mag = 16.5, R mag 12.4. 10”x6”
30-inch f/4.8, Fremont Peak. 12/12/2017, 7:30-8:30pm
Trans: 4/5, Seeing 6-7/10. SQML 20.72. Haze from wildfire smoke mostly cleared in early evening but some extinction remained.
It took a long effort to wrestle the Challenger telescope to point to Iota Cephi, then to star hop through the eyepiece at 118x, using a printed finder chart and the telescope’s slow motion control paddle, into the correct position. The target lay to the south of a flattened dipper asterism which arcs above it. No hint of the PN at 281x or 457x; OIII, Hbeta, or UHC filters did not help. As on the finder chart, just north of the PN is an arc of three stars N-S, curved like a parenthesis. The closest and brightest star in this curve is 23” to the north of the PN (as I found later on Aladin). I could see the brighter two stars at 281x and the third, the faintest and furthest north, at 457x with direct vision. Adding a barlow, at 915x, I still had no hint of the PN for about 10 minutes of peering into the eyepiece. Then, while dropping my eye downward, a small, excessively faint grey mass formed itself in the correct position in relation to the arc of stars. I saw it almost without meaning to: after filling my eyes with light then glancing slightly and slowly away, it emerged of its own accord. The PN was very small but slightly larger than the three now somewhat bloated reference curve stars, and I registered the PN had a N-S elongation. Filters had no effect, and in fact the three reference curve stars disappeared in OIII and UHC. The PN was very intermittent and seeing-dependant; over the next 20 minutes I saw it appear 4 times, but palpably enough to convince me of its reality. I did not view a photo in advance, just the AAVSO finder; my field sketch matches the DSS image pretty closely. For now I’ll take this as a marginal observation until I can repeat it.
HCG 30:
a = MCG+00-12-051: moderately bright, small, elongated 3:1 NW-SE, diffuse halo and brighter core; star close to the SE. 12.6v
b = MCG+00-12-054: slightly south west of a, as bright but smaller, 2:1 elongation.
c = PGC 15624: on-stellar small smudge to the north of a, very faint and small.
d = PGC 15636: excessively faint and very small non stellar puff to the NE of b, averted vision only and only about 50% of the time.
Arp 67 = UGC 00892, irregular galaxy. Faint, small, somewhat distorted, round halo and brighter elongated core with averted vision. I sense some “cometary” haze emerging from the outer SE halo [this appears to be an elongation of the spiral arm]
NGC 1653: Round, quasi stellar nucleus, bright round core, diffuse halo. Moderately large and bright. There is a star in the west haze of the halo. E0, 12.0
NGC 1681: Bright, distorted bean shaped core, near stellar nucleus, diffuse mottled halo, 2:1 W-E. Sb, 12.9V
Thursday, December 7, 2017
seeing through poor seeing
Tonight's weather is clear and cold, but there's a haze of smoke come all the way from the fires near Los Angeles. The Santa Ana winds carried the thick smoke out over the Pacific and they made a hook to the north and east into northern California. So it's a surprise smoke out night. It gives me a chance to write up observations from earlier this week with Big Blue. Seeing was rather bad, 5,6/10, 7/10 at best, clear and cold, no dew. I tried some clean up in Cygnus, which is getting low, in the early evening, but seeing was at its worst then.
12/4 / 553x
STTA 254 = WZ Cas: Pretty, deep orange A and very wide half delta mag B, white. [4 stars in system, faint and wide.]
00H 01M 15.85S +60° 21' 19.0" P.A. 89 SEP 57.7 MAG 7.40,8.33 SP NIAB:P DIST. 877.19 PC (2861.39 L.Y.)
H V 79: Bright white and very faint superwide pair. [Maybe I didn't see it; B is fainter than 12th mag which is limit of my scope...4 star system]
00H 04M 13.66S +62° 17' 15.5" P.A. 331 SEP 83.1 MAG 5.92,12.58 SP A1III DIST. 1190.48 PC (3883.35 L.Y.)
STF 3053: Pretty, orange and blue like Alberio. 1.5 delta mag. [AB seen, AC too wide and faint]
00H 02M 36.08S +66° 05' 56.3" P.A. 71 SEP 15.3 MAG 5.96,7.17 SP G9III+A1V DIST. 1369.86 PC (4468.48 L.Y.)
BU 392: ! Yellow A star. 12th mag B swims into view with averted vision and seeing, then can hold it direct as a bluish point. [AB seen. Not physical pair, sadly.]
00H 16M 57.05S +61° 31' 59.5" P.A. 71 SEP 19.5 MAG 5.73,12.48 SP G4II DIST. 190.11 PC (620.14 L.Y.)
BU 1094: No deformation noticed, not seen.
00H 30M 19.91S +59° 58' 39.2" P.A. 290 SEP 0.3 MAG 6.07,8.45 SP B9IIIN DIST. 235.85 PC (769.34 L.Y.)
BU 1227: ! Yellow and 3 delta mag B, orange, comes into view direct vision but only with seeing, 2-3". Two more stars wide at 90 degree PA from the closer pair. [AB seen. AC and AD are the two other stars, correct PA noted. Two more stars, making six in the system, too faint.]
00H 32M 21.78S +58° 20' 19.1" P.A. 193 SEP 2.8 MAG 7.21,10.64 SP F3V DIST. 80.65 PC (263.08 L.Y.)
BU 1: !! Right triangle of equal stars; the foot star has a very faint, 2-3 delta mag star very close ~1", faint split. Some fainter stars wreathed about it. [AB seen, while AC, AD appear to be the other triangle stars. 17 visible stars in the system, which I suppose ought to be called a cluster.]
00H 52M 49.22S +56° 37' 39.5" P.A. 83 SEP 1.5 MAG 8.58,9.33 SP O6.5V DIST. 3030.3 PC (9884.84 L.Y.)
BU 1098: Bright yellow and very much fainter 4 delta mag B
00H 55M 00.19S +58° 58' 22.1" P.A. 61 SEP 17.8 MAG 4.96,12.50 SP K2III DIST. 100.7 PC (328.48 L.Y.)
BU 1028 = Gamma Cas: Payed with placing the star beyond the field stop in the cardinal directions to see if the faint B would pop out. I bet this is how Burnham did it, or he used an occulting bar, just to see if something popped out. Star is called Tsih -- wonder how it got that name
00H 56M 42.50S +60° 43' 00.3" P.A. 259 SEP 2.1 MAG 2.20,10.90 SP B0IVE+F6V DIST. 168.35 PC (549.16 L.Y.)
BU 497: Super wide and faint. Who would think it is double and not some random line of sight... [6 stars in the system, not a cluster?]
00H 53M 04.28S +61° 07' 24.8" P.A. 170 SEP 144.6 MAG 4.85,9.79 SP F7V DIST. 18.74 PC (61.13 L.Y.)
STT 553: Super wide and faint. Why?
01H 11M 06.16S +55° 08' 59.6" P.A. 143 SEP 126.4 MAG 4.34,11.31 SP A7V DIST. 40.95 PC (133.58 L.Y.)
STF 16: White and blue-white, wide.
00H 16M 41.65S +54° 39' 36.5" P.A. 41 SEP 5.9 MAG 7.68,8.78 SP A3 DIST. 123.92 PC (404.23 L.Y.)
A 1253: Tried pretty hard for this one, but could not see faint B
00H 07M 37.40S +52° 46' 22.7" P.A. 84 SEP 3.8 MAG 7.70,11.28 SP G0IV DIST. 591.72 PC (1930.19 L.Y.)
HU 502: Hint of something, a bit of a smear in the diffraction.
00H 05M 57.04S +49° 37' 20.4" P.A. 108 SEP 2.4 MAG 7.66,10.61 SP F0V DIST. 146.63 PC (478.31 L.Y.)
ES 41: ! B appeared while putting my eye to the eyepiece -- then disappeared. B is averted vision to see -- can barely hold it direct vision. Wide, 4 delta mag.
00H 18M 21.55S +49° 30' 35.1" P.A. 221 SEP 6.3 MAG 7.96,11.16 SP F8 DIST. 115.61 PC (377.12 L.Y.)
STF 30: Obvious wide bright pair. [AB seen, 5 stars in system]
00H 27M 12.45S +49° 59' 08.6" P.A. 314 SEP 12.8 MAG 6.96,8.92 SP B9III DIST. 248.14 PC (809.43 L.Y.)
BU 394: ! Very fine, pop split with seeing, near equal.
00H 30M 45.56S +47° 31' 47.5" P.A. 277.4 SEP 0.82 MAG 8.49,8.77 SP G0 DIST. 49.33 PC (160.91 L.Y.)
STF 45: Easy wide orange and blue, 3 delta mag. [AB seen. AC is BU 1347, very faint and super wide -- again why would anyone think it's part of the system to bother taking a measure?]
00H 38M 41.60S +46° 57' 24.6" P.A. 90 SEP 19.2 MAG 6.85,10.06 SP G9III DIST. 112.23 PC (366.09 L.Y.)
STT 16: wide and faint.
00H 39M 09.89S +49° 21' 16.5" P.A. 22 SEP 12.3 MAG 5.62,10.48 SP K4III DIST. 641.03 PC (2091.04 L.Y.)
BU 232: ! Neat near equal orange and yellow. Split with seeing, 1". Is it a 2+1 system? [AB close pair, AB,C the triple]
00H 50M 25.10S +50° 37' 49.6" P.A. 255.5 SEP 0.86 MAG 8.46,8.79 SP F5 DIST. 101.11 PC (329.82 L.Y.)
ES 940: Orange A with very faint pin prick B, with seeing, 3 delta mag, wide. [AB see, 4 stars in system]
00H 57M 20.19S +52° 14' 23.7" P.A. 359 SEP 62 MAG 7.27,10.11 SP K2 DIST. 869.57 PC (2836.54 L.Y.)
A 812: Suspect a brightening in diffraction when seeing stills, but not certain. Orange star.
00H 51M 47.06S +48° 03' 23.6" P.A. 326 SEP 1.7 MAG 7.67,11.11 SP K0 DIST. 226.24 PC (737.99 L.Y.)
ES 45: ! Orange-yellow A, need averted vision to flash B out, barely hold with direct vision.
01H 01M 27.04S +49° 32' 39.1" P.A. 244 SEP 7.9 MAG 6.60,10.80 SP G5 DIST. 322.58 PC (1052.26 L.Y.)
12/6: Clear and cold, sky not as steady as I would wish. 553x
S 790: Bright star with wide very faint companion, and a 3rd forming a triangle. [AB seen, 4 stars in system]
21H 25M 47.02S +36° 40' 02.5" P.A. 29 SEP 34.7 MAG 5.89,11.71 SP B0IB DIST. 2777.78 PC (9061.12 L.Y.)
STF 2802: Seeing poor; orange stars, near equal, ~4"
21H 31M 48.94S +33° 48' 56.2" P.A. 10 SEP 3.9 MAG 8.60,8.70 SP A5 DIST. 214.13 PC (698.49 L.Y.)
HO 164: Appears as an elongation in poor seeing, near equal 4"; splits with averted vision.
21H 41M 01.95S +35° 04' 44.7" P.A. 70 SEP 4.3 MAG 9.51,9.80 SP K0
BLL 55 = RV Cyg: Orange in finder, vivid in eyepiece. 2 delta mag very wide B; 3rd star as faint makes a triangle.
21H 43M 16.33S +38° 01' 03.0" P.A. 117 SEP 143.2 MAG 8.43,10.92 SP CII DIST. 1562.5 PC (5096.88 L.Y.)
HO 161: Elongation but nothing more, seeing too poor.
21H 31M 23.29S +40° 03' 54.3" P.A. 12 SEP 2.7 MAG 7.54,11.05 SP F3V DIST. 97.56 PC (318.24 L.Y.)
KUI 108: Not a chance -- but a lovely star field.
21H 42M 22.94S +41° 04' 37.3" P.A. 0.5 SEP 0.2 MAG 6.33,6.72 SP A0V DIST. 126.42 PC (412.38 L.Y.)
KUI 109: Seeing too poor...
21H 43M 25.63S +38° 17' 01.0" P.A. 155 SEP 1.5 MAG 5.69,11.10 SP A0V DIST. 84.18 PC (274.6 L.Y.)
75 Cyg star chain: WOW! Finder view of a line of stars from just west of 75 Cyg (which is a yellow orange star and double AC 20, not split) running north. 8 stars near equal space in wandering line like a fallen string, or Hansel & Gretel's breadcrumbs. Upon coming inside I find it is set above a dark nebulous area between the North America Nebula and Lacerta, which accounts for the lack of other stars. B 159 sprouts off 75 Cyg to the west; B 158 is above that and Barnard himself mentions dark areas to the north of this -- where the chain is -- but doesn't mention the chain itself.
BU 694: ! 2 delta mag, just resolves, 1" [AB seen; 5 faint wide stars in system]
22H 02M 56.68S +44° 38' 59.8" P.A. 7 SEP 1 MAG 5.71,7.76 SP A0IV DIST. 151.06 PC (492.76 L.Y.)
From here on it's 277x:
S 393: Orange-yellow A, 2 delta mag very wide B
01H 06M 11.20S +32° 10' 53.3" P.A. 295 SEP 60 MAG 6.42,10.61 SP K0 DIST. 172.71 PC (563.38 L.Y.)
STF 98: Yellow-orange and 1 delta mag B. Could be a multiple system: some stars on other side of A making a triangle, 2-3 times fainter. [4 stars in system]
01H 12M 52.98S +32° 04' 31.7" P.A. 249 SEP 19.6 MAG 7.02,8.14 SP A0V+A3IV DIST. 131.58 PC (429.21 L.Y.)
GIC 2: New designation to me... Harry Giclas, Lowell proper motion survey -- the man who hired Burnham! Faint yellow-orange star with fainter and very wide companion; possible 3rd to make a triangle. [AB seen, 4 stars in system]
00H 09M 15.74S +25° 16' 55.0" P.A. 237 SEP 29.5 MAG 7.77,11.46 SP G0 DIST. 51.41 PC (167.7 L.Y.)
STF 24: Near equal white ~5-6"
00H 18M 30.59S +26° 08' 25.1" P.A. 247 SEP 5 MAG 7.79,8.44 SP A2 DIST. 154.8 PC (504.96 L.Y.)
STF 28: Near equal yellow A, white B, wide. Could be a 3rd of similar magnitude. [AB seen; yes on the 3rd, which is FYM 12.]
00H 23M 53.23S +29° 30' 09.1" P.A. 224 SEP 33.2 MAG 8.32,8.55 SP F7V+F8V DIST. 84.6 PC (275.97 L.Y.)
AC 1: wide finder split, yellow orange A. No close by stars in the eyepiece. Why the designation? [Not seen; closer split, confirmed physical pair.]
00H 20M 54.10S +32° 58' 40.9" P.A. 288.8 SEP 1.84 MAG 7.27,8.26 SP F5V DIST. 67.93 PC (221.59 L.Y.)
STF 3056: Orange-yellow A with 2 possible pairings. [Did not see 0.7" AB; 7 stars in system]
00H 04M 40.09S +34° 15' 54.7" P.A. 141.7 SEP 0.71 MAG 7.72,8.08 SP G8III DIST. 177.3 PC (578.35 L.Y.)
STF 3050: Nice near equal yellow-white, ~3"
23H 59M 29.33S +33° 43' 26.9" P.A. 340.7 SEP 2.41 MAG 6.46,6.72 SP F8V DIST. 28.93 PC (94.37 L.Y.)
At this point I needed a little break, and moved the scope up to look at the Pleiades. I used the 13mm Ethos in my 80mm finder, for a nice 3.5 exit pupil and 4.3° field. The heavy eyepiece is almost more than the finder can take, but the view is so pleasing, sharp, and steady. I plan to keep the finder on the scope no matter how much counterweight is needed, just to have that view ready wherever I happen to be looking.
12/4 / 553x
STTA 254 = WZ Cas: Pretty, deep orange A and very wide half delta mag B, white. [4 stars in system, faint and wide.]
00H 01M 15.85S +60° 21' 19.0" P.A. 89 SEP 57.7 MAG 7.40,8.33 SP NIAB:P DIST. 877.19 PC (2861.39 L.Y.)
H V 79: Bright white and very faint superwide pair. [Maybe I didn't see it; B is fainter than 12th mag which is limit of my scope...4 star system]
00H 04M 13.66S +62° 17' 15.5" P.A. 331 SEP 83.1 MAG 5.92,12.58 SP A1III DIST. 1190.48 PC (3883.35 L.Y.)
STF 3053: Pretty, orange and blue like Alberio. 1.5 delta mag. [AB seen, AC too wide and faint]
00H 02M 36.08S +66° 05' 56.3" P.A. 71 SEP 15.3 MAG 5.96,7.17 SP G9III+A1V DIST. 1369.86 PC (4468.48 L.Y.)
BU 392: ! Yellow A star. 12th mag B swims into view with averted vision and seeing, then can hold it direct as a bluish point. [AB seen. Not physical pair, sadly.]
00H 16M 57.05S +61° 31' 59.5" P.A. 71 SEP 19.5 MAG 5.73,12.48 SP G4II DIST. 190.11 PC (620.14 L.Y.)
BU 1094: No deformation noticed, not seen.
00H 30M 19.91S +59° 58' 39.2" P.A. 290 SEP 0.3 MAG 6.07,8.45 SP B9IIIN DIST. 235.85 PC (769.34 L.Y.)
BU 1227: ! Yellow and 3 delta mag B, orange, comes into view direct vision but only with seeing, 2-3". Two more stars wide at 90 degree PA from the closer pair. [AB seen. AC and AD are the two other stars, correct PA noted. Two more stars, making six in the system, too faint.]
00H 32M 21.78S +58° 20' 19.1" P.A. 193 SEP 2.8 MAG 7.21,10.64 SP F3V DIST. 80.65 PC (263.08 L.Y.)
BU 1: !! Right triangle of equal stars; the foot star has a very faint, 2-3 delta mag star very close ~1", faint split. Some fainter stars wreathed about it. [AB seen, while AC, AD appear to be the other triangle stars. 17 visible stars in the system, which I suppose ought to be called a cluster.]
00H 52M 49.22S +56° 37' 39.5" P.A. 83 SEP 1.5 MAG 8.58,9.33 SP O6.5V DIST. 3030.3 PC (9884.84 L.Y.)
BU 1098: Bright yellow and very much fainter 4 delta mag B
00H 55M 00.19S +58° 58' 22.1" P.A. 61 SEP 17.8 MAG 4.96,12.50 SP K2III DIST. 100.7 PC (328.48 L.Y.)
BU 1028 = Gamma Cas: Payed with placing the star beyond the field stop in the cardinal directions to see if the faint B would pop out. I bet this is how Burnham did it, or he used an occulting bar, just to see if something popped out. Star is called Tsih -- wonder how it got that name
00H 56M 42.50S +60° 43' 00.3" P.A. 259 SEP 2.1 MAG 2.20,10.90 SP B0IVE+F6V DIST. 168.35 PC (549.16 L.Y.)
BU 497: Super wide and faint. Who would think it is double and not some random line of sight... [6 stars in the system, not a cluster?]
00H 53M 04.28S +61° 07' 24.8" P.A. 170 SEP 144.6 MAG 4.85,9.79 SP F7V DIST. 18.74 PC (61.13 L.Y.)
STT 553: Super wide and faint. Why?
01H 11M 06.16S +55° 08' 59.6" P.A. 143 SEP 126.4 MAG 4.34,11.31 SP A7V DIST. 40.95 PC (133.58 L.Y.)
STF 16: White and blue-white, wide.
00H 16M 41.65S +54° 39' 36.5" P.A. 41 SEP 5.9 MAG 7.68,8.78 SP A3 DIST. 123.92 PC (404.23 L.Y.)
A 1253: Tried pretty hard for this one, but could not see faint B
00H 07M 37.40S +52° 46' 22.7" P.A. 84 SEP 3.8 MAG 7.70,11.28 SP G0IV DIST. 591.72 PC (1930.19 L.Y.)
HU 502: Hint of something, a bit of a smear in the diffraction.
00H 05M 57.04S +49° 37' 20.4" P.A. 108 SEP 2.4 MAG 7.66,10.61 SP F0V DIST. 146.63 PC (478.31 L.Y.)
ES 41: ! B appeared while putting my eye to the eyepiece -- then disappeared. B is averted vision to see -- can barely hold it direct vision. Wide, 4 delta mag.
00H 18M 21.55S +49° 30' 35.1" P.A. 221 SEP 6.3 MAG 7.96,11.16 SP F8 DIST. 115.61 PC (377.12 L.Y.)
STF 30: Obvious wide bright pair. [AB seen, 5 stars in system]
00H 27M 12.45S +49° 59' 08.6" P.A. 314 SEP 12.8 MAG 6.96,8.92 SP B9III DIST. 248.14 PC (809.43 L.Y.)
BU 394: ! Very fine, pop split with seeing, near equal.
00H 30M 45.56S +47° 31' 47.5" P.A. 277.4 SEP 0.82 MAG 8.49,8.77 SP G0 DIST. 49.33 PC (160.91 L.Y.)
STF 45: Easy wide orange and blue, 3 delta mag. [AB seen. AC is BU 1347, very faint and super wide -- again why would anyone think it's part of the system to bother taking a measure?]
00H 38M 41.60S +46° 57' 24.6" P.A. 90 SEP 19.2 MAG 6.85,10.06 SP G9III DIST. 112.23 PC (366.09 L.Y.)
STT 16: wide and faint.
00H 39M 09.89S +49° 21' 16.5" P.A. 22 SEP 12.3 MAG 5.62,10.48 SP K4III DIST. 641.03 PC (2091.04 L.Y.)
BU 232: ! Neat near equal orange and yellow. Split with seeing, 1". Is it a 2+1 system? [AB close pair, AB,C the triple]
00H 50M 25.10S +50° 37' 49.6" P.A. 255.5 SEP 0.86 MAG 8.46,8.79 SP F5 DIST. 101.11 PC (329.82 L.Y.)
ES 940: Orange A with very faint pin prick B, with seeing, 3 delta mag, wide. [AB see, 4 stars in system]
00H 57M 20.19S +52° 14' 23.7" P.A. 359 SEP 62 MAG 7.27,10.11 SP K2 DIST. 869.57 PC (2836.54 L.Y.)
A 812: Suspect a brightening in diffraction when seeing stills, but not certain. Orange star.
00H 51M 47.06S +48° 03' 23.6" P.A. 326 SEP 1.7 MAG 7.67,11.11 SP K0 DIST. 226.24 PC (737.99 L.Y.)
ES 45: ! Orange-yellow A, need averted vision to flash B out, barely hold with direct vision.
01H 01M 27.04S +49° 32' 39.1" P.A. 244 SEP 7.9 MAG 6.60,10.80 SP G5 DIST. 322.58 PC (1052.26 L.Y.)
12/6: Clear and cold, sky not as steady as I would wish. 553x
S 790: Bright star with wide very faint companion, and a 3rd forming a triangle. [AB seen, 4 stars in system]
21H 25M 47.02S +36° 40' 02.5" P.A. 29 SEP 34.7 MAG 5.89,11.71 SP B0IB DIST. 2777.78 PC (9061.12 L.Y.)
STF 2802: Seeing poor; orange stars, near equal, ~4"
21H 31M 48.94S +33° 48' 56.2" P.A. 10 SEP 3.9 MAG 8.60,8.70 SP A5 DIST. 214.13 PC (698.49 L.Y.)
HO 164: Appears as an elongation in poor seeing, near equal 4"; splits with averted vision.
21H 41M 01.95S +35° 04' 44.7" P.A. 70 SEP 4.3 MAG 9.51,9.80 SP K0
BLL 55 = RV Cyg: Orange in finder, vivid in eyepiece. 2 delta mag very wide B; 3rd star as faint makes a triangle.
21H 43M 16.33S +38° 01' 03.0" P.A. 117 SEP 143.2 MAG 8.43,10.92 SP CII DIST. 1562.5 PC (5096.88 L.Y.)
HO 161: Elongation but nothing more, seeing too poor.
21H 31M 23.29S +40° 03' 54.3" P.A. 12 SEP 2.7 MAG 7.54,11.05 SP F3V DIST. 97.56 PC (318.24 L.Y.)
KUI 108: Not a chance -- but a lovely star field.
21H 42M 22.94S +41° 04' 37.3" P.A. 0.5 SEP 0.2 MAG 6.33,6.72 SP A0V DIST. 126.42 PC (412.38 L.Y.)
KUI 109: Seeing too poor...
21H 43M 25.63S +38° 17' 01.0" P.A. 155 SEP 1.5 MAG 5.69,11.10 SP A0V DIST. 84.18 PC (274.6 L.Y.)
75 Cyg star chain: WOW! Finder view of a line of stars from just west of 75 Cyg (which is a yellow orange star and double AC 20, not split) running north. 8 stars near equal space in wandering line like a fallen string, or Hansel & Gretel's breadcrumbs. Upon coming inside I find it is set above a dark nebulous area between the North America Nebula and Lacerta, which accounts for the lack of other stars. B 159 sprouts off 75 Cyg to the west; B 158 is above that and Barnard himself mentions dark areas to the north of this -- where the chain is -- but doesn't mention the chain itself.
BU 694: ! 2 delta mag, just resolves, 1" [AB seen; 5 faint wide stars in system]
22H 02M 56.68S +44° 38' 59.8" P.A. 7 SEP 1 MAG 5.71,7.76 SP A0IV DIST. 151.06 PC (492.76 L.Y.)
From here on it's 277x:
S 393: Orange-yellow A, 2 delta mag very wide B
01H 06M 11.20S +32° 10' 53.3" P.A. 295 SEP 60 MAG 6.42,10.61 SP K0 DIST. 172.71 PC (563.38 L.Y.)
STF 98: Yellow-orange and 1 delta mag B. Could be a multiple system: some stars on other side of A making a triangle, 2-3 times fainter. [4 stars in system]
01H 12M 52.98S +32° 04' 31.7" P.A. 249 SEP 19.6 MAG 7.02,8.14 SP A0V+A3IV DIST. 131.58 PC (429.21 L.Y.)
GIC 2: New designation to me... Harry Giclas, Lowell proper motion survey -- the man who hired Burnham! Faint yellow-orange star with fainter and very wide companion; possible 3rd to make a triangle. [AB seen, 4 stars in system]
00H 09M 15.74S +25° 16' 55.0" P.A. 237 SEP 29.5 MAG 7.77,11.46 SP G0 DIST. 51.41 PC (167.7 L.Y.)
STF 24: Near equal white ~5-6"
00H 18M 30.59S +26° 08' 25.1" P.A. 247 SEP 5 MAG 7.79,8.44 SP A2 DIST. 154.8 PC (504.96 L.Y.)
STF 28: Near equal yellow A, white B, wide. Could be a 3rd of similar magnitude. [AB seen; yes on the 3rd, which is FYM 12.]
00H 23M 53.23S +29° 30' 09.1" P.A. 224 SEP 33.2 MAG 8.32,8.55 SP F7V+F8V DIST. 84.6 PC (275.97 L.Y.)
AC 1: wide finder split, yellow orange A. No close by stars in the eyepiece. Why the designation? [Not seen; closer split, confirmed physical pair.]
00H 20M 54.10S +32° 58' 40.9" P.A. 288.8 SEP 1.84 MAG 7.27,8.26 SP F5V DIST. 67.93 PC (221.59 L.Y.)
STF 3056: Orange-yellow A with 2 possible pairings. [Did not see 0.7" AB; 7 stars in system]
00H 04M 40.09S +34° 15' 54.7" P.A. 141.7 SEP 0.71 MAG 7.72,8.08 SP G8III DIST. 177.3 PC (578.35 L.Y.)
STF 3050: Nice near equal yellow-white, ~3"
23H 59M 29.33S +33° 43' 26.9" P.A. 340.7 SEP 2.41 MAG 6.46,6.72 SP F8V DIST. 28.93 PC (94.37 L.Y.)
At this point I needed a little break, and moved the scope up to look at the Pleiades. I used the 13mm Ethos in my 80mm finder, for a nice 3.5 exit pupil and 4.3° field. The heavy eyepiece is almost more than the finder can take, but the view is so pleasing, sharp, and steady. I plan to keep the finder on the scope no matter how much counterweight is needed, just to have that view ready wherever I happen to be looking.
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
yet more doubles in cygnus
Had a couple of nights with decent seeing in the back yard, though with some average transparency. There was a haze blowing in front of the waxing moon, and in fact I was shut down early tonight by some thin clouds or marine layer coming in. I'm working my last section of printed finder charts for doubles in Cygnus, which is still hanging on in the early evening; though I did poke around in Cassiopeia too. Big Blue, 553x unless otherwise noted.
11/27:
STF 3062: 277x Light yellow and a more orange yellow B, 3-4", 1 delta mag.
00H 06M 15.81S +58° 26' 12.5" P.A. 359.7 SEP 1.55 MAG 6.42,7.32 SP G3V DIST. 21.48 PC (70.07 L.Y.)
STF 3057: 277x. White with 2 delta mag blue-white B, 4-5".
00H 04M 54.98S +58° 31' 55.8" P.A. 297 SEP 3.8 MAG 6.70,9.30 SP B3V DIST. 840.34 PC (2741.19 L.Y.)
There's a chain of doubles going south from Beta Cas, a pretty finder view, like stepping stones. One closest to Beta Cas is Ary 8, which is actually a triple system of wide pairing.
NGC 7789: Open cluster. Large, loose OC seems like there is a hole in the middle. Many faint stars and a rim of brighter stars to the east.
STF 3049: 277x. White A to slight yellow B, 3-4", 1.5 delta mag. [AB seen; AC and BC? fainter and wide -- how can C be paired with both A and B?]
23H 59M 00.53S +55° 45' 17.8" P.A. 328 SEP 3.4 MAG 4.99,7.24 SP B1V DIST. 1388.89 PC (4530.56 L.Y.)
STT 9: 277x, Very close, in diffraction, ~1.5". Much fainter 3 delta mag B, a pin prick resolved with seeing. [AB seen, 5 stars in system]
00H 26M 12.04S +56° 46' 45.2" P.A. 51 SEP 2.1 MAG 6.87,9.67 SP G3III DIST. 180.18 PC (587.75 L.Y.)
A jet plane flew through the eyepiece view, flashing lights...
T Cas, pretty light orange
Bright satellite (ISS) travelling NNW, fast, bright as the lights of a jet it seemed to follow headed to Oakland airport...
Lambda Cas = STT 12: Not sure I have the correct star, maybe out of round? A could of faints very wide. [Probably not seen...]
00H 31M 46.32S +54° 31' 20.3" P.A. 230.8 SEP 0.16 MAG 5.33,5.62 SP B8V+B9V DIST. 115.74 PC (377.54 L.Y.)
STF 60: Nice yellow pair. A is a ruddy / tainted (pee colored) yellow, B is cleaner. [10 stars in system? really? I thought this was a high proper motion pair; is it like a swarm of bees?]
00H 49M 06.29S +57° 48' 54.7" P.A. 325 SEP 13.32 MAG 3.52,7.36 SP G1V+M DIST. 5.95 PC (19.41 L.Y.)
BU 396: ! Suspected in 277x, confirmed with 553x, Small much fainter blue B in A's diffraction -- yellow-white, 1", 3 delta mag.
01H 03M 37.01S +61° 04' 29.4" P.A. 67 SEP 1.3 MAG 6.06,8.62 SP F0II DIST. 613.5 PC (2001.24 L.Y.)
BU 258: ! White pair, B resolves with seeing, 2", 2-3 delta mag. [AB seen; there is an AC, LV 14, 12th mag, wide]
01H 13M 09.82S +61° 42' 22.3" P.A. 262 SEP 1.5 MAG 6.50,8.80 SP B9V DIST. 201.61 PC (657.65 L.Y.)
All of this in nearly the same FOV!:
STF 115: ! 553x Peanut, near equal. (VERY good, 0.4"! 01H 23M 21.27S +58° 08' 35.6" P.A. 157.2 SEP 0.42 MAG 7.10,7.30 SP F5V DIST. 58.82 PC (191.87 L.Y.)
Delta Cas 553x marked as double but don't resolve except faint & wide stars [No wonder, faint & super wide] 01H 25M 48.95S +60° 14' 07.0" P.A. 58 SEP 110.1 MAG 2.66,11.89 SP A5III-IVV DIST. 30.48 PC (99.43 L.Y.)
V 465 a pretty orange
NGC 457 OC a loose, moderately rich cluster with a moderate magnitude range, faint stars crossed by a dozen brighter which form a hoot and an arc.
Arn 55: Picking up a pinpoint in A's diffraction, very faint with seeing, <1", 3-4 delta mag, white. [Probably not seen, only 0.3" but maybe?]
01H 44M 17.96S +57° 32' 11.8" P.A. 305 SEP 0.34 MAG 6.29,8.68 SP A3V DIST. 84.96 PC (277.14 L.Y.)
M103: Triangular, red star in the middle; rather a poor cluster. Seen as a string of three stars in the finder; how did Messier see it?
11/29: 553x throughout, shut down early due to clouds
HO 600: Can see moments of steady disk, but no B. Could be the quarter moon? Too much delta mag for the sky
21H 01M 47.44S +44° 11' 13.6" P.A. 96 SEP 1.9 MAG 6.70,10.90 SP AM DIST. 70.13 PC (228.76 L.Y.)
STF 2748: Pretty orange with 3 delta mag blue B [no record found in Stelle Doppie?]
STF 2747: Light orange near equal, ~5"
21H 02M 21.92S +37° 39' 14.0" P.A. 266 SEP 4.7 MAG 8.45,8.66 SP G5 DIST. 44.39 PC (144.8 L.Y.)
HO 283: See three stars faintly, pop with averted vision, in a line with A. But not the close faint pair, need the 20-inch! [Might have seen AB, but Aa,Bb is 0.8 and 6.54/12.00]
21H 11M 03.77S +36° 17' 58.5" P.A. 211 SEP 20.8 MAG 6.54,12.10 SP B1VP DIST. 1149.43 PC (3749.44 L.Y.)
STT 433: Two faint / direct vision / stars, wide, white, 3rd on opposite side. [AB, AC are 10.8 and 9.95 and 219 and 184 PA, what I saw on one side; BC is also listed as a pair... Interesting orbits]
21H 17M 55.07S +34° 53' 48.8" P.A. 219 SEP 15.2 MAG 4.36,10.80 SP B2VNE DIST. 196.85 PC (642.12 L.Y.)
STF 2760: Slightly yellow pair, 0.5 delta mag, wide ~5" [AB seen, 7 stars in system]
21H 06M 46.78S +34° 07' 56.2" P.A. 33 SEP 5.1 MAG 7.90,8.74 SP A4III DIST. 137.17 PC (447.45 L.Y.)
HO 153: ! Faint, split with seeing, 1" 1 delta mag.
21H 17M 39.56S +33° 45' 29.8" P.A. 128 SEP 1 MAG 8.50,9.55 SP A5 DIST. 128.7 PC (419.82 L.Y.)
HO 286: Ha! not a chance, 0.2"...
21H 19M 22.18S +38° 14' 14.9" P.A. 237 SEP 0.2 MAG 6.60,6.60 SP F1II DIST. 662.25 PC (2160.26 L.Y.)
STF 2785: Suspect 3x fainter in the diffraction when seeing stills. Needs a steadier, darker night.
21H 17M 36.79S +39° 44' 46.1" P.A. 233 SEP 2.9 MAG 7.94,9.94 SP F2V DIST. 222.72 PC (726.51 L.Y.)
S 790: 3x fainter, very wide. [AB seen. 4 stars in system]
21H 25M 47.02S +36° 40' 02.5" P.A. 29 SEP 34.7 MAG 5.89,11.71 SP B0IB DIST. 2777.78 PC (9061.12 L.Y.)
11/27:
STF 3062: 277x Light yellow and a more orange yellow B, 3-4", 1 delta mag.
00H 06M 15.81S +58° 26' 12.5" P.A. 359.7 SEP 1.55 MAG 6.42,7.32 SP G3V DIST. 21.48 PC (70.07 L.Y.)
STF 3057: 277x. White with 2 delta mag blue-white B, 4-5".
00H 04M 54.98S +58° 31' 55.8" P.A. 297 SEP 3.8 MAG 6.70,9.30 SP B3V DIST. 840.34 PC (2741.19 L.Y.)
There's a chain of doubles going south from Beta Cas, a pretty finder view, like stepping stones. One closest to Beta Cas is Ary 8, which is actually a triple system of wide pairing.
NGC 7789: Open cluster. Large, loose OC seems like there is a hole in the middle. Many faint stars and a rim of brighter stars to the east.
STF 3049: 277x. White A to slight yellow B, 3-4", 1.5 delta mag. [AB seen; AC and BC? fainter and wide -- how can C be paired with both A and B?]
23H 59M 00.53S +55° 45' 17.8" P.A. 328 SEP 3.4 MAG 4.99,7.24 SP B1V DIST. 1388.89 PC (4530.56 L.Y.)
STT 9: 277x, Very close, in diffraction, ~1.5". Much fainter 3 delta mag B, a pin prick resolved with seeing. [AB seen, 5 stars in system]
00H 26M 12.04S +56° 46' 45.2" P.A. 51 SEP 2.1 MAG 6.87,9.67 SP G3III DIST. 180.18 PC (587.75 L.Y.)
A jet plane flew through the eyepiece view, flashing lights...
T Cas, pretty light orange
Bright satellite (ISS) travelling NNW, fast, bright as the lights of a jet it seemed to follow headed to Oakland airport...
Lambda Cas = STT 12: Not sure I have the correct star, maybe out of round? A could of faints very wide. [Probably not seen...]
00H 31M 46.32S +54° 31' 20.3" P.A. 230.8 SEP 0.16 MAG 5.33,5.62 SP B8V+B9V DIST. 115.74 PC (377.54 L.Y.)
STF 60: Nice yellow pair. A is a ruddy / tainted (pee colored) yellow, B is cleaner. [10 stars in system? really? I thought this was a high proper motion pair; is it like a swarm of bees?]
00H 49M 06.29S +57° 48' 54.7" P.A. 325 SEP 13.32 MAG 3.52,7.36 SP G1V+M DIST. 5.95 PC (19.41 L.Y.)
BU 396: ! Suspected in 277x, confirmed with 553x, Small much fainter blue B in A's diffraction -- yellow-white, 1", 3 delta mag.
01H 03M 37.01S +61° 04' 29.4" P.A. 67 SEP 1.3 MAG 6.06,8.62 SP F0II DIST. 613.5 PC (2001.24 L.Y.)
BU 258: ! White pair, B resolves with seeing, 2", 2-3 delta mag. [AB seen; there is an AC, LV 14, 12th mag, wide]
01H 13M 09.82S +61° 42' 22.3" P.A. 262 SEP 1.5 MAG 6.50,8.80 SP B9V DIST. 201.61 PC (657.65 L.Y.)
All of this in nearly the same FOV!:
STF 115: ! 553x Peanut, near equal. (VERY good, 0.4"! 01H 23M 21.27S +58° 08' 35.6" P.A. 157.2 SEP 0.42 MAG 7.10,7.30 SP F5V DIST. 58.82 PC (191.87 L.Y.)
Delta Cas 553x marked as double but don't resolve except faint & wide stars [No wonder, faint & super wide] 01H 25M 48.95S +60° 14' 07.0" P.A. 58 SEP 110.1 MAG 2.66,11.89 SP A5III-IVV DIST. 30.48 PC (99.43 L.Y.)
V 465 a pretty orange
NGC 457 OC a loose, moderately rich cluster with a moderate magnitude range, faint stars crossed by a dozen brighter which form a hoot and an arc.
Arn 55: Picking up a pinpoint in A's diffraction, very faint with seeing, <1", 3-4 delta mag, white. [Probably not seen, only 0.3" but maybe?]
01H 44M 17.96S +57° 32' 11.8" P.A. 305 SEP 0.34 MAG 6.29,8.68 SP A3V DIST. 84.96 PC (277.14 L.Y.)
M103: Triangular, red star in the middle; rather a poor cluster. Seen as a string of three stars in the finder; how did Messier see it?
11/29: 553x throughout, shut down early due to clouds
HO 600: Can see moments of steady disk, but no B. Could be the quarter moon? Too much delta mag for the sky
21H 01M 47.44S +44° 11' 13.6" P.A. 96 SEP 1.9 MAG 6.70,10.90 SP AM DIST. 70.13 PC (228.76 L.Y.)
STF 2748: Pretty orange with 3 delta mag blue B [no record found in Stelle Doppie?]
STF 2747: Light orange near equal, ~5"
21H 02M 21.92S +37° 39' 14.0" P.A. 266 SEP 4.7 MAG 8.45,8.66 SP G5 DIST. 44.39 PC (144.8 L.Y.)
HO 283: See three stars faintly, pop with averted vision, in a line with A. But not the close faint pair, need the 20-inch! [Might have seen AB, but Aa,Bb is 0.8 and 6.54/12.00]
21H 11M 03.77S +36° 17' 58.5" P.A. 211 SEP 20.8 MAG 6.54,12.10 SP B1VP DIST. 1149.43 PC (3749.44 L.Y.)
STT 433: Two faint / direct vision / stars, wide, white, 3rd on opposite side. [AB, AC are 10.8 and 9.95 and 219 and 184 PA, what I saw on one side; BC is also listed as a pair... Interesting orbits]
21H 17M 55.07S +34° 53' 48.8" P.A. 219 SEP 15.2 MAG 4.36,10.80 SP B2VNE DIST. 196.85 PC (642.12 L.Y.)
STF 2760: Slightly yellow pair, 0.5 delta mag, wide ~5" [AB seen, 7 stars in system]
21H 06M 46.78S +34° 07' 56.2" P.A. 33 SEP 5.1 MAG 7.90,8.74 SP A4III DIST. 137.17 PC (447.45 L.Y.)
HO 153: ! Faint, split with seeing, 1" 1 delta mag.
21H 17M 39.56S +33° 45' 29.8" P.A. 128 SEP 1 MAG 8.50,9.55 SP A5 DIST. 128.7 PC (419.82 L.Y.)
HO 286: Ha! not a chance, 0.2"...
21H 19M 22.18S +38° 14' 14.9" P.A. 237 SEP 0.2 MAG 6.60,6.60 SP F1II DIST. 662.25 PC (2160.26 L.Y.)
STF 2785: Suspect 3x fainter in the diffraction when seeing stills. Needs a steadier, darker night.
21H 17M 36.79S +39° 44' 46.1" P.A. 233 SEP 2.9 MAG 7.94,9.94 SP F2V DIST. 222.72 PC (726.51 L.Y.)
S 790: 3x fainter, very wide. [AB seen. 4 stars in system]
21H 25M 47.02S +36° 40' 02.5" P.A. 29 SEP 34.7 MAG 5.89,11.71 SP B0IB DIST. 2777.78 PC (9061.12 L.Y.)
Friday, November 24, 2017
yosemite skies
Earlier this week we had a short couple of nights stay near Yosemite National Park for some hiking and family time. We stayed at the Yosemite View Lodge which is on the south end of the park, a couple miles outside the park boundary. I stepped outside after everyone went to bed one night to have a quick look at the sky.
The hotel unfortunately had a lot of lights, both streetlights and lights from the rooms, so while standing near the buildings I could only make out the same stars I would see from my back yard. I walked to the north end of the grounds where there was a field blocked by a chain link fence. I found my way around the fence; just getting out from under the streetlights improved the view. There was a shed further in the field and once I stood in its shadow the sky simply exploded with stars. It was such a dramatic change I could hardly believe it.
Orion shown like a giant open cluster. Dark nebulae were apparent in its middle and above the head. M31 was naked eye overhead, and the dark nebulae above Cygnus were still visible, though the sky to the west was poorer with a light dome from Mariposa.
I had my 2.1x42 Vixens, and studied Orion. Barnard's Loop was a thick dark arc, but did not show any bright nebulosity -- I regretted not bringing any filters. The dark nebulae were most striking, especially above Orion's head. And the profusion of stars along the shield. Dark nebulae in Taurus, and the Pleiades like a wreath in surrounding darkness. I fit M31 and M33 in the same field, M33 a misty small fat oval to the very large M31. The double cluster was a bright knot in the stream of stars.
I did not regret having a larger telescope; the seeing was very bad with a lot of stars flickering and a wind coming through the canyon where the hotel is located. And I was tired from the day's adventures. I was quite content with the binoculars, and the astonishing reminder of what a truly dark sky can offer.
The hotel unfortunately had a lot of lights, both streetlights and lights from the rooms, so while standing near the buildings I could only make out the same stars I would see from my back yard. I walked to the north end of the grounds where there was a field blocked by a chain link fence. I found my way around the fence; just getting out from under the streetlights improved the view. There was a shed further in the field and once I stood in its shadow the sky simply exploded with stars. It was such a dramatic change I could hardly believe it.
Orion shown like a giant open cluster. Dark nebulae were apparent in its middle and above the head. M31 was naked eye overhead, and the dark nebulae above Cygnus were still visible, though the sky to the west was poorer with a light dome from Mariposa.
I had my 2.1x42 Vixens, and studied Orion. Barnard's Loop was a thick dark arc, but did not show any bright nebulosity -- I regretted not bringing any filters. The dark nebulae were most striking, especially above Orion's head. And the profusion of stars along the shield. Dark nebulae in Taurus, and the Pleiades like a wreath in surrounding darkness. I fit M31 and M33 in the same field, M33 a misty small fat oval to the very large M31. The double cluster was a bright knot in the stream of stars.
I did not regret having a larger telescope; the seeing was very bad with a lot of stars flickering and a wind coming through the canyon where the hotel is located. And I was tired from the day's adventures. I was quite content with the binoculars, and the astonishing reminder of what a truly dark sky can offer.
Saturday, November 18, 2017
some more in cygnus
It's been a poor observing season, with clouds and rain and generally poor conditions. After a couple weeks there seemed to be a two day break, so I went back to the Carro Catalog to see where I should create more finder charts, and found I had yet prepared the north eastern quadrant of this huge constellation. So armed with about thirty finders, I set about observing last night with Big Blue, 553x, T 4/5, but S only 6-7/10.
The second night, which was tonight, was a bust. Earlier in the week I hopefully invited Steve and Mark to Willow Springs, but this morning it seemed there would only be a three hour window to observe, and this after four hours of darkness and waiting around in the cold. So Steve decided not to go. I was willing to go to Panoche Hills and in fact loaded up the car. But I felt tired and I had a slightly sore throat, and fearing I would catch Clara's cold, decided it was best not to over tire myself. It was a good thing: as I was unpacking the van I found I had forgotten to load my truss poles -- I would have driven the three hours to get there only to find I couldn't set up my scope.
BU 1210: Don't see AB (1.4" and 12th mag) too faint vs. the yellow-orange 7th mag A. But I see several stars, including a very faint close pair which averted vision brightens. After patiently waiting for seeing, I sense the AB star might be in a slightly off position angle as the two close faint stars? [STT 425 CD is 10.80/12.30 and 4.3" and might be the close pair; AC's PA is 27 degrees. BU 1210 AB is 7.34/12.20, 1.4", PA 104 -- might be too much of a difference since it did not seem more than a 90 degree difference in PA.]
21H 00M 06.61S +48° 40' 45.9" P.A. 104 SEP 1.4 MAG 7.34,12.20 SP B9P DIST. 158.98 PC (518.59 L.Y.)
ES 32: 14th magnitude may be too faint, but some stars in the area. [This is one for the 20-inch in a better sky.]
21H 06M 36.09S +47° 38' 54.3" P.A. 157 SEP 15.7 MAG 4.55,14.40 SP K3III DIST. 316.46 PC (1032.29 L.Y.)
ES 2710: I think I have it, very faint, need averted vision to notice but can hold direct vision. Other star near. Wide, 3-4 delta mag.
21H 24M 55.45S +49° 19' 23.4" P.A. 157 SEP 20.2 MAG 6.56,11.90 SP A0VPSR.. DIST. 184.84 PC (602.95 L.Y.)
ES 98: Three stars in an arc. [In fact four stars visible. AB, AC, BC seen; CD 14th mag not seen. Not physical according to proper motion]
21H 19M 24.47S +52° 19' 27.8" P.A. 309 SEP 25.9 MAG 7.31,10.16 SP B7V+A1I DIST. 231.48 PC (755.09 L.Y.)
A 1892: ! When seeing stills disk resolves with pin point <1" split, very fine. 1 delta mag. Had to go to Mu Cephei to get the star hop correct, a confusing field.
21H 23M 40.12S +55° 17' 38.7" P.A. 351 SEP 0.8 MAG 8.17,9.31 SP A1V DIST. 361.01 PC (1177.61 L.Y.)
STF 2803: Three stars, 2 delta mag; wide.
21H 29M 52.95S +52° 56' 01.8" P.A. 285 SEP 25.7 MAG 7.24,9.60 SP B9.5IV-V DIST. 182.15 PC (594.17 L.Y.)
HJ 1669: 2 delta mag and such a rich field, who would guess which is double? [Not binary.]
21H 36M 09.75S +50° 30' 07.5" P.A. 236 SEP 19.6 MAG 7.16,11.60 SP A2V: DIST. 190.48 PC (621.35 L.Y.)
ES 825: Pretty orange and 2 delta mag wide B, but again, who would guess which is double in rich field? [Quadruple system]
21H 39M 55.58S +49° 07' 58.0" P.A. 257 SEP 12.2 MAG 7.25,11.50 SP K1II DIST. 483.09 PC (1575.84 L.Y.)
ES 35 = RU Cyg: Pretty red orange, 3 delta mag B, averted only. Opposite side of an 11th mag star. Wide. [11 star system]
21H 40M 39.10S +54° 19' 29.0" P.A. 218 SEP 10 MAG 8.19,12.40 SP M8E DIST. 249.38 PC (813.48 L.Y.)
STT 456: Close but clean = mag, 1.5". Near several stars which make a mini Cygnus asterism, but with "Alberio" the brightest. [12 fold system]
21H 55M 31.59S +52° 31' 40.7" P.A. 37 SEP 1.6 MAG 8.25,8.93 SP F2V DIST. 252.53 PC (823.75 L.Y.)
The second night, which was tonight, was a bust. Earlier in the week I hopefully invited Steve and Mark to Willow Springs, but this morning it seemed there would only be a three hour window to observe, and this after four hours of darkness and waiting around in the cold. So Steve decided not to go. I was willing to go to Panoche Hills and in fact loaded up the car. But I felt tired and I had a slightly sore throat, and fearing I would catch Clara's cold, decided it was best not to over tire myself. It was a good thing: as I was unpacking the van I found I had forgotten to load my truss poles -- I would have driven the three hours to get there only to find I couldn't set up my scope.
BU 1210: Don't see AB (1.4" and 12th mag) too faint vs. the yellow-orange 7th mag A. But I see several stars, including a very faint close pair which averted vision brightens. After patiently waiting for seeing, I sense the AB star might be in a slightly off position angle as the two close faint stars? [STT 425 CD is 10.80/12.30 and 4.3" and might be the close pair; AC's PA is 27 degrees. BU 1210 AB is 7.34/12.20, 1.4", PA 104 -- might be too much of a difference since it did not seem more than a 90 degree difference in PA.]
21H 00M 06.61S +48° 40' 45.9" P.A. 104 SEP 1.4 MAG 7.34,12.20 SP B9P DIST. 158.98 PC (518.59 L.Y.)
ES 32: 14th magnitude may be too faint, but some stars in the area. [This is one for the 20-inch in a better sky.]
21H 06M 36.09S +47° 38' 54.3" P.A. 157 SEP 15.7 MAG 4.55,14.40 SP K3III DIST. 316.46 PC (1032.29 L.Y.)
ES 2710: I think I have it, very faint, need averted vision to notice but can hold direct vision. Other star near. Wide, 3-4 delta mag.
21H 24M 55.45S +49° 19' 23.4" P.A. 157 SEP 20.2 MAG 6.56,11.90 SP A0VPSR.. DIST. 184.84 PC (602.95 L.Y.)
ES 98: Three stars in an arc. [In fact four stars visible. AB, AC, BC seen; CD 14th mag not seen. Not physical according to proper motion]
21H 19M 24.47S +52° 19' 27.8" P.A. 309 SEP 25.9 MAG 7.31,10.16 SP B7V+A1I DIST. 231.48 PC (755.09 L.Y.)
A 1892: ! When seeing stills disk resolves with pin point <1" split, very fine. 1 delta mag. Had to go to Mu Cephei to get the star hop correct, a confusing field.
21H 23M 40.12S +55° 17' 38.7" P.A. 351 SEP 0.8 MAG 8.17,9.31 SP A1V DIST. 361.01 PC (1177.61 L.Y.)
STF 2803: Three stars, 2 delta mag; wide.
21H 29M 52.95S +52° 56' 01.8" P.A. 285 SEP 25.7 MAG 7.24,9.60 SP B9.5IV-V DIST. 182.15 PC (594.17 L.Y.)
HJ 1669: 2 delta mag and such a rich field, who would guess which is double? [Not binary.]
21H 36M 09.75S +50° 30' 07.5" P.A. 236 SEP 19.6 MAG 7.16,11.60 SP A2V: DIST. 190.48 PC (621.35 L.Y.)
ES 825: Pretty orange and 2 delta mag wide B, but again, who would guess which is double in rich field? [Quadruple system]
21H 39M 55.58S +49° 07' 58.0" P.A. 257 SEP 12.2 MAG 7.25,11.50 SP K1II DIST. 483.09 PC (1575.84 L.Y.)
ES 35 = RU Cyg: Pretty red orange, 3 delta mag B, averted only. Opposite side of an 11th mag star. Wide. [11 star system]
21H 40M 39.10S +54° 19' 29.0" P.A. 218 SEP 10 MAG 8.19,12.40 SP M8E DIST. 249.38 PC (813.48 L.Y.)
STT 456: Close but clean = mag, 1.5". Near several stars which make a mini Cygnus asterism, but with "Alberio" the brightest. [12 fold system]
21H 55M 31.59S +52° 31' 40.7" P.A. 37 SEP 1.6 MAG 8.25,8.93 SP F2V DIST. 252.53 PC (823.75 L.Y.)
Saturday, October 28, 2017
loads of doubles
Most of this week has had very good seeing, sometimes excellent with perfect round airy disks and next to no diffraction. Tonight is clear too, but I feel a little tired, and seeing is predicted to be merely "good." So I thought to catch up on my observations. Big Blue, 553x except as noted. S: 7-9/10, T4-4.5/5. A couple Open Clusters thrown in for good measure.
BU 1133: Tough find, dense field. Very temporary brightening in diffraction, 20% held. This is a tough one, <1" and large delta mag.
19H 59M 39.13S +31° 49' 35.4" P.A. 342 SEP 1.1 MAG 6.67,9.91 SP A0 DIST. 158.98 PC (518.59 L.Y.)
ES 357: Moderately bright, 8th mag, with 3 delta mag B well separated. Seeing a little shimmery. [There's a chance what I saw was STT 389 (AC) which is 9.53 mag and 12.6"]
19H 51M 41.33S +31° 08' 16.1" P.A. 309 SEP 10.1 MAG 7.12,12.40 SP F0IV DIST. 215.98 PC (704.53 L.Y.)
BU 980: Somewhat in glare of A but saw B momentarily with averted vision. Two faint either side, B closer in. [Complicated system, AB AE CE CF. What happened to D?]
19H 56M 18.40S +35° 05' 00.6" P.A. 206 SEP 7.8 MAG 3.89,12.00 SP K0III DIST. 41.37 PC (134.95 L.Y.)
STF 2606: Hair split to clean split when seeing stills and there is only an airy disk. Near equal, half a delta mag. 0.8" [Good catch! 0.66"! 1.2" at discovery, so old Wilhelm could see it.]
19H 58M 32.66S +33° 16' 38.8" P.A. 146.8 SEP 0.66 MAG 7.74,8.43 SP F5IV DIST. 78.43 PC (255.84 L.Y.)
STT 398: B is very faint, appears as a brightening or pin-prick in A's diffraction. 2-3 delta mag, 1"
20H 07M 23.69S +35° 43' 05.9" P.A. 82 SEP 1 MAG 7.45,9.20 SP B0IV DIST. 628.93 PC (2051.57 L.Y.)
STF 2633: 3 delta mag, wide, 2 more on the opposite side. [4 stars visible; AC & AC = HJ 1483; CD = SEI 900, not seen]
20H 07M 57.93S +32° 35' 10.8" P.A. 101 SEP 11.6 MAG 7.95,11.01 SP B8III DIST. 558.66 PC (1822.35 L.Y.)
SEI 917: Star with arc of three. B is very faint, closer in to brightest in center, which I take to be A. Another double is just below this, near equal, orange.
20H 08M 53.54S +35° 30' 46.4" P.A. 338 SEP 28.5 MAG 8.42,12.62 SP B0V
ES 244: 8th & 12th mag, wide separation. B looks like a faint double itself with averted vision. How to tell which is the double; how discover them? The field is so dense any could be a pair. [It is in fact a quadruple system.]
20H 14M 25.83S +35° 24' 25.6" P.A. 130 SEP 41.2 MAG 8.44,12.25 SP B7V
BLL 41: B very wide, very faint from A. A is orange, B also a little orangish. Other stars in field could be candidates. [Quadruple system, all pairs 12th mag.]
19H 40M 57.00S +32° 37' 05.7" P.A. 212 SEP 69.9 MAG 7.88,12.32 SP N DIST. 561.8 PC (1832.59 L.Y.)
South of STF 2624: 277x: Orange and very faint bluish pair ~8", 2 delta mag. B not quite resolved, more of a mist.
STF 2624: 277x. A with 2x fainter B well separated, plus an arc of 3 stars. [4 stars in system, AB AC AD BC]
20H 03M 29.42S +36° 01' 28.6" P.A. 174 SEP 2 MAG 7.09,7.73 SP O9.5IIIE DIST. 862.07 PC (2812.07 L.Y.)
STF 2580 = 17 Cyg: 277x. Yellow and slightly red, well separated, 1 delta mag. [This is an amazingly complex system with 11 stars in all sorts of combinations. Why not just call it an open cluster? And are they sure all the orbits are true?]
19H 46M 25.60S +33° 43' 39.3" P.A. 68 SEP 25.9 MAG 5.06,9.25 SP F5V DIST. 21.23 PC (69.25 L.Y.)
STT 387: 277x. Red, very close pair? Seeing not supporting. Or one of several faint B about. [I may have gotten it; if the seeing was better I might've noticed the 0.5" pair.]
19H 48M 43.81S +35° 18' 41.3" P.A. 106.7 SEP 0.47 MAG 7.12,7.90 SP F6V DIST. 63.69 PC (207.76 L.Y.)
Arn 82: 277x. Curious, seems a little cluster, several pairs, all wide, in a kind of string. [I must have missed it in a rich field since it is only a triple system. Needed exact location / chart.]
19H 36M 21.91S +35° 40' 39.7" P.A. 34 SEP 43.5 MAG 8.10,8.43 SP A
STF 2534: 277x: Near equal white, 7-8"
19H 27M 40.63S +36° 31' 44.4" P.A. 63 SEP 6.3 MAG 8.21,8.39 SP B9III DIST. 900.9 PC (2938.74 L.Y.)
NGC 6819: 277x. Boxy open cluster with no real concentration, though clumps of unresolved starts. ~20 resolved but unorganized mist. Fairly well separated, moderately rich. [I1r -- maybe should have tried lower power.]
STT 383: 277x. B could be any of several faint companions in field. [Should have tried harder for this one, a 0.8" -- but wasn't able to use enough magnification.]
19H 42M 56.26S +40° 43' 18.3" P.A. 15 SEP 0.8 MAG 7.03,8.28 SP B9.5V DIST. 154.56 PC (504.17 L.Y.)
V 973: Bright pumpkin orange.
Lep 94: Some faint stars -- seemingly unimpressive. [faint and very wide -- not much to notice]
19H 49M 18.13S +41° 34' 56.8" P.A. 68 SEP 65.9 MAG 7.53,10.47 SP F5 DIST. 52.55 PC (171.42 L.Y.)
STF 2607: Very close clean split though B is in A's diffraction; somewhat bluish. [AB,C seen, AB spectroscopic. 4.3" at discovery, easier for WS.]
19H 57M 56.12S +42° 15' 38.9" P.A. 289 SEP 3 MAG 6.56,9.09 SP A3V DIST. 325.73 PC (1062.53 L.Y.)
NGC 6866: 277x: widely dispersed and elongated with a branch of stars coming off it E-W. Wide brightness range, ~20 brighter over diffuse mist of stars. II2m
STF 2579 = Delta Cyg. Bright white with 4 or more much fainter possible companions. [7 visible stars in system]
19H 44M 58.44S +45° 07' 50.5" P.A. 216.6 SEP 2.74 MAG 2.89,6.27 SP B9.5IV DIST. 50.58 PC (164.99 L.Y.)
NGC 6811: Pretty large lucida, is mixed, no concentration, loops of stars. IV3p
STT 386: Tight near equal, nice, split with seeing, 1"
19H 48M 16.51S +37° 09' 37.5" P.A. 70 SEP 0.9 MAG 8.52,8.61 SP A1III DIST. 2222.22 PC (7248.88 L.Y.)
STT 384: Nice near equal 1", rest of field angular with stars [AB seen, AC and AD in the field.]
19H 43M 47.09S +38° 19' 20.5" P.A. 197 SEP 1 MAG 7.59,8.23 SP B5V DIST. 675.68 PC (2204.07 L.Y.)
STT 385: Yellow disk with fine blue point, with seeing, 1-1.5"
19H 45M 48.77S +40° 33' 18.9" P.A. 51 SEP 1.2 MAG 7.77,9.58 SP B7IV DIST. 793.65 PC (2588.89 L.Y.)
ARG 39: Wide separation, red-yellow pair. [AB seen; 7 visible stars in complex pattern.]
20H 42M 29.79S +49° 15' 59.1" P.A. 183 SEP 15.1 MAG 8.42,8.93 SP K5
ES 93: Yellow-orange with wide 2 delta mag blue B.
20H 47M 52.97S +52° 24' 25.8" P.A. 320 SEP 25.1 MAG 6.38,10.84 SP G7IV DIST. 42.52 PC (138.7 L.Y.)
BU 155: Clean split, nice disks, 1 delta mag, 1". Pale yellow and pale easter egg blue. [AB seen, 4 stars visible.]
20H 51M 05.41S +51° 25' 01.7" P.A. 38 SEP 0.7 MAG 7.36,8.13 SP A9IV DIST. 124.53 PC (406.22 L.Y.)
STF 2741: Bright A, yellow and blue, 2" 1 delta mag. [AB seen, 4 stars seen.]
20H 58M 30.03S +50° 27' 42.4" P.A. 25 SEP 2 MAG 5.94,6.79 SP B5VN DIST. 331.13 PC (1080.15 L.Y.)
ES 800: Like a string, 2 fainter. Uncertain what's what. [7 stars visible, too many, no wonder can't tell...]
20H 20M 01.12S +51° 15' 33.7" P.A. 321 SEP 29.6 MAG 9.06,10.51 SP K3III
STF 2681: ! Nice. 3x fainter B, ~4", another wide pair below. [AB seen; 4 stars in system.]
20H 22M 49.54S +53° 25' 02.8" P.A. 41 SEP 7.2 MAG 7.97,10.61 SP A0V DIST. 448.43 PC (1462.78 L.Y.)
Ho 455: Carbon star with very faint arc of 3 stars and one other star. Interesting! Can see direct vision but averted brightens. [5 stars in system. Star is M0, red]
20H 15M 13.60S +54° 08' 47.6" P.A. 82 SEP 35.8 MAG 7.46,12.00 SP M0 DIST. 420.17 PC (1370.59 L.Y.)
AC 17: !! Wow. Pretty orange-yellow and much fainter 3-4 delta mag B, resolves into view with seeing, just appears then vanishes if seeing quavers. ~4". [AB seen. 5 stars in system.]
20H 12M 31.73S +51° 27' 49.0" P.A. 83 SEP 4.3 MAG 6.17,10.55 SP K2.5III DIST. 106.16 PC (346.29 L.Y.)
STT 411: Carbon star with a number of possible pairs. [9 stars... OC?]
20H 42M 20.31S +45° 49' 24.5" P.A. 349 SEP 31.5 MAG 7.66,10.58 SP G2V DIST. 54.14 PC (176.6 L.Y.)
HJ 1581: Bright yellow with 3x fainter blue B, very wide.
20H 48M 56.29S +46° 06' 50.8" P.A. 174 SEP 22.7 MAG 4.82,11.14 SP B3IAE DIST. 714.29 PC (2330.01 L.Y.)
BU 250: Bright with 2x fainter, very wide.
20H 49M 54.64S +46° 39' 40.8" P.A. 7 SEP 18.4 MAG 6.33,11.50 SP B4VE DIST. 492.61 PC (1606.89 L.Y.)
20H 54M 22.25S +40° 42' 10.6" P.A. 2 SEP 5.5 MAG 6.69,10.50 SP B8VNNE DIST. 248.14 PC (809.43 L.Y.)
20H 40M 36.26S +29° 48' 19.6" P.A. 352 SEP 0.7 MAG 6.13,9.26 SP A2V DIST. 74.24 PC (242.17 L.Y.)
BU 1133: Tough find, dense field. Very temporary brightening in diffraction, 20% held. This is a tough one, <1" and large delta mag.
19H 59M 39.13S +31° 49' 35.4" P.A. 342 SEP 1.1 MAG 6.67,9.91 SP A0 DIST. 158.98 PC (518.59 L.Y.)
ES 357: Moderately bright, 8th mag, with 3 delta mag B well separated. Seeing a little shimmery. [There's a chance what I saw was STT 389 (AC) which is 9.53 mag and 12.6"]
19H 51M 41.33S +31° 08' 16.1" P.A. 309 SEP 10.1 MAG 7.12,12.40 SP F0IV DIST. 215.98 PC (704.53 L.Y.)
BU 980: Somewhat in glare of A but saw B momentarily with averted vision. Two faint either side, B closer in. [Complicated system, AB AE CE CF. What happened to D?]
19H 56M 18.40S +35° 05' 00.6" P.A. 206 SEP 7.8 MAG 3.89,12.00 SP K0III DIST. 41.37 PC (134.95 L.Y.)
STF 2606: Hair split to clean split when seeing stills and there is only an airy disk. Near equal, half a delta mag. 0.8" [Good catch! 0.66"! 1.2" at discovery, so old Wilhelm could see it.]
19H 58M 32.66S +33° 16' 38.8" P.A. 146.8 SEP 0.66 MAG 7.74,8.43 SP F5IV DIST. 78.43 PC (255.84 L.Y.)
STT 398: B is very faint, appears as a brightening or pin-prick in A's diffraction. 2-3 delta mag, 1"
20H 07M 23.69S +35° 43' 05.9" P.A. 82 SEP 1 MAG 7.45,9.20 SP B0IV DIST. 628.93 PC (2051.57 L.Y.)
STF 2633: 3 delta mag, wide, 2 more on the opposite side. [4 stars visible; AC & AC = HJ 1483; CD = SEI 900, not seen]
20H 07M 57.93S +32° 35' 10.8" P.A. 101 SEP 11.6 MAG 7.95,11.01 SP B8III DIST. 558.66 PC (1822.35 L.Y.)
SEI 917: Star with arc of three. B is very faint, closer in to brightest in center, which I take to be A. Another double is just below this, near equal, orange.
20H 08M 53.54S +35° 30' 46.4" P.A. 338 SEP 28.5 MAG 8.42,12.62 SP B0V
ES 244: 8th & 12th mag, wide separation. B looks like a faint double itself with averted vision. How to tell which is the double; how discover them? The field is so dense any could be a pair. [It is in fact a quadruple system.]
20H 14M 25.83S +35° 24' 25.6" P.A. 130 SEP 41.2 MAG 8.44,12.25 SP B7V
BLL 41: B very wide, very faint from A. A is orange, B also a little orangish. Other stars in field could be candidates. [Quadruple system, all pairs 12th mag.]
19H 40M 57.00S +32° 37' 05.7" P.A. 212 SEP 69.9 MAG 7.88,12.32 SP N DIST. 561.8 PC (1832.59 L.Y.)
South of STF 2624: 277x: Orange and very faint bluish pair ~8", 2 delta mag. B not quite resolved, more of a mist.
STF 2624: 277x. A with 2x fainter B well separated, plus an arc of 3 stars. [4 stars in system, AB AC AD BC]
20H 03M 29.42S +36° 01' 28.6" P.A. 174 SEP 2 MAG 7.09,7.73 SP O9.5IIIE DIST. 862.07 PC (2812.07 L.Y.)
STF 2580 = 17 Cyg: 277x. Yellow and slightly red, well separated, 1 delta mag. [This is an amazingly complex system with 11 stars in all sorts of combinations. Why not just call it an open cluster? And are they sure all the orbits are true?]
19H 46M 25.60S +33° 43' 39.3" P.A. 68 SEP 25.9 MAG 5.06,9.25 SP F5V DIST. 21.23 PC (69.25 L.Y.)
STT 387: 277x. Red, very close pair? Seeing not supporting. Or one of several faint B about. [I may have gotten it; if the seeing was better I might've noticed the 0.5" pair.]
19H 48M 43.81S +35° 18' 41.3" P.A. 106.7 SEP 0.47 MAG 7.12,7.90 SP F6V DIST. 63.69 PC (207.76 L.Y.)
Arn 82: 277x. Curious, seems a little cluster, several pairs, all wide, in a kind of string. [I must have missed it in a rich field since it is only a triple system. Needed exact location / chart.]
19H 36M 21.91S +35° 40' 39.7" P.A. 34 SEP 43.5 MAG 8.10,8.43 SP A
STF 2534: 277x: Near equal white, 7-8"
19H 27M 40.63S +36° 31' 44.4" P.A. 63 SEP 6.3 MAG 8.21,8.39 SP B9III DIST. 900.9 PC (2938.74 L.Y.)
NGC 6819: 277x. Boxy open cluster with no real concentration, though clumps of unresolved starts. ~20 resolved but unorganized mist. Fairly well separated, moderately rich. [I1r -- maybe should have tried lower power.]
STT 383: 277x. B could be any of several faint companions in field. [Should have tried harder for this one, a 0.8" -- but wasn't able to use enough magnification.]
19H 42M 56.26S +40° 43' 18.3" P.A. 15 SEP 0.8 MAG 7.03,8.28 SP B9.5V DIST. 154.56 PC (504.17 L.Y.)
V 973: Bright pumpkin orange.
Lep 94: Some faint stars -- seemingly unimpressive. [faint and very wide -- not much to notice]
19H 49M 18.13S +41° 34' 56.8" P.A. 68 SEP 65.9 MAG 7.53,10.47 SP F5 DIST. 52.55 PC (171.42 L.Y.)
STF 2607: Very close clean split though B is in A's diffraction; somewhat bluish. [AB,C seen, AB spectroscopic. 4.3" at discovery, easier for WS.]
19H 57M 56.12S +42° 15' 38.9" P.A. 289 SEP 3 MAG 6.56,9.09 SP A3V DIST. 325.73 PC (1062.53 L.Y.)
NGC 6866: 277x: widely dispersed and elongated with a branch of stars coming off it E-W. Wide brightness range, ~20 brighter over diffuse mist of stars. II2m
STF 2579 = Delta Cyg. Bright white with 4 or more much fainter possible companions. [7 visible stars in system]
19H 44M 58.44S +45° 07' 50.5" P.A. 216.6 SEP 2.74 MAG 2.89,6.27 SP B9.5IV DIST. 50.58 PC (164.99 L.Y.)
NGC 6811: Pretty large lucida, is mixed, no concentration, loops of stars. IV3p
STT 386: Tight near equal, nice, split with seeing, 1"
19H 48M 16.51S +37° 09' 37.5" P.A. 70 SEP 0.9 MAG 8.52,8.61 SP A1III DIST. 2222.22 PC (7248.88 L.Y.)
STT 384: Nice near equal 1", rest of field angular with stars [AB seen, AC and AD in the field.]
19H 43M 47.09S +38° 19' 20.5" P.A. 197 SEP 1 MAG 7.59,8.23 SP B5V DIST. 675.68 PC (2204.07 L.Y.)
STT 385: Yellow disk with fine blue point, with seeing, 1-1.5"
19H 45M 48.77S +40° 33' 18.9" P.A. 51 SEP 1.2 MAG 7.77,9.58 SP B7IV DIST. 793.65 PC (2588.89 L.Y.)
ARG 39: Wide separation, red-yellow pair. [AB seen; 7 visible stars in complex pattern.]
20H 42M 29.79S +49° 15' 59.1" P.A. 183 SEP 15.1 MAG 8.42,8.93 SP K5
ES 93: Yellow-orange with wide 2 delta mag blue B.
20H 47M 52.97S +52° 24' 25.8" P.A. 320 SEP 25.1 MAG 6.38,10.84 SP G7IV DIST. 42.52 PC (138.7 L.Y.)
BU 155: Clean split, nice disks, 1 delta mag, 1". Pale yellow and pale easter egg blue. [AB seen, 4 stars visible.]
20H 51M 05.41S +51° 25' 01.7" P.A. 38 SEP 0.7 MAG 7.36,8.13 SP A9IV DIST. 124.53 PC (406.22 L.Y.)
STF 2741: Bright A, yellow and blue, 2" 1 delta mag. [AB seen, 4 stars seen.]
20H 58M 30.03S +50° 27' 42.4" P.A. 25 SEP 2 MAG 5.94,6.79 SP B5VN DIST. 331.13 PC (1080.15 L.Y.)
ES 800: Like a string, 2 fainter. Uncertain what's what. [7 stars visible, too many, no wonder can't tell...]
20H 20M 01.12S +51° 15' 33.7" P.A. 321 SEP 29.6 MAG 9.06,10.51 SP K3III
STF 2681: ! Nice. 3x fainter B, ~4", another wide pair below. [AB seen; 4 stars in system.]
20H 22M 49.54S +53° 25' 02.8" P.A. 41 SEP 7.2 MAG 7.97,10.61 SP A0V DIST. 448.43 PC (1462.78 L.Y.)
Ho 455: Carbon star with very faint arc of 3 stars and one other star. Interesting! Can see direct vision but averted brightens. [5 stars in system. Star is M0, red]
20H 15M 13.60S +54° 08' 47.6" P.A. 82 SEP 35.8 MAG 7.46,12.00 SP M0 DIST. 420.17 PC (1370.59 L.Y.)
AC 17: !! Wow. Pretty orange-yellow and much fainter 3-4 delta mag B, resolves into view with seeing, just appears then vanishes if seeing quavers. ~4". [AB seen. 5 stars in system.]
20H 12M 31.73S +51° 27' 49.0" P.A. 83 SEP 4.3 MAG 6.17,10.55 SP K2.5III DIST. 106.16 PC (346.29 L.Y.)
STT 411: Carbon star with a number of possible pairs. [9 stars... OC?]
20H 42M 20.31S +45° 49' 24.5" P.A. 349 SEP 31.5 MAG 7.66,10.58 SP G2V DIST. 54.14 PC (176.6 L.Y.)
HJ 1581: Bright yellow with 3x fainter blue B, very wide.
20H 48M 56.29S +46° 06' 50.8" P.A. 174 SEP 22.7 MAG 4.82,11.14 SP B3IAE DIST. 714.29 PC (2330.01 L.Y.)
BU 250: Bright with 2x fainter, very wide.
20H 49M 54.64S +46° 39' 40.8" P.A. 7 SEP 18.4 MAG 6.33,11.50 SP B4VE DIST. 492.61 PC (1606.89 L.Y.)
STF 2707: Split in finder. Ice blue, in a string of five stars [AB seen. The string of stars comprise other components of the system, AC, AD, BC, which have the same PA of about 195.]
20H 37M 51.14S +47° 56' 41.9" P.A. 29 SEP 21.6 MAG 7.94,9.45 SP A0 DIST. 172.12 PC (561.46 L.Y.)
ES 30: Very wide with a very faint B, off to the side.
20H 46M 04.55S +44° 52' 09.6" P.A. 58 SEP 17.2 MAG 9.62,12.50 SP F8IB
STT 416: Orange & yellow pair, very wide, 1 delta
mag. [AB seen. AC fainter and much wider.]
20H 51M 58.64S +43° 45' 28.7" P.A. 118 SEP 9.6 MAG 8.64,8.94 SP G8IV+A3M DIST. 363.64 PC (1186.19 L.Y.)
STT 420: ! Light yellow A and reddish B, very faint, very
wide, 3 delta mag.
STF 2731: Yellow A and slight blue B, wide ~10”, 1-2
delta mag. [AB seen, AC and AD much fainter]
20H 49M 00.64S +39° 47' 29.9" P.A. 85 SEP 4.2 MAG 7.65,9.59 SP B9IV DIST. 497.51 PC (1622.88 L.Y.)
47 Cyg: Carbon yellow-orange disk, maybe not round. Many faint companions. [WRH 34 is AB, 0.3 4.84/7.30. Not sure it could be seen as out of roundness. BU 1490 is AC, 115.1" and 4.82/11.87]
20H 33M 54.19S +35° 15' 03.1" P.A. 278 SEP 0.3 MAG 4.84,7.30 SP K2IB+B3V DIST. 847.46 PC (2764.41 L.Y.)
STF 2702: Fine near equal, well split 4”
20H 35M 34.94S +35° 10' 10.8" P.A. 205 SEP 3.1 MAG 8.70,8.99 SP A0
STT 419: ! Tough, needed to wait for a while for right
seeing. Bright yellowish A with
brightening in diffraction which stays put and recedes to a fine point
momentarily with the seeing.
20H 54M 42.00S +37° 04' 25.3" P.A. 23 SEP 1.6 MAG 7.20,9.97 SP A0 DIST. 193.8 PC (632.18 L.Y.)
STF 2711: White, 1 delta mag, 3”. 2+1 double?
Another star wide separation [Not 2+1]
20H 39M 35.12S +30° 30' 14.6" P.A. 223 SEP 2.4 MAG 8.17,9.24 SP A2.5V DIST. 344.83 PC (1124.84 L.Y.)
HO 137: Needs more resolving power. At 553x some out of roundness to the disk,
but not certain. Used 885x with
apodizing mask some lumpiness to dusk but it dances around. The companion is too faint to show up as out
of roundness anyway.
STT 418: Near equal 1” split, white.
20H 54M 49.84S +32° 42' 23.2" P.A. 283.5 SEP 0.95 MAG 8.23,8.27 SP G0 DIST. 60.72 PC (198.07 L.Y.)
BU 677: Orange with very faint blue, very wide
separation. [Not sure if AB 10.03 mag or AC 11.20 mag was seen, did not note PA -- I should turn off the platform at first so I know where west is in the field.]
20H 47M 10.72S +34° 22' 26.8" P.A. 120 SEP 8.1 MAG 4.94,10.03 SP K3III DIST. 136.43 PC (445.03 L.Y.)
Lambda Cyg = STT 413: !! 1.5 delta mag, blue-white. Bright mess resolves to two disks 0.8-1.0”,
with seeing. [AB seen, there are six stars in the system]
20H 47M 24.53S +36° 29' 26.7" P.A. 359.3 SEP 0.92 MAG 4.73,6.26 SP B5VE DIST. 235.85 PC (769.34 L.Y.)
AGC 13 = Tau Cygni: Near equal orange with fainter nearby, could be
triple. [AB seen. There are 13 stars in the system. They ought to just call it an open cluster...]
21H 14M 47.49S +38° 02' 43.1" P.A. 196.5 SEP 0.96 MAG 3.83,6.57 SP F3V+F7V DIST. 20.34 PC (66.35 L.Y.)
Sei 1445: 553x, faint red star pair, near equal? 885x, reddish, with airy disk but nothing
closeby [No; B is very faint and wide. Probably had the wrong star since the spectral class for A is blue-white, not red]
21H 12M 29.51S +38° 33' 59.4" P.A. 23 SEP 28 MAG 7.32,11.90 SP B9 DIST. 2325.58 PC (7586.04 L.Y.)
STF 2762: Blue-white A and reddish B. 2 delta mag, ~5” [AB seen; AC & AD fainter & wider]
21H 08M 38.87S +30° 12' 20.5" P.A. 304 SEP 3.3 MAG 5.70,8.10 SP B9V DIST. 115.74 PC (377.54 L.Y.)
BU 445: !! Orange-red with exceptionally fainter B, only
when seeing stills, else it is lost in the diffraction. Pinpoint.
2”, 4 delta mag. [AB seen. There are six stars in the system]
21H 03M 29.53S +29° 05' 33.0" P.A. 109 SEP 4.8 MAG 7.00,11.14 SP G8III DIST. 197.24 PC (643.4 L.Y.)
STF 2716 = 49 Cygni: 277x Pretty orange and blue, 1.5-2.0
delta mag, ~2”. [AB seen, AC wide and faint]
20H 41M 02.54S +32° 18' 26.3" P.A. 45 SEP 2.8 MAG 5.75,8.10 SP G2III DIST. 244.5 PC (797.56 L.Y.)
BU 67: ! Pale blue A and 3 delta mag B, ~2”. In the middle of the Cygnus Loop.
20H 50M 36.05S +30° 54' 45.7" P.A. 311 SEP 1.5 MAG 6.85,9.87 SP A8III DIST. 120.05 PC (391.6 L.Y.)
Ary 48: !! A beautiful split in finder, just equal pair,
wide separation, white with red tint.
20H 37M 45.00S +32° 23' 42.9" P.A. 41 SEP 53.3 MAG 8.23,8.76 SP F8
STFA 53 = 48 Cygni: Wide equal pair, easy in finder. [AB seen; 8 stars in system]
20H 37M 31.77S +31° 34' 21.1" P.A. 177 SEP 182.7 MAG 6.29,6.54 SP B8III+F0V DIST. 261.78 PC (853.93 L.Y.)
52 Cygni = STF 2726: I use this one to find the Western Veil
in the Telrad. Bright orange and 3 delta mag blue B, ~7”
20H 45M 39.76S +30° 43' 10.8" P.A. 70 SEP 6 MAG 4.33,9.53 SP G9III DIST. 61.65 PC (201.1 L.Y.)
STF 2705: Close separation equal reddish. Look similar to the nearby Ary 48 stars; I wonder if they were formed in the same cloud? [AB seen, 5 stars in system]
20H 37M 44.32S +33° 21' 59.4" P.A. 261 SEP 3.2 MAG 7.48,8.54 SP K0IIB DIST. 595.24 PC (1941.67 L.Y.)
STT 408: ! Very fine dull white A and pinpoint B, split
well with seeing, ~2”
20H 34M 01.96S +34° 40' 44.4" P.A. 193 SEP 1.6 MAG 6.75,9.37 SP B7V DIST. 332.23 PC (1083.73 L.Y.)
NGC 6940: Large, loose, moderately rich open cluster, needs more
respect and attention with the Veil as a neighbor. Nice red star in middle of the sprawl, like
M37. III2m
NGC 6885: 170x, centered around a brighter star [20 Vulpeculae], more concentrated
to west, III2p. Between it and red star is NGC
6882, poor and dispersed. 101x, NGC 6882
is small, faint and compact, NGC 6885 is large and loose. [NGC/IC thinks the two designations are for the same object, NGC 6882 being a concentration of NGC 6885]
HO 588: Blue-white with 1 delta mag, very wide twin –
though I can’t decide if A is out of round. [AB seen; there is an AC 12.6 mag in opposite PA not seen]
20H 16M 54.99S +31° 30' 18.7" P.A. 297 SEP 50.8 MAG 6.91,8.89 SP A0III DIST. 189.39 PC (617.79 L.Y.)
S 780 = 69 Cygni: Bright
with much fainter wide, could be a triple. [AB seen; is a triple with a 10.22 mag C]
21H 25M 47.02S +36° 40' 02.5" P.A. 29 SEP 34.7 MAG 5.89,11.71 SP B0IB DIST. 2777.78 PC (9061.12 L.Y.)
NGC 7063: 101x.
Visible in finder with some stars resolved. Large loose cluster, ~30 stars resolved, with
about 3 delta mags between them. A
central “S” curve of stars N-S, but otherwise a gangly cluster. III2p
HO 603: !! Very
wide 2 delta mag, but B has a fainter close pair to it, seen with averted
vision, about 3” separation. [AB 7.53/9.82 80.5"; BC 9.82/11.30 3.6"
21H 32M 04.61S +34° 12' 06.1" P.A. 251 SEP 80.5 MAG 7.53,9.82 SP F0 DIST. 96.9 PC (316.09 L.Y.)
BU 692: Pair to the star could be any of the several
faint wide stars about. [Should have tried harder on this one. AB is 2.9". Yes, there are many faint stars in the system, 5 in all.]
21H 50M 05.37S +31° 50' 52.4" P.A. 10 SEP 2.9 MAG 7.47,11.03 SP K0 DIST. 181.16 PC (590.94 L.Y.)
STF 2822: Yellow, 1 delta mag, 2-3” [AB seen; 7 stars in the system.]
21H 44M 08.57S +28° 44' 33.4" P.A. 323.2 SEP 1.52 MAG 4.75,6.18 SP F6V+G2V DIST. 22.24 PC (72.55 L.Y.)
BU 167: Tried pretty hard to see it at 885x, but can’t
see a pair or any out of round.
Orange-red star.
21H 36M 13.98S +30° 03' 19.5" P.A. 89 SEP 1.8 MAG 6.37,9.95 SP G8III DIST. 110.86 PC (361.63 L.Y.)
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
scouting trip
This past weekend I travelled with my family up to Vallecito, CA to support my brother-in-law's Boy Scout troop with astronomy. The scouts camped out but we stayed in a cabin. We tried to keep the kids occupied with a visit to Moaning Caverns and playing with the horse named Star at the camp. I set up my 20-inch and others set up smaller scopes and we had some pretty good views. The site was not very dark, 21.0 SQML, with a light dome to the west. It grew cold and dewy.
I started showing a few obvious targets, like M11, M15, M31, M57. Many scouts took a look (there were ~30 of them) but most lacked interest to look at more than a couple objects. I pulled up Neptune and then Uranus, which many were interested to see, including some of the adult leaders. One of the leaders was interested to see what a large scope could do, so I shared views of the NGC 507 group, Hickson 16, and some other things. Finally late at night, after midnight, three scouts stayed with me at the scope, and they were very interested. I showed them the Veil, M1, and SN 2017gmr in NGC 988 -- a mini tour of exploding stars.
I stayed up for another hour or so, getting some of my own viewing in, mainly around M45:
NGC 1497: Small, fairly faint, bright core, diffuse halo, 3:2 NE-SW. Under an arc of three stars. S0, 13.1v
IC 357: Mostly even surface brightness, faint, moderately small, 2:1. In a backward "L" of stars. 13.2v
NGC 1156: Large & mottled halo, springs like a comet tail from a star. Very faint, need averted vision to brighten. 3-2 NNE-SSW.
NGC 1226: Small bright core and diffuse halo, 3:2 E-W, fairly faint.
NGC 1167: Fairly faint, moderately large, bright core, diffuse halo, oval ENE-WSW. Part of AGC 407, but I did not try to tease any out of this group. S0, 12.4v
UGC 2494: Appears as a small, faint, thin streak coming from a star. Can see it direct vision, averted needed to brighten.
IC 1874: Faint thin streak next to two stars, averted vision needed.
UGC 2456: Bright core and diffuse halo, elongated 3:1, fairly faint and small.
IC 278: Uncertain. I see what could be a core (small, faint, non stellar) but no halo.
NGC 1207 + CGC 524-54: small elongation 3:2 NNW-SSE, faint, bright core. There is a star to the NW rim of the halo, and then a very small, very faint non-stellar haze nearby to the W which is the CGC
IC 1900 / 1902: Averted vision only, very faint, two small smudges, both elongated slightly, but difficult to described further. These are two members of the KTG 10 group; did not notice IC 1901.
I started showing a few obvious targets, like M11, M15, M31, M57. Many scouts took a look (there were ~30 of them) but most lacked interest to look at more than a couple objects. I pulled up Neptune and then Uranus, which many were interested to see, including some of the adult leaders. One of the leaders was interested to see what a large scope could do, so I shared views of the NGC 507 group, Hickson 16, and some other things. Finally late at night, after midnight, three scouts stayed with me at the scope, and they were very interested. I showed them the Veil, M1, and SN 2017gmr in NGC 988 -- a mini tour of exploding stars.
I stayed up for another hour or so, getting some of my own viewing in, mainly around M45:
NGC 1497: Small, fairly faint, bright core, diffuse halo, 3:2 NE-SW. Under an arc of three stars. S0, 13.1v
IC 357: Mostly even surface brightness, faint, moderately small, 2:1. In a backward "L" of stars. 13.2v
NGC 1156: Large & mottled halo, springs like a comet tail from a star. Very faint, need averted vision to brighten. 3-2 NNE-SSW.
NGC 1226: Small bright core and diffuse halo, 3:2 E-W, fairly faint.
NGC 1167: Fairly faint, moderately large, bright core, diffuse halo, oval ENE-WSW. Part of AGC 407, but I did not try to tease any out of this group. S0, 12.4v
UGC 2494: Appears as a small, faint, thin streak coming from a star. Can see it direct vision, averted needed to brighten.
IC 1874: Faint thin streak next to two stars, averted vision needed.
UGC 2456: Bright core and diffuse halo, elongated 3:1, fairly faint and small.
IC 278: Uncertain. I see what could be a core (small, faint, non stellar) but no halo.
NGC 1207 + CGC 524-54: small elongation 3:2 NNW-SSE, faint, bright core. There is a star to the NW rim of the halo, and then a very small, very faint non-stellar haze nearby to the W which is the CGC
IC 1900 / 1902: Averted vision only, very faint, two small smudges, both elongated slightly, but difficult to described further. These are two members of the KTG 10 group; did not notice IC 1901.
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