30 october 2019

The sky the last few nights have been obscured by smoke from the Kincaid Fire, and the winds which were driving it. During the worst it seemed like a dry hurricane: murky orange sky with wind and leaves and falling branches. Last night was an improvement, mostly calm at ground level, clear-ish, but upper level seeing was poor and the sky was still compromised with smoke haze. I only used the 8" mask, and even then had to keep the magnifications low (for me), 121x & 205x. Ordinarily I would just pack it in on such a poor night, but instead I pointed the scope to what seemed the darkest sky above, in eastern Cygnus, and generated a list of stars with >15" separation. Somehow some stars with less than this were included. In any case I had a good enough session. It was cut short after an hour because the power to the controller and DSC was interrupted twice, and since I didn't have batteries in the Argo I lost my alignment. Maybe the powered ground board contacts had debris or something from sitting too long, so I spun the scope around in azimuth a couple of times to free it up.

STF 2758 AB: 8" 121x:61 Cyg. Nice near equal wide orange pair, bright [18 stars in system -- if so should be an OC]
21h 06m 53.95s +38° 44' 57.9" P.A. 152.6 sep 31.78 mag 5.20,6.05 Sp K5V+K7V dist. 3.49 pc (11.38 l.y.)

STF 2762 AB: 8" 121x: V389 Cyg. A is white, quite bloated in this poor seeing night, can see three delta mag tan color B, very close split, need seeing to settle.
21h 08m 38.87s +30° 12' 20.5" P.A. 303 sep 3.4 mag 5.70,8.10 Sp B9V dist. 115.74 pc (377.54 l.y.)

SEI 1404 AB: 8" 121x: Attractive, if faint, pair, near equal, wide.
21h 06m 31.68s +36° 44' 32.6" P.A. 308 sep 24 mag 10.50,10.80

STF 2760 AB: 8" 121x: Nice pair, well split, ~4", a little more than 1 delta mag, palin white A and yellowish B. [not physical]
21h 06m 46.78s +34° 07' 56.2" P.A. 33 sep 5.3 mag 7.90,8.74 Sp A4III dist. 137.17 pc (447.45 l.y.)

SEI 1407 AB: 8" 121x: White and 3x fainter B, wide, probably 10" or more, pretty field [not physical. CTT 16 AC is 11.30 29.3" not noticed as part of the system.]
21h 07m 12.26s +36° 57' 00.6" P.A. 274 sep 13.8 mag 8.18,10.75 Sp A0 dist. 1492.54 pc (4868.67 l.y.)

ES 2060 AB: 8" 121x: Very faint, need averted vision to bring out the B star clearly, very close ~4" separation. [not physical].
21h 07m 34.85s +37° 59' 45.6" P.A. 249 sep 5.7 mag 11.51,11.10

S 779: 8" 121x: Very wide 2 delta mag, how think this is binary? [not physical]
21h 09m 08.32s +38° 43' 45.1" P.A. 9 sep 110.5 mag 7.61,9.57 Sp K2 dist. 537.63 pc (1753.75 l.y.)

SEI 1422 AB: 8" 121x: Pretty white A and orange B, 3 delta mag, well separated. [not physical]
21h 09m 52.66s +36° 59' 10.2" P.A. 330 sep 20.5 mag 8.98,10.70 Sp F8

HU 1309 AB: 8" 205x: ! Suspected at 121x, moved up to 205x to see the tremulous B star very faint next to A, very close, good view with seeing.
21h 10m 10.16s +37° 25' 46.7" P.A. 171 sep 3 mag 10.30,11.30

SEI 1429 AB: 8" 205x: Wide, 1 delta mag, unremarkable
21h 10m 27.38s +38° 51' 11.7" P.A. 351 sep 25.1 mag 9.86,11.01 Sp A2

SEI 1425 AB: 8" 205x: Nice pair, wide, more than 1 delta mag. Pretty
21h 10m 27.03s +32° 15' 28.2" P.A. 34 sep 21.4 mag 9.34,11.76 Sp G5

STT 431 AB: 8" 205x: ! Near equal yellow-white stars ~3" or a little less, nice!
21h 11m 30.87s +41° 14' 28.7" P.A. 126 sep 2.6 mag 8.80,8.99 Sp F8 dist. 102.88 pc (335.59 l.y.)

SEI 1438 AB: 8" 205x: Wide about two delta mag. Another double in field, wide near equal.
21h 11m 47.71s +32° 11' 04.0" P.A. 93 sep 22.5 mag 9.64,11.90

HAU 27 AB: 8" 205x: Blue-white stars, 3 delta mag, nice star field
21h 11m 48.53s +29° 42' 42.1" P.A. 297 sep 50 mag 6.81,10.12 Sp B5III dist. 277.01 pc (903.61 l.y.)

BUP 227 AB: 8" 205x: Zeta Cyg. Could b any number of faint wide stars about. [7 star system, not physical.]
21h 12m 56.19s +30° 13' 36.9" P.A. 205 sep 65.2 mag 3.30,11.70 Sp G8III dist. 43.88 pc (143.14 l.y.)

21 october 2019

Last night's seeing was forecast to be pretty good, but turned out it was ok from 9pm to 10pm but then it was lost. Continued to be plagued with poor transparency, with a low light fog in the air. Tried my best, but only observed for ninety minutes. All the same, a couple of nice finds.

Also I really need to do my Super Calibration on the Argo. I find myself passing over fainter pairs so I could land on a brighter star, since I know I need to adjust my slew slightly in order to find the target star. If my pointing accuracy would reliably land a target in my tiny 0.15* FOV, then I would have confidence to slew to non-obvious and faint pairs...

STT 454 AB: 20" 533x: Bright white A and about 3 delta mag bluish B, pair, ~7"
21h 56m 04.91s +24° 20' 23.6" P.A. 278 sep 7.4 mag 7.97,10.04 Sp A0 dist. 271.74 pc (886.42 l.y.)

A 303 AB: 20" 533x: ! Slightly orange A star and very faint blue B, ~4", just seen direct vision. Very nice.
21h 55m 29.91s +27° 23' 35.6" P.A. 52 sep 2.3 mag 9.22,11.63 Sp G5 dist. 207.47 pc (676.77 l.y.)

ES 526 AB: 20" 533x: Light orange A star and B noticed with averted vison, flashes out clearly. Suspected with direct vision but not steady. Pretty wide ~7"
21h 56m 32.33s +26° 13' 04.1" P.A. 95 sep 9.6 mag 9.25,13.40 Sp K7

TDT3270 AB: 20" 1067x: Poor transparency hurting me, but in the elongated haze two separate points flash momentarily, very brief and very small, hairline.
21h 58m 43.85s +22° 57' 57.9" P.A. 270 sep 0.5 mag 10.81,10.87

J 2365 AB: 20" 533x: Pretty, near equal white stars ~6".
22h 10m 48.95s +21° 51' 18.9" P.A. 261 sep 5.5 mag 11.52,11.50

HO 294 AB: 20" 533x: ! When I first viewed the seeing was very rough, but after a couple of minutes it settled down so I could see a beautiful orange-yellow star resolved with a very faint reddish B ~3", nice hard points.
22h 37m 35.20s +27° 26' 22.8" P.A. 59 sep 1.9 mag 8.20,10.98 Sp F6V dist. 113.25 pc (369.42 l.y.)

TDT3670 AB, 20" 533x: Faint pair less than half delta mag, ~3"
22h 42m 48.92s +13° 30' 52.4" P.A. 309 sep 2.3 mag 11.44,11.80

STF 2941 AB: 20" 533x: Very pretty yellow and blue stars, ~3 delta mag, wide [not physical]
22h 45m 58.41s +19° 15' 00.9" P.A. 258 sep 14.8 mag 7.62,10.36 Sp K0

BRT2509 AB: 20" 533x: Near equal faint pair, ~5". Nice.
22h 49m 52.44s +19° 20' 10.3" P.A. 208 sep 4.5 mag 10.90,11.10

TDT 3774 AB: 20" 1067x: Very moderately elongated, but marginal since seeing is not holding up
22h 54m 08.44s +22° 36' 21.9" P.A. 281 sep 0.4 mag 9.65,9.82 Sp K2

20 october 2019

Observed last night with the 20" from about 8:30pm to 11:30pm. It gets dark enough now early that I can have good solid times to observe. Transparency was on the low end as seems to be typical now. Seeing started off pretty decent at 7/10 but actually improved to 8-9/10 after 10:15pm or so, and I was able to capture some pretty close pairs. A satisfying session, and I was able to use full aperture throughout. Very unfortunately I needed to wrap up since it was a work night; someday I'll not have to.

HJ 938 AB: 20" 333x: Orange star and widely separated B, only noticed with averted vision, then can briefly hold direct. [not physical]
21h 36m 25.16s +07° 52' 58.6" P.A. 123 sep 11.4 mag 7.80,11.80 Sp K2 dist. 142.45 pc (464.67 l.y.)

STT 443 AB: 20" 333x: Nice near equal pair, very light orange color stars, wide separation
21h 37m 37.05s +06° 42' 36.1" P.A. 349 sep 8.3 mag 9.47,9.67 Sp K2

ROE 128 AB: 20" 533x: Noticed as double @ 333x, but increased magnification to 533x for definitive split. Faint pair, one edge of direct vision for tonight's poor transparency, very close, about one delta mag, definite clean split >1"
21h 39m 07.47s +12° 51' 43.7" P.A. 264 sep 1.4 mag 10.50,10.80

AG 419 AB: 20" 533x: Light orange pair, about half delta mag and 5", rather pretty
21h 39m 55.27s +14° 27' 05.2" P.A. 223 sep 3.8 mag 9.70,10.50 Sp F8

HO 465 AB: 20" 533x: A is a pretty white-yellow star and the B and C pair are half delta mag, a little wide, though the two together are close. A is certainly not round with a PA slightly off perpendicular to the B and C position angle. viewed at twenty, five and barlow.
21h 46m 28.79s +22° 10' 28.1" P.A. 247 sep 44.7 mag 7.09,11.50 Sp A7IV dist. 167.22 pc (545.47 l.y.)

HDS 3101 Aa,Ab: 20" 1067x: A is certainly not round with a PA slightly off perpendicular to the B and C position angle.
21h 46m 28.79s +22° 10' 28.1" P.A. 18 sep 0.2 mag 7.24,9.59 Sp A7IV dist. 167.22 pc (545.47 l.y.)

BRT 2500 AB: 20" 533x: Easy pair, half delta mag, ~5" [not physical]
21h 48m 45.97s +21° 43' 36.8" P.A. 243 sep 4.6 mag 11.20,11.70

COU 14 AB: 20" 1067x: = 13 Peg. Out of round to notched, one fainter than the other, jittery but there. Used apodizing mask to settle diffraction.
21h 50m 08.64s +17° 17' 09.4" P.A. 207.8 sep 0.21 mag 5.74,6.94 Sp F2III-IV dist. 33.42 pc (109.02 l.y.)

WSI 24 AB: 20" 533x: Easy pair, wide, about one delta mag, one light orange other light blue color
21h 51m 22.68s +19° 15' 58.9" P.A. 24 sep 14.2 mag 10.60,10.90

BRT 2501 AB: 20" 533x: Two white stars ~5" and half delta mag [not physical]
21h 51m 37.79s +21° 34' 28.5" P.A. 324 sep 5.2 mag 10.60,10.70

HO 173 AB: 20" 533x: ! Very fine pair, almost one delta mag, very close but nicely split, <1", quite a sight
21h 55m 17.17s +18° 43' 11.7" P.A. 73 sep 0.9 mag 10.34,10.63

STT 452 AB: 20" 533x: ! Noticed split immediately, white stars, half delta mag, very cool split.
21h 55m 40.01s +07° 15' 13.9" P.A. 177 sep 0.8 mag 9.04,9.63 Sp F8 dist. 189.04 pc (616.65 l.y.)

STF 2848 AB: 20" 533x: Wide, bright white stars, half delta mag, ~10"
21h 58m 01.45s +05° 56' 25.3" P.A. 57 sep 10.9 mag 7.21,7.73 Sp Am+F2V dist. 625 pc (2038.75 l.y.)

A 304 AB: 20" 533x: ! Most definite clean split of one delta mag stars, very nice disks
21h 58m 30.37s +27° 24' 34.6" P.A. 131 sep 0.6 mag 9.52,9.33 Sp A2

STF 2850: 20" 533x: = OU Peg. ! Very beautiful pair, rich orange and blue, well separated, four or five delta mag.
21h 59m 49.60s +23° 56' 27.4" P.A. 264 sep 2.8 mag 7.00,11.00 Sp M5 dist. 621.12 pc (2026.09 l.y.)

HO 610 AB: 20" 533x: ! Superfine, split nicely, ~0.7", half delta mag. [three other wider >12th mag pairs not seen]
22h 02m 00.73s +26° 50' 46.6" P.A. 240 sep 0.7 mag 10.07,10.25 Sp G0

BRT 2840 AB: 20" 533x: Faint, about one delta mag, ~2", near another near equal pair
22h 06m 08.43s +20° 33' 57.6" P.A. 316 sep 2.4 mag 10.00,10.70

COU 136 AB: 20" 1067x: ! Awesome hairline at 533x, nice clean split at 1067x. The stars are split the diffraction patters merge at the boarders, perfect images. Appears more near equal than SkyTools data suggests.
22h 10m 02.22s +23° 07' 33.0" P.A. 17.1 sep 0.45 mag 9.20,7.56 Sp F6IV dist. 93.81 pc (306.01 l.y.)

CHR 106 AB: 20" 533x: SkyTools does not give a magnitude for the 0.5" paring, and none visible with 533x (with apodizing mask). suspect some error in data or maybe a k band [WDS note says "X Dubious double]
22h 10m 18.96s +19° 36' 59.6" P.A. 9 sep 0.5 mag 6.18, Sp G0V dist. 59.24 pc (193.24 l.y.)

EGG 4 AB: 20" 533x: Easy split, noticed right away, a bit more near equal magnitudes than SkyTools data.
22h 10m 57.51s +24° 29' 19.0" P.A. 150 sep 0.7 mag 9.48,9.37 Sp F7Vwe dist. 154.32 pc (503.39 l.y.)

MLB 723 AB: 20" 533x: Easy, if a bit faint; ~2" and one delta mag
22h 12m 00.90s +25° 46' 28.7" P.A. 339 sep 2.3 mag 10.00,10.50

HJ 958 AB: 20" 533x: Pretty one delta mag pair, wide separation. [High proper motion star]
22h 13m 09.96s +21° 47' 40.6" P.A. 233 sep 5.8 mag 9.89,10.64 Sp F8+G5

AG 281 AB: 20" 533x: Easy 1.5 delta mag, ~<3", slightly bluish stars
22h 14m 49.53s +21° 56' 59.3" P.A. 19 sep 2.7 mag 9.42,10.45 Sp F2 dist. 166.39 pc (542.76 l.y.)

COU 138 AB: 20" 533x: ! Wonderful faint pair, ~2" and two delta mag, very fine. Almost need averted vision but not quite.
22h 15m 16.25s +23° 53' 39.5" P.A. 37 sep 1.5 mag 11.44,11.90

TDT 3436 AB: 20" 1067x: Seems to stretch to N-S elongation but very marginal
22h 16m 17.12s +25° 46' 35.2" P.A. 186 sep 0.5 mag 10.62,10.79

HU 383 AB: 20" 1067x: ! Suspected split with 533x, but no question of split at 1067x, very nice split near equal stars.
22h 19m 36.43s +21° 07' 00.6" P.A. 27 sep 0.4 mag 9.91,10.07 Sp F5

13 october 2019

Last night had very poor conditions: 4/10 seeing and 2/5 transparency, with a just past full moon lighting it up so the whole sky was milky white. My limiting magnitude through the 8" mask was a mere 9th magnitude! But I had nothing better to do except make the most of it. It was cold, but no dew (I heard on the radio the air is 0% humidity!); I observed for an hour and a half. I was a bit tired, since I took delivery of our winter's supply of wood and split and stacked it in the afternoon.

BU 65 AB 8" 533x: = 13 Del. Suspected at 333x, went up to 533x. The B star seems much fainter than SkyTools data; about 3 delta mag, and seen only when seeing is still as a blue point just outside first diffraction. ~1.5"
20h 47m 48.33s +06° 00' 29.5" P.A. 199 sep 1.5 mag 5.64,8.24 Sp A0V dist. 131.41 pc (428.66 l.y.)

HJ 1577 AB: 8" 533x: Can easily see the wide split and seems a bit more than 1 delta mag
20h 49m 54.46s +12° 55' 08.1" P.A. 246 sep 9.4 mag 8.91,9.40 Sp G0

STF 2730 AB 8" 533x: Near equal, fairly wide, white stars ~4"
20h 51m 03.77s +06° 23' 14.1" P.A. 334 sep 3.4 mag 8.43,8.57 Sp K1III

A 613 AB: 8" 533x: Getting the briefest hairline split, but this one is very marginal seeing is a problem
20h 51m 54.49s +05° 44' 29.5" P.A. 316.8 sep 0.6 mag 9.10,9.03 Sp F5

BAL 2548 AB: 8" 533x: Easy to pick out ~8" wide, near equal white stars
20h 53m 40.87s +03° 35' 38.5" P.A. 258 sep 7.5 mag 9.90,10.85 Sp G5

STF 2736 AB 8" 533x: Pretty wide, ~5", 1.5 delta mag, very light orange and blue
20h 56m 43.74s +12° 59' 33.8" P.A. 219 sep 5.3 mag 8.34,9.36 Sp F2 dist. 294.99 pc (962.26 l.y.)

STF 2738 AB: 8" 533x: Easy wide pair, A is yellowish, B white, wide, 1 delta mag. [not physical]
20h 58m 32.23s +16° 26' 12.2" P.A. 254 sep 15 mag 7.51,8.57 Sp F5V+A0 dist. 100.4 pc (327.5 l.y.)

STF 2797 AB 8" 533x: = KP Peg. Light yellow A and ~4", 1.5 delta mag orange B
21h 26m 41.14s +13° 41' 17.8" P.A. 217 sep 3.5 mag 7.37,8.83 Sp A2V dist. 221.73 pc (723.28 l.y.)

STF 2799 AB: 8" 533x: Very nice pair, only slightly unequal, ~3"
21h 28m 52.79s +11° 05' 05.2" P.A. 257.7 sep 1.89 mag 7.37,7.44 Sp F4V dist. 105.04 pc (342.64 l.y.)

BU 74 AB: 8" 533x: Light orange A star with a very, very faint B, barely split, elongated with averted vision. Can split only when seeing settles at the same time I'm flashing averted vision.
21h 35m 11.99s +21° 24' 14.9" P.A. 338 sep 1 mag 7.45,9.05 Sp F5V dist. 85.18 pc (277.86 l.y.)

STF 2818 AB 8" 533x: Very wide two delta mag. meh. [Need to try this again, Aa-Ab is LBU 2, 9.5 & 0.9"]
21h 41m 59.91s +18° 56' 19.7" P.A. 24 sep 26.8 mag 7.38,10.24 Sp G7III dist. 179.86 pc (586.7 l.y.)

STF 2824 AB-C: 8" 533x: = Kappa Peg Pretty pale yellow A star, bright, with 6 delta mag B wide and clean, small blue dot no diffraction spikes [Did not see BU 989 AB, 5.04 0.2"]
21h 44m 38.70s +25° 38' 42.0" P.A. 288 sep 14.5 mag 4.13,10.80 Sp F5IV dist. 34.22 pc (111.63 l.y.)

AG 276 AB: 8" 533x: A bit hazy but no question, ~2", 1 delta mag, light blue [not physical]
21h 45m 30.71s +21° 56' 23.8" P.A. 2 sep 2 mag 9.62,9.99 Sp F8

STF 2834 AB: 8" 533x: Can see the B star with averted vision at 4" sep but cannot get it with direct vision.
21h 51m 40.18s +19° 18' 25.0" P.A. 298 sep 4.2 mag 6.93,9.89 Sp F5IV dist. 91.91 pc (299.81 l.y.)

BU 75 AB: 8" 533x: With patience for poor conditions and some critical focus I get a good clean split, slightly unequal
21h 55m 31.42s +10° 52' 49.5" P.A. 26.4 sep 1.09 mag 8.40,8.56 Sp G5 dist. 47.78 pc (155.86 l.y.)

STF 2868 AB: 8: 533x: Very brief moment of clean split with seeing, slightly unequal.
22h 09m 22.01s +22° 32' 46.6" P.A. 352 sep 1.1 mag 8.87,9.38 Sp F4III dist. 237.53 pc (774.82 l.y.)

STF 2878 AB 8" 533x: Nice pair, ~1.5", about 1 delta mag
22h 14m 29.18s +07° 58' 34.2" P.A. 116 sep 1.6 mag 6.94,8.11 Sp B9IV dist. 224.22 pc (731.41 l.y.)

HJ 962 AB 8" 533x: = 30 Peg White and blue stars about five delta mag, wide separation
22h 20m 27.56s +05° 47' 22.2" P.A. 17 sep 6.4 mag 5.36,11.50 Sp B5IV dist. 390.63 pc (1274.24 l.y.)

STF 2915 AB 8" 533x: Easy wide slightly unequal pair
22h 32m 33.93s +07° 25' 05.5" P.A. 125 sep 15.2 mag 9.46,9.52 Sp F6IV+F4IV dist. 83.06 pc (270.94 l.y.)

STF 2920 AB 8" 533x: Easy, wide, about 2 delta mag, blue-white stars
22h 34m 31.58s +04° 13' 20.6" P.A. 144 sep 13.7 mag 7.55,8.85 Sp B9.5V dist. 89.13 pc (290.74 l.y.)

STF 2958 AB: 8" 533x: White A and fairly faint bluish B, 3 detla mag ~4".
22h 56m 51.47s +11° 50' 54.0" P.A. 15 sep 4 mag 6.63,9.09 Sp A3Vs dist. 98.81 pc (322.32 l.y.)

9 october 2019

The night was nearly a total bust. Very poor seeing and bad transparency from a marine haze. There was not much ground wind but seems the atmosphere above was very turbulent, likely the winds which caused PG&E to shut off power for much of Northern California to forestall wildfires. I had a few satisfying observations of a double stars. There was a lot I skipped over since I couldn't even satisfactorily observe 9th magnitude stars, with a nearly full moon up. I tried the moon at the end but backed off magnification all the way to 87x, and basically looked at the ray patterns with an orange filter. The view is still hurt by poor transparency; don't let anyone fool you that transparency doesn't matter with the moon, or anything else.

STF 2583 AB Pi Aql 8" 205x Pretty yellow-orange A and a little more than 1 delta mag pale blue B, ~1", yet neatly separated.
19h 48m 42.05s +11° 48' 57.3" P.A. 106 sep 1.4 mag 6.34,6.75 Sp A3V+F9III dist. 157.73 pc (514.52 l.y.)

STF 2587 AB 8" 205x" Bright orange A star and faint bluish grey B which appears when seeing stills a fine point, ~4.5" [not physical]
19h 51m 26.83s +04° 05' 19.1" P.A. 99 sep 5 mag 6.71,9.42 Sp A5V+K2III dist. 763.36 pc (2490.08 l.y.)

V1466 Aql = 19523+1021AB 8" 205x: Nice white star with faint but steadily seen wide B. Nice pair

A 1660 AB-C: 8" 333x: Too tough for this night. Suspect with 205x, @ 333x I have strong sense of elongation but its all a haze, seeing not allow higher magnification. [AB is 0.2"! Very much worth trying with the 20" HD 354044
19h 52m 53.17s +14° 25' 07.7" P.A. 203 sep 0.7 mag 10.24,10.32 Sp F2

A 1663 AB: 8" 333x: Clean split, equal, can see disks with seeing. best seeing of the night
19h 57m 34.28s +15° 24' 21.5" P.A. 237 sep 1.3 mag 8.89,9.25 Sp F5

STF 2644 AB: 8" 333x: Close white stars, near equal, ~2.5"
20h 12m 35.09s +00° 52' 00.2" P.A. 206 sep 2.6 mag 6.92,7.06 Sp B9p dist. 180.51 pc (588.82 l.y.)

5 october 2019

Last night's seeing started out mediocre, so I used the 8" mask. After an hour or so it improved so I went full aperture. Despite a quarter moon and the usual marine haze, I made some really fine observations, which was great. Long session, too, from 9pm lasting until 12:30am. I could have kept going through the tiredness but needed to get up a little early the next morning. I dropped my barlow during the night, and it made a distressing clatter when it hit the edge of the telescope's concrete pad, but seems ok, fortunately. Cloudy tonight so I can find time to write these up:

A 2787 AB: 8" 333x: Seeing disappointingly bad, and transparency too... This one seen right away, 1 delta mag and about 4". Nice stars. [not physical]

19h 35m 47.31s +23° 33' 50.1" P.A. 111 sep 3.9 mag 9.90,11.40 Sp A0

STF 2548 AB: 8" 333x: Obvious pair, 1.5 delta mag ~10".

19h 36m 28.51s +25° 00' 04.4" P.A. 100 sep 9.4 mag 8.47,9.85 Sp A1V

STF 2551 AB: 8" 333x: Half delta mag, about 7", may be part of triple with very wide 1 more magnitude fainter C about 60 degrees away from B.

19h 37m 23.23s +22° 48' 51.0" P.A. 42 sep 6.8 mag 9.69,10.53 Sp F5

BRT 198: 8" 333x: Nice picked out if field between two other stars, middle of a string. B can be seen direct but best with some indirect vision. 1.5 delta mag, wide sept about 3"

19h 40m 06.65s +25° 15' 33.7" P.A. 154 sep 5.1 mag 10.19,11.60 Sp A2

A 272 AB: 8" 333x: ! Wow, I get the split, very close but split, obvious difference in magnitude, about 1 delta mag. Less than 1" sep. Impressed i could get it [CD is 15th mag and 1"!]

19h 40m 09.48s +26° 11' 23.4" P.A. 193 sep 1.3 mag 9.77,10.45 Sp A0

A 166 AB: 8" 333x: Close pair, 1/2 delta mag, elongates and splits with seeing. nice at this magnification.

19h 40m 10.51s +23° 30' 43.1" P.A. 241 sep 0.9 mag 9.24,9.54 Sp F2

A 2788 AB: 8" 533x: Elongated is the best I can get

19h 40m 19.26s +22° 50' 11.0" P.A. 328 sep 1.3 mag 9.79,10.90 Sp F2

STF 2577 AB: 8" 333x: Wide, one and half delta mag, light orange and blue stars 

19h 45m 12.27s +20° 54' 50.3" P.A. 262 sep 6 mag 8.43,9.56 Sp K0

DOO 11 AB: 8" 533x: Pretty pair of blue stars, one delta mag, 3" sep. Very nice! [not physical]

19h 48m 21.40s +24° 52' 56.8" P.A. 281 sep 2.8 mag 9.98,10.87 Sp K7

STF 2586 AB: 8" 533x: White and light blue, wide ~5", 1.5 delta mag 

19h 48m 34.30s +24° 57' 43.9" P.A. 226 sep 3.8 mag 7.56,9.28 Sp B8V dist. 358.42 pc (1169.17 l.y.)

KU 123 AB: Wide pair, one delta mag, bluish color [not physical] 

19h 48m 42.71s +25° 48' 28.4" P.A. 298 sep 21.6 mag 9.40,11.02 Sp M0

STF 2861 AB: 8" 533x: Pretty wide, magnitude is about half delta mag, not the full 1 delta mag as in SkyTools

22h 06m 01.25s +20° 48' 12.4" P.A. 221 sep 7.1 mag 8.14,8.64 Sp A4V dist. 187.62 pc (612.02 l.y.)

BRT 2527 AB: 8" 553x: Faint, pretty wide one delta mag bluish stars 

22h 10m 26.91s +19° 24' 34.8" P.A. 11 sep 5.6 mag 9.40,11.40 Sp A2

STF 2908 AB: 8: 533x: Yellow-orange and blue stars, wide, two delta mag 

22h 28m 11.55s +17° 15' 47.9" P.A. 114 sep 9 mag 7.74,9.68 Sp G9III dist. 462.96 pc (1510.18 l.y.)

STF 2910 AB: 20" 533x: White stars, one tinged with yellow the other orange, 1 delta mag, wide.

22h 28m 13.25s +23° 31' 57.2" P.A. 332 sep 5.8 mag 9.05,9.67 Sp K0IV dist. 51.71 pc (168.68 l.y.)

HO 475 AB: 20" 533x: Great! two plus one it must be. Tight near equal very well split, ~1", and another star about 1.5 fainter, rather wide about ten (AC).

22h 32m 45.51s +26° 24' 32.7" P.A. 306 sep 1.1 mag 9.34,9.62 Sp F5

COU 141 AB: 20" 533x Faint pair nicely split plenty of space. More near equal than one delta mag as in Sky Tools.

22h 34m 23.57s +25° 13' 58.4" P.A. 207 sep 1.5 mag 10.00,10.00

HU 982 AB: 20" 1067x: Persistent elongation at 533x and with barlow at 1067x. No resolution through, maybe an instant of notching 

22h 35m 12.10s +14° 36' 37.9" P.A. 219 sep 0.6 mag 7.81,9.40 Sp K2 dist. 347.22 pc (1132.63 l.y.)

STF 2934 AB: 20" 533x: 1.5 delta mag, well split, ~1.5", bluish white stars 

22h 41m 51.68s +21° 25' 53.0" P.A. 52.8 sep 1.38 mag 8.64,9.55 Sp G0 dist. 88.11 pc (287.41 l.y.)

TDT3676 AB: 20" 533x: Very faint, B on edge of direct vision, tightens up with critical focus as a blue dot, ~2.5" from A. 

22h 43m 13.03s +19° 12' 55.1" P.A. 349 sep 2 mag 10.01,11.61

HJ 301 AB: 20" 553x: Xi Peg. Picked out very faint B right away, a point in the glow but not the glare of the A star, and not in diffraction splike either.

22h 46m 41.58s +12° 10' 22.4" P.A. 94 sep 11.1 mag 4.20,12.40 Sp F7V+M2V dist. 16.3 pc (53.17 l.y.)

HU 985 AB: 20" 533x: ! Wow I got it! Light orange star and a very faint star just outside first diffraction, very subtle and tough

22h 47m 54.00s +12° 58' 36.2" P.A. 134.3 sep 0.66 mag 9.60,9.88 Sp G5

TDT3712 AB: 20" 533x: Faint, near equal, ~2". Very fine 

22h 48m 11.13s +18° 58' 10.3" P.A. 168 sep 1.8 mag 11.00,11.34

BU 847 AB: 20" 533x: 1 delta mag, ~7", nice pair 

22h 54m 36.61s +20° 19' 59.1" P.A. 36 sep 6.9 mag 9.03,10.36 Sp G5 dist. 64.89 pc (211.67 l.y.)

J 621 AB: 20" 533x: Faint near equal ~2", may be part of 2+1 system with 2x fainter star about 10" at near right angle (this is the AC pair).

22h 54m 45.21s +18° 11' 34.3" P.A. 145 sep 2.3 mag 12.61,12.74

HU 987 AB: 20" 533x: 20" 533x: Well separated one delta mag pair, nice 

22h 55m 43.52s +15° 46' 45.5" P.A. 75.9 sep 1.17 mag 9.23,9.73 Sp G5 dist. 72.99 pc (238.09 l.y.)

HEI 89 AB: 20" 533x: ! Very fine pair, very pretty not really that equal magnitude, ~2" 

23h 21m 23.99s +16° 22' 00.4" P.A. 68 sep 1.2 mag 10.49,10.85

J23228+1843A 20" 533x: Faint pair, wide, about half delta mag.

STF 3007 AB: 20" 533x: Yellow-white A and a bit orange B, ~6" and three delta mag, nice pair [Ba,Bb is TOK 704, 8.4 and 0.8", should have been noticeable! try again!]

23h 22m 48.67s +20° 33' 32.2" P.A. 94.8 sep 5.82 mag 6.74,9.78 Sp G2V+dK6 dist. 37.38 pc (121.93 l.y.)

STF 3021 AB: 20" 533x: Yellow and blue, two delta mag, wide 

23h 31m 24.65s +16° 13' 07.6" P.A. 308 sep 8.7 mag 8.06,9.26 Sp F8 dist. 220.26 pc (718.49 l.y.)

COU 243 AB: 20" 533x: Fine but definitely nicely split, a little different in mag, white stars

23h 31m 50.88s +21° 48' 15.2" P.A. 343 sep 0.9 mag 9.73,10.34 Sp G0

STF 3023 AB 20" 533x: White A and slightly red B, pretty well separated for 1.5" given the resolution of this scope.

23h 32m 24.68s +17° 24' 15.1" P.A. 280 sep 1.8 mag 7.23,9.11 Sp F4IV dist. 153.14 pc (499.54 l.y.)

STT 503 AB: 20" 533x: Near equal white stars, nicely separated, ~1"

23h 42m 02.13s +20° 17' 47.3" P.A. 134 sep 1 mag 8.26,8.63 Sp F8 dist. 108.46 pc (353.8 l.y.)

STT 504: 20" 533x: Yellow and blue stars, nicely wide separated, pretty 

23h 42m 31.33s +18° 39' 59.3" P.A. 176 sep 7.7 mag 7.39,10.33 Sp K0 dist. 202.02 pc (658.99 l.y.)

HEI 196 AB 20" 533x: Very fine pair, more near equal though noticiable difference in mag, well split but less than 1" 

23h 43m 25.34s +16° 52' 37.4" P.A. 166 sep 0.8 mag 10.62,11.17

STT 505: 20" 533x: Yellow A and kind of dull white-blue B, two delta mag, ~2.5"

23h 45m 29.33s +20° 24' 55.6" P.A. 60 sep 2.4 mag 6.75,9.61 Sp G8III dist. 159.24 pc (519.44 l.y.)

EGB 8 AB: 20" 533x: Near equal white ~1"

23h 46m 31.40s +17° 05' 13.0" P.A. 86 sep 1.2 mag 9.51,9.68 Sp F8 dist. 155.76 pc (508.09 l.y.)

TDT 4190 AB: 20" 533x: ! Amazing I got the split at 533x only, clean split, near equal, light orange stars. 

23h 46m 58.42s +17° 25' 51.2" P.A. 34 sep 0.6 mag 10.25,10.31 Sp F8

J 300 AB: 20" 533x: Half detla mag, wide, ~3-4"

23h 47m 02.62s +16° 15' 15.5" P.A. 15 sep 3.5 mag 10.60,11.10 Sp F5

HEI 91 AB: 20" 533x: ! Wow B star emerges with perfect seeing only, just within where A's diffraction ring was -- seeing needs to be so good the ring all but disappears, otherwise the ring would hide it. Great. 

23h 48m 38.11s +16° 21' 36.4" P.A. 153 sep 0.7 mag 10.10,11.90

BRT2518 AB: 20" 533x: Faint equal pair, blue, ~2.5" 

23h 56m 38.36s +18° 55' 14.2" P.A. 308 sep 3.2 mag 12.00,12.20

4 october 2019

Last night had pretty poor conditions: thin clouds, mediocre seeing. But I opened up anyway in case things improved. They didn't much, but I'm surprised that I still had a rewarding session with several neat observations. I used the 8" throughout, removing it once in a while to spot and confirm a faint secondary star. I used my 5mm eyepiece throughout, since it is my "detection" eyepiece -- getting used to the field and the separation it provides. It was dewy but I used the dew controller to manage it. Observed from around 9pm to 11pm. Saw the possum walk along the back fence again.

STF 2596 AB: 8" 553x: Orange pair with 2 delta mag companion, about 2", well split.

19h 54m 01.95s +15° 17' 31.7" P.A. 297 sep 2.1 mag 7.29,8.68 Sp F8V dist. 82.58 pc (269.38 l.y.)

STF 2613 AB: 8" 553x: Easy pair, wide, 1 delta mag light orange color, 4". 

20h 01m 26.66s +10° 44' 54.8" P.A. 352.1 sep 4.14 mag 7.48,8.02 Sp F5V+F5V dist. 80.58 pc (262.85 l.y.)

STF 2616: 8" 553x: Pretty orange and blue pair, well separated about 2 delta mag. B very faint in 8", but know is there. With 20" easily seen as a brighter star. Nice pair
20h 02m 46.04s +14° 34' 57.7" P.A. 268 sep 3.4 mag 6.85,9.64 Sp K0 dist. 483.09 pc (1575.84 l.y.)

STF 2618 AB: 8" 553x: Near equal, whiteish blue stars, wide. Nice
20h 03m 26.98s +15° 28' 14.4" P.A. 115 sep 5.6 mag 9.41,9.77 Sp A0

A 1194 AB: 8" 553x: Near equal bluish-white (seems nearly all 9th magnitude stars appear bluish white in my 8"). Cleanly split with seeing, 1". 

20h 03m 59.56s +12° 21' 23.8" P.A. 317 sep 1.1 mag 9.53,9.70 Sp F8V

STF 2620 AB: 8" 553x: Almost 2 delta mag, ~1.5" easily split pair, nice. [Eclipsing binary]

20h 04m 09.25s +11° 47' 40.3" P.A. 287 sep 1.9 mag 8.23,9.18 Sp B9 dist. 4347.83 pc (14182.62 l.y.)

STF 2621 AB: 8" 553x: More equal than SkyTools data shows, one is orange and the other blue. Maybe the orange star is variable. Wide separation, another nice pair 

20h 04m 34.52s +09° 14' 24.2" P.A. 224 sep 5.7 mag 8.36,8.62 Sp B8V+A1V dist. 228.83 pc (746.44 l.y.)

BU 57 AB: 8" 553x: = V1472 Aql: At 8" the B appears as a suspected brightening in the diffraction, whitish to the A star's orange. At 20" the B star is obvious and blue a nice sharp point ~2.5"

20h 05m 26.53s +15° 30' 01.3" P.A. 120 sep 2.6 mag 6.60,11.00 Sp M2.5III dist. 126.26 pc (411.86 l.y.)

J20065+1253A 8" 553x: Well seen with 8", wide but pretty faint. Not too hard to see the faint B since it's so wide

BU 428 AB: 8" 553x: Definite hard split with 20", slightly yellow A and yellow-orange B star. With 8" the B is more a round haze snowman-to-hairline split with seeing. 

20h 06m 43.37s +12° 56' 12.1" P.A. 356 sep 0.8 mag 7.55,9.13 Sp F4III

BRT 1336 AB: 8" 553x: Easy wide split about half delta mag, stars appear blue
20h 07m 00.13s +12° 20' 16.8" P.A. 292 sep 5.5 mag 9.90,10.85 Sp A0III

STF 2629 AB: 8" 553x: White and rather strikingly blue star (and I don't think it's blue because it's faint), wide separation, 2 delta mag.

20h 07m 20.78s +16° 04' 34.7" P.A. 188 sep 9 mag 7.63,10.61 Sp B9IV dist. 1000 pc (3262 l.y.)

STF 2628 AB: 8" 553x: Nice, very pretty white and light orange B star, 3 delta mag, wide separation. Very pretty pair.
20h 07m 50.37s +09° 23' 59.4" P.A. 338 sep 3 mag 6.60,8.66 Sp F3V dist. 39.37 pc (128.42 l.y.)

STF 2742 AB: 8" 553x: = Lam Equ Sky Tools says 1 delta mag but these are near equal, white, wide 3" separation.
21h 02m 12.51s +07° 10' 47.3" P.A. 215 sep 2.9 mag 7.41,7.64 Sp F8 dist. 80.97 pc (264.12 l.y.)

STF 2749 AC: 8" 553x: Pretty yellow A and slightly red B, about 2 delta mag, wide about 3" [several other pairs in system]
21h 04m 45.11s +03° 32' 02.0" P.A. 177 sep 3.4 mag 8.06,9.36 Sp G0 dist. 81.83 pc (266.93 l.y.)

STF 2765 AB: 8" 553x: White, more equal than the 1 delta mag Sky Tools has, about 3" sep. [AC 14th mag not seen]
21h 10m 59.31s +09° 32' 57.9" P.A. 79 sep 2.8 mag 8.47,8.50 Sp A3IV dist. 151.98 pc (495.76 l.y.)

BU 163 AB: 8" 553x: Can resolve in 20" and once know where B is, can split with 8", but B is much fainter and is more a brightening in the first diffraction than at star [Several other fainter pairs]

21h 18m 34.85s +11° 34' 08.2" P.A. 77.4 sep 0.92 mag 7.31,8.88 Sp G0V+G6V dist. 47.66 pc (155.47 l.y.)

STF 2786 AB: 8" 553x: Sharp white and B is about 1 delta mag and duller, almost bluish. 

21h 19m 39.36s +09° 31' 30.3" P.A. 189 sep 2.8 mag 7.49,8.20 Sp A3IV dist. 185.53 pc (605.2 l.y.)

BRT1355 AB: 8" 553x: Picked out right away with 8" but B is better seen with averted vision, flashed better into view. 

21h 22m 25.59s +11° 11' 01.4" P.A. 194 sep 3.9 mag 11.50,12.50

STF 2767 AB: 8" 553x: Nice and sharp near equal (not the 1 delta mag Sky Tools has), well separated ~4"
21h 10m 30.43s +19° 57' 35.7" P.A. 29 sep 2.5 mag 8.19,8.47 Sp F4V dist. 181.82 pc (593.1 l.y.)

J21297+1719A 8" 553x: Elongated and notched with seeing, helped brighten the components with averted vision. Didn't try higher power due to seeing.

STF 2804 AB: 8" 553x: Nice light orange and light blue, sharp, 1 delta mag 3". pretty.

21h 32m 58.30s +20° 42' 44.5" P.A. 1 sep 3.7 mag 7.70,8.04 Sp F5V dist. 56.53 pc (184.4 l.y.)

STT 445 AB: 8" 553x: Obvious elongation and would split if transparency were better, but as is the bloated diffractions bleed into each other, so more notched than split. 

21h 39m 19.03s +20° 43' 17.8" P.A. 121 sep 1 mag 9.54,9.87 Sp A2

AG 277 AB: 8" 553x: Easy, seems half or more delta mag than the point two in Sky Tools, wide about 3". [not physical]

21h 46m 04.21s +21° 11' 12.2" P.A. 62 sep 2.7 mag 9.89,9.99 Sp G5

STF 2841 A-BC: 8" 553x: Very wide 2 delta mag pair, white and light blue [COU 432 is the AB, 0.1" near equal, was 0.2" at discovery!]

21h 54m 17.44s +19° 43' 05.3" P.A. 110 sep 22.4 mag 6.45,7.99 Sp K0III+F7V dist. 102.99 pc (335.95 l.y.)

STF 2854 AB: 8" 553x: Striking pair, more near equal then 1 delta mag in Sky Tools. 2", white. Very nice. 

22h 04m 22.52s +13° 38' 53.4" P.A. 84 sep 1.5 mag 7.77,7.89 Sp F6V dist. 72.1 pc (235.19 l.y.)

HD 210407: 8" 553x: Need averted vision to bring out B, but it splits even with such odd viewing.

STF 2905 AB: 8" 553x: Nice near equal about 3", pretty. [not physical]
22h 27m 12.81s +15° 09' 12.8" P.A. 285 sep 3.4 mag 9.28,9.34 Sp G1V