battling astigmatism

I'm not completely sure where it's coming from, either the fans/thermals or the mirror sling, but I'm determined to replace both on the scope.  The astigmatism persisted all night, and I could only use the 8" mask to mitigate the effect.  If I can't use this scope at full aperture, what's the point?  So I'll spring for the Glatter sling (to replace the poorly designed Webster sling, which has no means of automatically adjusting for mirror height) and to suspend a boundary layer fan over the primary.  Orders to be placed today.  Must needs.

Otherwise it was a satisfying night with the 8" mask.  Seeing 6/10, Transparency 3/5.  I'm surprised I'm enjoying it so much.

Dubhe = BU 1077: I used this as my second alignment star, and thought I saw a fine point in the 23mm reticle very close to the primary.  I tried other various combinations, with the mask, high magnification, low, 8" and 20", and with a Wratten #12 filter -- I kept thinking I saw a Sirius B like fine point.  However given the amount of astigmatism I've been having I rather doubt it.  So I'll leave this one to be observed later.
11h 03m 43.84s +61° 45' 04.0" P.A. 337.6 sep 0.8 mag 2.02,4.95 Sp G9III dist. 37.68 pc (122.91 l.y.)

STF 1758: 8" 205x: Nice near equal pair, slightly yellow, ~5"
13h 32m 51.51s +49° 08' 24.3" P.A. 290 sep 3.3 mag 8.70,8.95 Sp G0 dist. 77.04 pc (251.3 l.y.)

Bgh 50: 13x80mm Finder split.  Wide pair, 2 delta mag, dull white.  Viewed 8" 205x, no apparent other doubling.
14h 04m 45.95s +25° 49' 03.9" P.A. 32 sep 97 mag 7.00,8.90 Sp F5+K0 dist. 44.01 pc (143.56 l.y.)
NGC 5466: Globular Cluster in Boötes.  Invisible with 8" 205x, but at 20" 205x it was very faint and fairly large (about 60% the FOV).  A few brighter members scattered but mostly a mist of very faint blue stars, just barely resolved.  Stopped by this one while star hopping to other doubles.

STF 1812: 8" 205x: Is it a 2+1 system?  Main pair 2.5 delta mag, pretty wide; there's a third, fainter pair about 4x the other separation.  [AB is STT 277, 0.2" not seen.  AB,C seen, and yes there is another pair AB,D 7.88/12.10 72.4"]
14h 12m 26.68s +28° 43' 02.3" P.A. 108 sep 14 mag 7.88,9.45 Sp F2V dist. 1000 pc (3262 l.y.)

STF 1816: 8" 205x.  Wide, very faint B; how thought was binary?  [I got this one wrong!  Very close separation now, at closest approach; 1.6" at discovery.  Need to retry when the 20" is fixed.]

14h 13m 54.63s +29° 06' 19.5" P.A. 100.3 sep 0.35 mag 7.43,7.75 Sp F0+A2 dist. 113.38 pc (369.85 l.y.)

STF 1850: 8" 205x Very wide, 1/2 delta mag.

14h 28m 33.29s +28° 17' 25.9" P.A. 262 sep 25.1 mag 7.11,7.56 Sp A1V+A1V dist. 349.65 pc (1140.56 l.y.)

STT 289: 8" 205x: Noticed a very much fainter star emerge with averted vision then could hold direct.  Very fine, well split.  8" 410x: Tried to bring out the B star with higher magnification, but oddly it disappeared.  Curious.  20" 410x: B star easily seen though the disks are bloated, seeing not good.
14h 55m 58.63s +32° 18' 00.3" P.A. 109 sep 4.8 mag 6.20,11.10 Sp A2V dist. 95.79 pc (312.47 l.y.)

STFA 27: 8" 205x.  Bright star with many nearby faint star.  Didn't bother trying to figure out which are which. 

15h 15m 30.16s +33° 18' 53.4" P.A. 78 sep 105 mag 3.56,7.89 Sp G8IIICN-1 dist. 37.34 pc (121.8 l.y.)

STFA 28: 8" 205x.  Bright A star does not seem round.  B star is a tight equal pair.  Pretty set. [Aa,Ab is CHR 181 0.1", and I'd be shocked if I actually detected it.  STFA 28 is technically the bright star and the tight pair; the tight pair is Ba,Bb = STF 1938, 7.09/7.63, 2.2"]
15h 24m 29.54s +37° 22' 37.1" P.A. 171 sep 108.2 mag 4.33,7.09 Sp F2IVa+G0V dist. 34.69 pc (113.16 l.y.)
STT 298: 8" 205x.  At zenith, but worth the effort to slew to.  Another great 2+1.  The tight pair [AB] is near equal and split a little more than a hairline.
15h 36m 02.22s +39° 48' 08.9" P.A. 188 sep 1.21 mag 7.16,8.44 Sp K2V dist. 22.31 pc (72.78 l.y.)

Ku 108: 8" 205x. White A and reddish B stars.  Wide, 2 delta mag.  [Need to try this with the 20": BC = RAO 18 9.74/11.00 0.4"]
15h 27m 40.35s +42° 52' 52.9" P.A. 319 sep 40.7 mag 7.55,9.74 Sp G5 dist. 32.13 pc (104.81 l.y.)

STT 296: 8" 205x: Very fine but well split, ~2", yellow-white A, reddish B, 2 delta mag.  [AB seen]
15h 26m 26.56s +44° 00' 13.2" P.A. 274 sep 2.2 mag 7.83,9.09 Sp G5 dist. 87.95 pc (286.89 l.y.)

STT 301: 8" 205x: Another wide mag difference, ~4 delta mag.  B is faint but well split, ~5".
15h 46m 13.64s +42° 28' 06.3" P.A. 27 sep 4 mag 7.50,10.38 Sp K0 dist. 216.45 pc (706.06 l.y.)

WNO 47: 20" 205x.  Did not see faint B star in 8", so switched to 20".  Wide split and faint; nothing too special visually, but intellectually, per CDSA: "Local, high CPM, low mass double, AB: ps = 13,70 AU (2000).
16h 04m 56.79s +39° 09' 23.4" P.A. 280 sep 70 mag 6.66,12.86 Sp K0V dist. 14.52 pc (47.36 l.y.)

I tried for Jupiter at the end of the night, as it had just cleared the meridian tree -- but it was too low for this scope to reach it.  The 20"s mirror is much lower than Big Blue's, so it will struggle with planets.  I guess that's what my 8" f/7 is for.