clear window

The clouds parted in the early evening last night and a clear window to the sky opened up, perhaps for the last time this year.  I tried to make the most of it and stayed out as long as I could, three arcs of the equatorial platform.  Seeing was variable, 6-8/7, and my targets were over my roof so it wasn't perfect.  But nonetheless it was a happy time.  I was glad I had some charts prepared.  Big Blue:

STT 33: Pretty yellow-white and red-orange pair, wide, 1.5-2 delta mag.  340x  Nearby X Cas a very pretty red. 
01H 37M 22.87S +58° 38' 14.7" P.A. 77 SEP 26.9 MAG 7.26,8.96 SP B3IV DIST. 833.33 PC (2718.32 L.Y.)

BU 396: Bright white and 3-4 delta mag blue, ~2", well split.  340x
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: Barely split at 340x, a brightening in the first diffraction.  Wanted more certainty so went to 553x, clean split, 2" 3 detla mag.
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.)

STF 96: Mostly notched but moments of hairline split with seeing  1.5 delta mag.  Very tough!  Yellow-orange stars.  553x.
01H 12M 41.24S +65° 00' 32.9" P.A. 286 SEP 0.9 MAG 7.92,8.92 SP F0 DIST. 218.34 PC (712.23 L.Y.)

35 And: Yellow-white A and red-orange B, wide finder split, 2 delta mag.

BU 781: Very fine faint pair, need to wait for seeing.  1", 1 delta mag.
00H 51M 36.19S +68° 59' 14.0" P.A. 23 SEP 1 MAG 8.41,9.33 SP A2

STF 65: Equal pair, white-yellow.  Wide and pretty bright
00H 52M 45.61S +68° 51' 59.3" P.A. 220 SEP 3.2 MAG 8.00,8.02 SP A2 DIST. 255.75 PC (834.26 L.Y.)

A2901: Elongated to notched with seeing.  Seeing not cooperating.  553x & 885x
01H 01M 30.15S +69° 21' 30.7" P.A. 65.4 SEP 0.4 MAG 7.12,7.84 SP B9 DIST. 273.97 PC (893.69 L.Y.)

BU 513: Searched around the swollen, shimmering bright A star disk and felt there was a faint close B trying to resolve in the first diffraction at 553x.  Apodizing mask cleaned up the image but no B resolved.  Could just be a trick -- there's a faint blue star, very wide to the north which could be it.  [AB is 0.5" and 2 delta mag so not seen; likely saw AD which is 12.6 mag 54".  AC likely too faint at 13.2.  One to try in the 20-inch someday.]
02H 01M 57.55S +70° 54' 25.4" P.A. 346.5 SEP 0.5 MAG 4.65,6.74 SP A3V DIST. 35.26 PC (115.02 L.Y.)

NGC 654: Open cluster, near some doubles I was viewing.  Switched to 170x.  Red star dominates, but the cluster's brighter white stars form a mini Cassiopeia asterism with a moderate concentration of faint stars in the center of the "W."

NGC 663: Fairly large, about half a degree.  Appears in the finder as a fine mist to the south of an arc of three stars.  Brighter stars form a delta wing asterism with many fainter stars scattered within.  Several orange and red stars in the mix.  Increasing power to 553x, I viewed three Struve pairs within the cluster making a triple double:
STF 151: Equal, fairly faint but by no means the faintest in a very rich field.  Visible in finder.
01H 45M 59.32S +61° 12' 45.6" P.A. 39 SEP 7.2 MAG 10.59,10.98 SP B4
STF 152: A about 11th mag and B wide separation 1.5 delta mag. [not physical].
01H 46M 04.90S +61° 13' 41.8" P.A. 106 SEP 9.4 MAG 9.04,11.20 SP B5 DIST. 310.56 PC (1013.05 L.Y.)
STF 153: Well separated ~10", 1 delta mag pair
01H 46M 34.53S +61° 15' 45.0" P.A. 69 SEP 7.7 MAG 9.36,10.38 SP B2II

NGC 659: Brighter stars form a keystone asterism with a spur of three closely separated stars sticking out the east side.  An thick arc of fine fainter stars spreads beneath it running NE-SW.  Nearby 44 And, which is a wide split yellow and white optical pair, 2 delta mag.

BU 1103 = 44 Cas: Extremely fine, extremely faint spec consistently in one spot in the diffraction, 1", when seeing perfects.  Need a slight averted vision to see it.  [12-fold system with many fainter stars about.]
01H 43M 19.75S +60° 33' 04.8" SEP 1.6 MAG 5.78,12.10 SP B8IIIN DIST. 320.51 PC (1045.5 L.Y.)

Arn 55: Very wide separation 1 delta mag.; physical double  [This is the AD pair of a more complicated system.  AB = V773 Cas = BU 870 which is 6.29/8.68 0.3"; AC = GUI 2, 6.29/16.00 16.8".  Both of these would be great targets for the 20-inch.]
01H 44M 17.96S +57° 32' 11.8" P.A. 45 SEP 160.5 MAG 6.29,9.92 SP A3V DIST. 84.96 PC (277.14 L.Y.)

STF 163: Pretty orange star in the finder.  Wide separated blue B, 2 delta mag.
01H 51M 16.93S +64° 51' 17.9" P.A. 38 SEP 34.5 MAG 6.80,9.13 SP K4+IB-IIA DIST. 5882.35 PC (19188.23 L.Y.)

STF 234: Light orange star, definitely elongated, maybe notched, but no convincing split.  553x & 885x.  Tough little Struve...
02H 17M 23.00S +61° 21' 06.5" P.A. 222.3 SEP 0.64 MAG 8.74,9.40 SP G2V DIST. 59.14 PC (192.91 L.Y.)

STF 263: At the end of an arc of three stars of similar magnitude.  The pair is wide, 2 delta mag.  [I saw AB.  Quadruple system but with a lot of complicated orbital dynamics going on: AB, AC, AD, BC, BD, CD]

STF 277AB: Could not see the faint component.  Seeing / transparency may be failing.
02H 36M 55.29S +59° 53' 01.1" P.A. 140 SEP 3.1 MAG 7.81,11.38 SP B9.5IV DIST. 375.94 PC (1226.32 L.Y.)

STF 283: Well split light orange pair, half delta mag.  [AB seen; AC 13.9 mag]
02H 40M 31.92S +61° 29' 02.2" P.A. 210 SEP 1.8 MAG 8.38,9.03 SP G8III+

Sti 1797: Pretty orange and blue stars, 2-3 delta mag, well separated 10"
02H 10M 24.05S +56° 17' 49.6" P.A. 140 SEP 9.3 MAG 7.53,11.85 SP K2III DIST. 117.23 PC (382.4 L.Y.)

I ended the night looking at M45 at low powers in both the finder and in the main scope.  The scope showed mistiness in the field which made me think the eyepiece was fogging up but is the nebulosity.  WIshed I could have stayed out longer.