satellite flash

It seemed to clear up so I stepped outside with my 15x70 binos.  But there were too many thin clouds to make a session of it.  I did sweep up M44, always pretty.  And, I saw a satellite flash through my view so I started to track it -- it was headed west, pretty fast.  It changed brightness a little, dimmed, then brightened.  Must be a booster.  Then, a bright orange-yellow flash which seemed almost rectangular -- just for a moment, then was gone.  The satellite itself disappeared shortly afterward, thinning out like a wick.  I kept moving the binoculars in the same direction and at the same rate I had been tracking it in, but the satellite did not reappear.  Fun to track it like that.

a few more doubles

Was out again last night with Big Blue.  Seeing was good 7/10 but transparency was well off -- I had difficulty finding stars of even 8th magnitude.  So it ended up being only a short 1 hour session.

STF 1450: 277x White and slight yellow, ~6-7", nice pair.
10h 35m 02.16s +08° 39' 01.6" P.A. 156 sep 2.2 mag 5.80,7.90 Sp A2V dist. 131.41 pc (428.66 l.y.)

STT 227: Faint reddish pair, near equal, just split but hazy, poor view.
10h 41m 41.58s +10° 44' 22.3" P.A. 2 sep 0.9 mag 8.27,8.77 Sp A2

STT 228: Not seen. Transparency too poor, stars too faint.

STF 1482: Not seen, can't find it

STF 1466: Orange and a little blue, wide separation, bright, half a delta mag. [AB seen. AC very wide separation]
10h 43m 20.91s +04° 44' 51.6" P.A. 239 sep 6.7 mag 6.23,7.13 Sp K3III dist. 169.49 pc (552.88 l.y.)

STF 1457: Near equal white, ~8". [Not seen -- WDS separation much closer]
10h 38m 43.14s +05° 44' 02.9" P.A. 333.9 sep 1.84 mag 7.69,8.16 Sp F5V dist. 65.4 pc (213.33 l.y.)

A2768: Feels like a not round disk, but uncertain. [Possible I saw it given the separation...]
10h 42m 37.53s +03° 34' 58.9" P.A. 239.6 sep 0.62 mag 6.92,8.45 Sp F7V dist. 71.38 pc (232.84 l.y.)

BU 1076: There's something in the diffraction but not resolved even in the best seeing. [Not seen; the suspected location in the diffraction would have meant ~2"; this separation too close]
10h 55m 42.40s +00° 44' 13.0" P.A. 50 sep 1.1 mag 5.98,9.02 Sp F4V dist. 44.86 pc (146.33 l.y.)

BU 599: !! Bright light orange star. As seeing resolves it to a disk and eliminates the diffraction, a tiny, faint star appears, planet-like, (~3") from the star. Only at the best moments; B helped by averted vision.
11h 06m 54.20s +01° 57' 19.9" P.A. 104 sep 2.7 mag 5.65,9.72 Sp G9IIICN dist. 63.21 pc (206.19 l.y.)

STF 1504: White near equal, ~2", nice.
11h 03m 58.93s +03° 38' 19.3" P.A. 123 sep 1.2 mag 7.92,8.05 Sp F0 dist. 221.73 pc (723.28 l.y.)

Tau Leo / STFA 19AB: Finder split; the A star is prismatic in color effects; bluish B
11h 27m 56.23s +02° 51' 22.5" P.A. 182 sep 88.1 mag 5.05,7.47 Sp G8II-III dist. 172.41 pc (562.4 l.y.)

STF 1540AB: Also a finder split, in same field as Tau. Fainter and a little more closer together.
11h 26m 45.32s +03° 00' 47.2" P.A. 149 sep 28.1 mag 6.55,7.50 Sp G7V dist. 17.75 pc (57.9 l.y.)

observing agin

The last entry in my log was from March 13th, so it's been quite a long stretch without any observing. It was clear, dry, and pretty steady last night, so I had a run through some doubles from the Carro Catalog. Seeing was a good 7/10, however transparency was off, 3/5, and as a result I had difficulty with fainter stars. My limit is usually 12th magnitude but I had difficulty with 11th. Stayed out for 2.5 hours; seems it will be clear tonight too. All with Big Blue, 553x

STF 1202: Nice yellow-orange and 3 delta mag, B, same color, ~5-7"
08h 13m 34.20s +10° 50' 49.7" P.A. 305 sep 2.7 mag 7.37,9.61 Sp F7V dist. 77.28 pc (252.09 l.y.)

Lep 30: Light orange with faint white star of ~11th magnitude, wide separation
08h 15m 33.20s +11° 25' 51.5" P.A. 239 sep 31.8 mag 7.71,9.75 Sp G5 dist. 38.57 pc (125.82 l.y.)

Ho 349: Light orange star and extremely faint B star, a fuzz at the edge of visibility in the correct position angle, ~10" separation [AB seen. AC 13th mag and very much wider 61"]
08h 02m 32.77s +12° 27' 08.1" P.A. 227 sep 10.3 mag 7.67,12.00 Sp K0 dist. 305.81 pc (997.55 l.y.)

BU 581: Light orange near equal, very small, elongated to notched. [AB seen. 7 star system with AB in the middle of each pairing]
08h 04m 23.10s +12° 17' 23.8" P.A. 229.5 sep 0.41 mag 8.46,8.83 Sp K0V dist. 33.2 pc (108.3 l.y.)

STF 1196: 2+1. The +1 star is not quite round, oval/olive shaped. The other two make a nice tight pair. They are all nearly the same magnitude, white & brilliant. [AB is the two close, and AB,C is the 2+1. C is also HUT 1 6.20/7.10, 0.4" -- which I noticed as olive. Ca,Cc is OCC9141, 0.1" separation!]
08h 12m 12.79s +17° 38' 51.2" P.A. 8.4 sep 1.14 mag 5.30,6.25 Sp F8V dist. 25.08 pc (81.81 l.y.)

Gamma Cnc: A star not quite round; bright white olive. [No sign of this having a close pair.]

Iota Cnc / STF 1268: Finder split, beautiful yellow and blue. Scope view real nice. Very good diffraction and airy disks.

08h 46m 41.82s +28° 45' 35.6" P.A. 308 sep 31.3 mag 4.13,5.99 Sp G7.5IIIa dist. 101.52 pc (331.16 l.y.)

Cbl 32: Dull orange with fairly faint 10.5 mag B, wide separation
08h 46m 14.32s +27° 35' 41.3" P.A. 174 sep 41 mag 7.39,10.66 Sp K1IV dist. 99.4 pc (324.24 l.y.)

STTA 97: Finder split, near equal white.
09h 08m 27.16s +27° 32' 35.3" P.A. 238 sep 51.8 mag 8.30,8.31 Sp G0V dist. 42.57 pc (138.86 l.y.)

STF 3132: I nearly didn't bother this one since I was intending to star hop to Kappa Leonis; saw this on the atlas and decided to stop by; it turned out to be a highlight of the night. Near equal orange with hairline split !! [Stelle Doppie results confusing, show a wider pair; did I look at the correct star?]
19h 28m 12.76s +20° 12' 59.6" P.A. 39 sep 7.8 mag 10.10,11.80 Sp G5

BU 105: Very faint star mixed up in bright, dancing diffraction, though K's star disk is steady. [Nothing seen; the BU is a widely separated star.]

NGC 2903: Elongated, extremely faint smear in the finder, scope a long difference in grey scale. Two stars involved in the halo.

STT 204: Not sure I have the correct map -- nothing at the location, no 6th mag star nearby and no double.

BUP 128: didn't try, 282" separation, not my thing.

STF 1399: Faint, tough find. 1 delta magnitude, wide separation.
09h 57m 02.21s +19° 45' 44.6" P.A. 176 sep 30.2 mag 7.65,8.36 Sp G0 dist. 41.77 pc (136.25 l.y.)

STF 1353: Well separated near equal 9th magnitude white stars, ~4"
09h 27m 39.28s +15° 44' 32.0" P.A. 125 sep 3.3 mag 9.91,9.98 Sp G5 dist. 96.06 pc (313.35 l.y.)

H V 58: Finder split, wide, white, 2 delta mag.

STT 204 / Wal 56: Hard white A with B a haze, sharpened to point with averted vision. Well separated, 3 delta mag. Is B also a matched, close faint pair? I sense another star next to it... [STT 204 is what I saw; Wal 56 is a wide separated pair from this; there is no companion to STT 204B.]
09h 38m 45.69s +10° 46' 39.8" P.A. 81 sep 85.7 mag 6.70,10.65 Sp A5III-IV dist. 94.34 pc (307.74 l.y.)

Sh 107: A not quite round. A light orange, 3 delta mag white, well separated point.
09h 31m 57.58s +09° 42' 56.8" P.A. 75 sep 37.1 mag 5.22,9.30 Sp K3III dist. 153.14 pc (499.54 l.y.)

STF 1356: Very close but clean split, in each other's diffraction, half delta mag, white.
09h 28m 27.41s +09° 03' 24.4" P.A. 113.6 sep 0.87 mag 5.69,7.28 Sp F9IV dist. 33.17 pc (108.2 l.y.)

H IV 47: Orange star with well separated white B, 2 delta mag.

HN 29: Very wide, very faint B. Meh.

STF 1360: Unremarkable wide separation 8th mag stars. [2 more in system, but still...]
09h 30m 35.95s +10° 36' 06.4" P.A. 242 sep 13.8 mag 8.95,8.86 Sp G5 dist. 18.87 pc (61.55 l.y.)

STF 1364: Unremarkable wide separation faint stars.'
09h 32m 01.52s +20° 02' 49.3" P.A. 155 sep 16.4 mag 8.59,9.74 Sp F5 dist. 102.99 pc (335.95 l.y.)

Gamma Leonis: Bright yellow and yellow-white, 1 delta mag.

STF 1417: Faint, close, but well split pair, 3", B resolves better with averted vision.
10h 15m 08.60s +19° 07' 27.3" P.A. 77 sep 2.4 mag 9.24,9.31 Sp F2 dist. 235.29 pc (767.52 l.y.)

STF 1426: Could not find! Frustrating since it's a nice challenge pair, faint and <1"
10h 20m 32.32s +06° 25' 47.6" P.A. 313.7 sep 0.91 mag 7.99,8.30 Sp F5 dist. 149.7 pc (488.32 l.y.)

STT 523: Unremarkable star with wide, very faint B.
10h 17m 14.53s +23° 06' 22.3" P.A. 300 sep 7.9 mag 5.80,11.30 Sp F6V+M1.5 dist. 22.81 pc (74.41 l.y.)

STF 1429: Very tough. Faint to start, need averted vision to brighten and sharpen. Elongated to clean split in the best moments with seeing, near equal.
10h 25m 01.79s +24° 36' 44.1" P.A. 154.4 sep 0.78 mag 9.05,9.34 Sp G0V dist. 67.48 pc (220.12 l.y.)

STF 1468: Faint near equal, close but a nice split.
10h 44m 39.96s +20° 42' 18.5" P.A. 334 sep 4.3 mag 9.68,9.65 Sp G0 dist. 104.49 pc (340.85 l.y.)

STF 1451: B too faint, did not try [Not sure about this comment, it should not have been too faint to try -- maybe an incorrect comment on my chart]
10h 35m 24.86s +26° 16' 09.7" P.A. 271 sep 8.5 mag 9.81,12.17 Sp G5

STF 1423: Tough! Elongated to hairline split. Is B with nearby star? [Not a triple]
10h 19m 10.64s +20° 33' 48.1" P.A. 302.6 sep 0.6 mag 9.40,10.08 Sp K0 dist. 58.79 pc (191.77 l.y.)

STF 1421: Not difficult, 1 delta mag, 5" or so. Bluish.
10h 18m 05.54s +27° 31' 27.9" P.A. 330 sep 4.6 mag 8.19,9.12 Sp F2 dist. 429.18 pc (1399.99 l.y.)

45 Leonis, HJ 832: Finder, wide split, bright and faint star. [Not sure about this one since B is 12th mag -- might have noticed wrong star...
10h 27m 38.99s +09° 45' 44.7" P.A. 121 sep 34.3 mag 6.00,12.41 Sp A0pSiCr: dist. 129.2 pc (421.45 l.y.)

STF 1446: Two faint stars, pretty well separated, 1 delta mag.
10h 33m 33.32s +15° 12' 49.6" P.A. 250 sep 5.6 mag 9.29,10.03 Sp G0 dist. 128.7 pc (419.82 l.y.)

resuced objective

After taking some advice from people on Cloudy Nights, I was able to rescue the poor objective; now I have a matched pair to work with!

At first I tried applying some water soluble lubricant around the flint where it touched the cell, but it didn't penetrate so no use there.

Next I put the cell, with sky end facing up and retaining ring removed, into a pot -- I hoped the sky end up orientation would help in case the glass just dropped out of the cell. I leaned the cell at a shallow angle using a metal spatula so bubbles wouldn't accumulate underneath it. I filled the pot with water so the cell was submerged, and set the heat to medium low for a very slow time to boil. When the water was very hot, but before a full rolling boil, I heard a soft clunking sound, as if something had shifted in the pot. And indeed the glass just dropped out of the cell! I turned off the heat and using oven gloves reached in and lifted the cell away. I let the pot sit for a few hours to slowly return the water and glass to room temperature.





There was some writing in pencil on the sides of the glass. Both glass were marked with "5-75" which I presume is the date code, May 1975. Both glass had "30.126" on them, which is the focal length. However, the orientation of the writing was different -- the crown's writing was upside down. Furthermore there was a straight line pencil mark on the sides of both glass, but the line was shifted almost 90 degrees from each other. I lifted the crown up and found, as I suspected, the more prominent convex curve was facing skyward. This and the writing confirmed the crown was installed reversed. I flipped the crown and fitted it to the flint with the straight lines lined up -- and not only did they fit perfectly, but the "30.126" numbers on both glasses were right on top of each other -- indicating this is how the Jaegers factory validated the glass.





I found some sticky residue on the edge of the glass and on the inside of the cell, so I cleaned that off. I washed the glass with some dish soap and warm water, with a distilled water rinse, and let dry. I assembled it together with the glass resting on a padded soup can, and at first had some difficulty -- I could not get them to go in. But after taking a break and giving it another try, I found the right angle and position to lift the cell into the glass, and it slid in with no problem -- perfectly flat. The retaining ring's foil spacers all make even contact on the flit.



I installed the objective back in the scope and focused with a few eyepieces on the moon. Crisp, snap to focus! Seeing and transparency were poor but a star test on Procyon showed concentric rings. What is more, I measured the focal length of this and the other objective by measuring the focus point of four different eyepieces and taking the average -- there is only a 0.01" difference between the two objectives. What are the odds of these being a matched pair?

I am so relieved to have been able to rescue this objective. Now I can work on the final ray trace and mechanical design of the binobox.

well that was interesting...

CalStar is clouded out this year.  And with the change in my job I finally had time to drive up to Oakland to the Telescope Makers workshop.  I took my two Jaegers objectives up.

They had no means to test it but they did confirm the crown and flint were mounted in the correct positions.  My only means to verify their focal lengths and check for quality was to mount them back in the scope and look at a star; which is what I did tonight.

Seeing was poor and transparency was worse, but I mounted the first one (with the red ring around the outside of the cell) into the scope.  I tried Sirius first but it looked wild, with a bright halo around it and a spikey middle.  Thinking it was too bright I moved the scope up to Procyon, and unfortunately the view was similar.  A large bright halo around the focused star, looking very much like a solar corona.  Outside of focus had a round purple and yellow ring with a spikey cross in the middle like diffraction rings.  It was not oval shape, so I don't think it's astigmatism, but it's not a good sign.  Fainter stars focused pretty well but the halo must mean the glass is mounted incorrectly, and is maybe pinched in its cell.  I recorded the focus distance with the 22mm Nagler and 13mm Ethos, will check it later.

I slipped it out and put the other objective in.  This time I could not reach focus with the 22mm Nagler even with the extension tube -- meaning I need to get another extension tube to check it.  But, while pulling the eyepiece slowly out of the focuser drawtube the stars did come to focus at a certain point, and the view was clean.  So I think the glass is ok.

Now I need to play around with red's mounting to see what's wrong.  The crown and flint might be in the correct order but one of them must be reversed.  If I can get it to work then I can proceed; otherwise maybe sell it.  I'm having trouble removing the glass from the cell, so it might be difficult to recover this one.

BTW I used mineral oil as a lubricant between the cells and the objective holder on the telescope -- the lubrication worked well and I had no trouble getting the cells in and out.  But the oil does not wipe off, so I need to be extra careful not to touch any glass.