11 september 2019

I had high hopes for last night, but they were frustrated by seeing and transparency and a couple of technical issues. I screwed on a couple of small weights to the back of the scope in order to better balance it (it drifts down after about 40 degrees). During the beginning of the session, when I was slewing to objects and the altitude was starting up at a high rate, the motor just cut-out. The Argo asked for FIX ALT REF -- meaning I had to redo my star alignment. This happened twice. I don't think it was due to the weights, but probably the tension of the alt cable or perhaps an encoder error.

Seeing was forecasted to be good, and it started out ok, but it totally broke down after 10pm. Transparency grew worse too. This morning I hiked up Mission Peak and saw the reason why: A pall of wildfire smoke is hanging over the north bay, the edge along route 84 and going north, and from the ocean to the east beyond Mount Diablo and into the San Joaquin valley. Ugh. It's very hot these next couple of days, so I don't think there will be any wind to push it out of the Bay Area -- smoke usually pools in the Bay Area until a weather system comes through to push it out.

So, I ended around 10:30pm after starting at 9:00pm. Short session. I closed by binoviewing the moon, but the view was soft and discouraging. Interestingly I seem to hit a vein of POU doubles; there must have been a study done in this area of the sky (eastern Hercules)--though most of them have been shown to not be physical pairs.

STTA 157 AB: 20" 333x: Very pretty light orange and very wide separated blue, about 1 delta mag. [Aa,Ab is 0.8" 10.3, should have tried for it]
17h 40m 41.23s +31° 17' 15.6" P.A. 106 sep 118.3 mag 6.43,7.92 Sp K0III dist. 130.38 pc (425.3 l.y.)

ROE 119 AB: 20" 333x: Very fine near equal, widely separated, about 4". [not physical]
17h 41m 42.33s +28° 31' 37.4" P.A. 324 sep 4.4 mag 11.50,11.70

HO 426 AB: 20" 333x: Pretty yellow star, about 7th magnitude, with a much fainter 5 delta mag, very widely separated companion [not physical] 

18h 03m 54.11s +26° 39' 05.0" P.A. 229 sep 11.7 mag 6.98,12.00 Sp F3V dist. 58.55 pc (190.99 l.y.)

SLE 88 AB: 20" 333x: A star steady direct vision, B flashes into view with averted and slowly fades to invisibility. Close, about 4" and one and one half delta mag. [not physical, disappointingly]
18h 03m 51.56s +25° 58' 17.3" P.A. 339 sep 3.8 mag 12.20,13.30

TDT 664 AB: 20" 667x: Marginal, I only get an elongation. Very tight

18h 04m 29.33s +22° 54' 44.2" P.A. 232 sep 0.6 mag 11.19,11.77

BU 1326 AB: 20" 667x: Not especially difficult, but need seeing to settle before the very faint, fine point of B appears on the outer ring of diffraction.
18h 26m 40.93s +26° 26' 57.2" P.A. 107 sep 5.5 mag 6.48,12.10 Sp B3V dist. 321.54 pc (1048.86 l.y.)

TDT 886 AB: 20" 667x: Extremely fine. At first it seems not split, but in best moments B stretches out and pops out from B, 0.5" and 1 delta mag. 

18h 27m 27.80s +24° 17' 10.4" P.A. 24 sep 0.5 mag 11.04,11.27

SLE 177 AB: 20" 667x: 2 delta mag wide pair, slightly blue B. 

18h 27m 07.43s +23° 05' 42.1" P.A. 186 sep 9.9 mag 10.66,12.30 Sp G0

HO 634 AB: 20" 667x: Nice light yellow-orange star with very faint B, just direct vision & wide, but obviously tied to A [not physical!] 

18h 26m 34.71s +24° 22' 12.6" P.A. 269 sep 3.3 mag 8.19,12.20 Sp K0 dist. 2500 pc (8155 l.y.)

AG 223 AB: 20" 667x: Nice white near equal, white, well split ~2.5" [not physical]

18h 27m 34.56s +24° 22' 40.0" P.A. 51 sep 2.6 mag 10.27,11.10 Sp F0

STF 2320 AB = V994 Her: 8" 667x: Seen with the 20", but used the 8" mask to clean up the images. Two delta mag, ~1" very nice pair. [eclipsing binary of Algol type--surely not seeing the eclipsing star?  In fact, both A & B each are eclipsing binaries, the first such system to be discovered in the whole sky!]
18h 27m 45.89s +24° 41' 50.8" P.A. 1 sep 0.9 mag 7.14,8.90 Sp B9V dist. 256.41 pc (836.41 l.y.)

POU 3411 AB: 8" 667x: Chain of three stars like an eyebrow, about 1 delta mag between them. AB & AC seen, with A in the middle. I noticed this asterism while observing TDT 886, it was in the same field. [not physical]

18h 27m 47.84s +24° 14' 48.9" P.A. 34 sep 9.9 mag 10.56,12.40

POU 3410 AB: 8" 667x: Seems more near equal than SkyTools data. Wide. [not physical]
18h 27m 49.26s +23° 56' 22.2" P.A. 259 sep 8.2 mag 11.60,12.00

SLE 180 AB: 20" 667x: More of an equal pair, 13th mag, than the two delta in SkyTools. 

18h 28m 06.90s +23° 59' 22.2" P.A. 247 sep 6.4 mag 13.10,13.50

POU 3532 AB: 20" 667x: Not visible with 8" so removed mask. Wide separation pair, in middle of two other stars forming a line [not physical]

18h 45m 31.49s +23° 16' 26.8" P.A. 211 sep 9.8 mag 12.29,12.40

POU 3533 AB: 20" 667x: Wide separated, half delta mag faint pair. Picked out fairly easily in crowded field. [not physical]
18h 45m 36.33s +23° 57' 28.1" P.A. 328 sep 12.5 mag 12.70,12.80

POU 3541 AB: 20" 667x: Another faint pair, easily picked out in the field, one delta mag, wide. [not physical]
18h 46m 18.80s +24° 15' 38.6" P.A. 289 sep 12.1 mag 11.65,12.53

POU 3551 AB: 20" 667x: Wide ivory and blue stars, two delta mag [not physical]

18h 47m 39.21s +24° 11' 33.9" P.A. 157 sep 7 mag 10.98,12.20 Sp K0

A 255 AB: 20" 667x: Nice pair, yellow and slightly red, wide, B is pretty faint but easily seen 

18h 48m 21.20s +25° 44' 15.5" P.A. 69 sep 4.9 mag 9.23,12.90 Sp G5

STF 2415 AB: 8" 667x: Two delta mag, ~2". Used the 8" mask to clean up the star images, but the view in the 20" was more colorful, yellow A and bluish B.
18h 54m 32.84s +20° 36' 55.1" P.A. 290 sep 2 mag 7.07,8.73 Sp A0IV dist. 194.93 pc (635.86 l.y.)