busy day

The 23rd was full of astronomical activity:

After lunch I checked the NASA solar website and noticed there were some nice prominences out, so I grabbed my PST and had a satisfying look at one particularly large one, shaped like a fountain with a very focused point and spreading out in a fan, the ejecta raining down on either side.

At dusk I saw a fairly close (I guess around three degrees) conjunction of Jupiter and Venus through a gap in the trees. Venus was quite bright. I was able to show Clara.

During the night I viewed many double stars. Seeing was only fair, about 6/10, so I used the 8" mask frequently. Transparency also fair, 2.5/5. Seems we'll never have a very clear night...

BU 1034 AB, 8" 333x: A star is orange and bright, the mask is giving a good clean image at moments, with some disturbance (seeing 6/10). B star is faint but a nice hard point outside A's first diffraction, ~2", noticed it right away even though it is on the edge of direct vision, but do not need averted to see it. Dependent on seeing. Tried at full 20" aperture but A was too messy, and did not clean up well enough with apodizing mask. Low in the sky and in fact lost it behind a tree a few minutes after making the observation"
20h 56m 54.02s -09° 41' 51.1" P.A. 165 sep 2.1 mag 5.70,11.40 Sp gK5 dist. 167.5 pc (546.38 l.y.)

HU 392 AB: 20" 1067x: Split with seeing, usually an elongated smear. Noticeable mag difference. Suspected at even at 8" 333x, and ramped up from there, but needed the power to get it
22h 38m 57.89s +18° 49' 57.4" P.A. 354 sep 0.7 mag 10.15,9.98 Sp K0

ES 265 AB: 20" 533x: Easy pair half delta mag, wide
22h 43m 59.40s +33° 37' 48.4" P.A. 5 sep 8.9 mag 10.20,10.70

STF 2945 AB: 20" 533x: Bright white, wide, near equal
22h 49m 41.25s +31° 18' 39.1" P.A. 300 sep 4.2 mag 9.06,9.11 Sp F0 dist. 115.47 pc (376.66 l.y.)

J 3182 AB, 20" 533x, Easy pair, wide, one delta mag
22h 50m 37.75s +32° 55' 39.4" P.A. 159 sep 4.1 mag 9.30,9.70

MLB 586 AB, 20" 533x: Faint wide pair one delta mag. [not physical]
22h 51m 03.53s +30° 01' 32.8" P.A. 8 sep 6.7 mag 10.50,11.50

HJ 1819 AB & DOO 91: 20" 533x: A is bright white and B is much fainter and wide. B also has a pair, one detla mag to itself, closely separated, slightly more than ninty degrees from the AB PA.
22h 51m 16.00s +29° 14' 02.1" P.A. 71 sep 14.4 mag 8.54,11.00 Sp A0 dist. 147.49 pc (481.11 l.y.)
22h 51m 17.09s +29° 14' 06.8" P.A. 342 sep 3.9 mag 11.00,12.50 dist. 147.49 pc (481.11 l.y.)

STF 2949 AB: 20" 533x: Quite easy, B is a little blue, wide.
22h 51m 56.12s +30° 01' 41.4" P.A. 182 sep 11.4 mag 9.65,10.69 Sp F8

TDT3763 AB: 20" 533x: ! Cool! B just shows itself with seeing ~1.5" separation. Can tell its there, even with some smearing it does resolve to a point
22h 52m 24.77s +28° 18' 54.9" P.A. 13 sep 1.7 mag 10.43,11.85

KU 66 AB: 20" 533x: Easy near equal wide pair
22h 54m 59.62s +33° 04' 20.7" P.A. 3 sep 3.7 mag 10.64,11.00 Sp K0+G5

BRT 61 AB: 20" 533x: Faint but easy near equal pair, wide, white [not physical]
22h 55m 28.55s +29° 53' 55.3" P.A. 59 sep 4.7 mag 11.50,11.70

HJ 976 AB, 20" 533x: Easy wide, equal pair
22h 56m 34.47s +31° 50' 23.1" P.A. 72 sep 8.5 mag 10.50,10.50

HO 192 AB: 20" 533x: Much fainter B, ~1.5", two delta mag.
22h 59m 47.55s +30° 04' 38.5" P.A. 30 sep 1.5 mag 8.65,10.57 Sp A5V dist. 235.85 pc (769.34 l.y.)

STF 2968 AB: 8" 533x: Pretty yellow-white A and bluish B, pretty wide, two delta mag
23h 00m 42.41s +31° 04' 58.7" P.A. 93 sep 3.2 mag 6.69,9.48 Sp B9pMn dist. 135.5 pc (442 l.y.)

ES 2362 AB: 20" 533x: Near equal faint, ~2"
23h 01m 32.70s +31° 02' 39.2" P.A. 186 sep 2 mag 11.10,11.60

HO 193 AB: 20" 533x: Pretty faint yellow B, two delta mag to white A, a little more than 2" separation
23h 03m 42.24s +29° 53' 58.2" P.A. 173 sep 2.5 mag 8.34,10.68 Sp F6V dist. 73.53 pc (239.85 l.y.)

STF 2974 AB: 20" 533x: Easy 1 delta mag white, pretty wide
23h 05m 01.12s +33° 23' 08.0" P.A. 168 sep 2.7 mag 8.07,8.46 Sp A0V+A3V dist. 244.5 pc (797.56 l.y.)

STF 174 AB: 8" 533x: 1 Ari. ! Very beautiful yellow-orange A and robin's egg blue B, 3", one delta mag. probably one of the best color pairs
01h 50m 08.60s +22° 16' 29.5" P.A. 165 sep 2.9 mag 6.33,7.21 Sp G3III dist. 179.53 pc (585.63 l.y.)

HO 311: AB 20" 1067x: Nice clear split with seeing, more near equal but there is a noticeable magnitude difference, white stars
01h 51m 13.34s +24° 39' 08.0" P.A. 179.1 sep 0.41 mag 8.22,7.82 Sp F1V dist. 131.06 pc (427.52 l.y.)

J 671 AB: 20" 533x: B star is faint but not difficult, ~3", very nice
01h 52m 58.18s +21° 52' 13.1" P.A. 153 sep 2.7 mag 11.60,11.80

STF 180 AB: 8" 533x: Gamma Arietis / Mesarthim: Perfectly equal pair, wide, very white.
01h 53m 31.76s +19° 17' 38.6" P.A. 2 sep 7.4 mag 4.52,4.58 Sp A1pSi+B9V dist. 50.3 pc (164.08 l.y.)

BU 260 AB: 8" 533x: Fine pair, well split, half delta mag.
01h 53m 14.21s +15° 26' 00.3" P.A. 261.4 sep 1.09 mag 8.75,8.97 Sp F5 dist. 110.74 pc (361.23 l.y.)

COU 352 AB: 20" 533x: Faint pair, smeared, elongated and resolves with seeing and averted vision
01h 54m 23.02s +17° 53' 43.8" P.A. 21 sep 1 mag 11.01,11.56 Sp F2

HEI 433 AB: 20" 533x: 11th mag B star easier since wider separation, faint, half delta mag, wide pair
01h 54m 28.42s +17° 37' 49.7" P.A. 192 sep 3.6 mag 10.80,11.60

HEI 208 AB: 20" 533x: Very faint, need to wait for seeing, splits with seeing and a little averted vision, ~1.5", half delta mag
01h 54m 37.99s +14° 05' 34.2" P.A. 180 sep 1.4 mag 11.43,11.84

A 2323 AB: 20" 533x: Fine pair, easily seen B, not difficult since wider separation. ~1.5", 1.5 delta mag
01h 54m 45.56s +17° 28' 01.4" P.A. 146 sep 1.7 mag 9.50,10.88 Sp K0

COU 453 AB: 20" 533x: ! I get clean split, the B star is very faint and just within A's diffraction ring, but it's there. Great!
01h 56m 19.96s +25° 20' 24.0" P.A. 281 sep 0.7 mag 10.45,10.79 Sp F0

STF 189: 20" 533x: Orange and blue stars, wide, surprised these are nice hard points
01h 57m 09.47s +18° 57' 32.2" P.A. 269 sep 9 mag 9.88,10.97 Sp K7

STF 194 AB: 20" 533x: Lovely white pair, near equal, well separated, ~3"
01h 59m 18.95s +24° 49' 44.6" P.A. 279 sep 1.3 mag 7.62,9.46 Sp A3 dist. 193.42 pc (630.94 l.y.)

STF 200 AB: 20" 533x: Wide separated white pair, more than one delta mag.
02h 01m 36.23s +24° 05' 22.3" P.A. 124 sep 8.1 mag 9.55,10.29 Sp G0

STF 208 AB: 8" 533x: 10 Ari Pretty white and slightly off-white or blue-white B, 2.5 delta mag, ~1.5"
02h 03m 39.26s +25° 56' 07.6" P.A. 348.5 sep 1.55 mag 5.82,7.87 Sp F8IV dist. 48.71 pc (158.89 l.y.)

TDS2117 AB: 20" 533x: Fine near equal white pair, well separated to wide.
02h 06m 24.51s +21° 41' 56.0" P.A. 14 sep 2.1 mag 10.77,10.97

HO 312 AB: 20" 533x: 11 Ari Used apodizing screen to tone A down. B is bluish & resolves out on the edge of A's diffraction with seeing and is very, very faint compared to A.

02h 06m 49.22s +25° 42' 16.5" P.A. 340 sep 1.7 mag 6.00,11.50 Sp B9IV-Vn dist. 268.82 pc (876.89 l.y.)

I closed the night with a long look at Uranus, beautiful aqua blue.

alpha monocerotids

There was a news item earlier in the week that there was a possibility of a meteor burst on Thursday night the 21st.  It would be from about 8:30pm to 9:30pm and possibly have 400 in an hour.  The radiant would be below our horizon during this time, but it should still be possible to see the high grazers skipping the atmosphere at higher altitudes.

So I drove up to Henry Coe with Clara & Carol.  Traffic was very bad (many leaving work a bit early to get out of town for Thanksgiving), and we stopped along the way for a quick dinner.  We arrived at the overflow parking lot at 7:30, and I was surprised to find it well and truly padlocked, not just dummy locked as in years past.  It seems one does need to contact the rangers in advance, though I never needed to before.  We parked outside the gate and each of us tried to take a nap.  Shortly after 8:00 I walked our lawn chairs into the parking lot and set them up facing east.  Wrapped snugly in our sleeping bags and blankets, we started to look.

We could see lights from the ranger station across the little valley, and hear some people talking in the campground.  But otherwise it was quiet, except for some train whistles sounding from far below. The winter Milky Way could be faintly seen east of meridian; M31 was visible naked eye as it passed overhead.  We had a nice time watching Orion rise.

One other person arrived before 9pm, and sat near us as we all waited.  We saw a couple sporadics, none of them quite bright, but it was heading in the wrong direction.  I kept waiting...  Clara fell asleep.  Finally at 9:15 I felt something might be wrong, since it was well past the predicted peak.  At 9:30 still nothing, so we decided to go home.

Obviously the prediction was wrong.  I read later that the originating comet is long period and its orbit is not precisely known, so there is more margin of error than what past events might lead one to believe.

I was not disappointed, though.  I liked being outside with Clara and Carol, and I think we had a good time.  We saw an owl, two stags, and a possum on the drive home, which was wonderous.

double star name prefixes

At the risk of this post coming up with every search run on the blog, here is a list of the double star discoverer names / prefixes which I've accumulated the last few months from various sources, on line and in print.  What would be better is a little summary of who they were, when & where they observed, and how many discoveries they made -- but this will take a lot more research.  Maybe I can work on it during idle time at work...

A - Aitken, R.G.
AC - Clark, Alvan
ADS - ADS catalog
AG - Astronomische Gesellschaft catalog
AGC - Clark, A.G.AHD - Ahad, A.
ALD - Alden, H.L.
ALI - Ali, A.
ALT - van Altena, W.
ARA - Aravamudan, S.
ARG - Argelander, F.
ARN - Arnold, D.
B - Bos, W.H. van den
BAL - Baillaud, R.
BAR - Barton, E.E.
BGH - van den Bergh, S.
BHA - Bhaskaran, T.P.
BLZ - Balz, A.
BOW - Bowyer, W.M.
BPM - Burnham proper motion
BPMA - Bordeaux catalog
BRD - Bird, F.
BRT - Barton, S.G.
BSO - Brisbane Obs.
BU - Burnham, S.W.
BUP - Burnham, S.W.
BVD – Benavides, R.
CBL – Caballero, R.
COO - Cordoba Obs.
COU - Couteau, P.
CPO - Cape Observatory
CVR - Chivers, J.
D - Dembowski, E.
DA - Dawes, William R.
DAM - Damm, F.
DAW - Dawson, B.H.
DEA - Deacon, N.R. et al.
DON - Donner, H.F.
DOO - Doolittle, E.
DOR - Dorpat Obs.
DU - Duner, N.C.
DUN - Dunlop, J.
EGB - Egbert, H.V.
EGG - Eggen, O.J.
ELS - Ellison, M.A.
ENG - Engelmann, R.
ES - Espin, T.E.
FEN - Fender, F.G.
FIL - Filipov, M.L.
FIN - Finsen, W.S.
FLE - Fleckenstein, J
FMR - Rica Romero, F.M.
FOX - Fox, P.
GAL - Gallo, J.
GAN - Anderson, G.
GAU - Gauchet, P.L.
GCB - Giacobini, M.
GIC - Giclas, H.
GLE - Gale, W.F.
GLI - Gilliss, J.M.
GLP - Glasenapp, S.
GNT – Grant
GRB - Groombridge, S.
GRV - Greaves, J.
GWP - Hough, G.W.
GYL - Goyal, A.N.
H - Herschel, William
HAU - Haupt, H.
HDO - Harvard Obs.
HDS – Hipparcos Double Star
HSO – Hipparcos Catalog
HEI - Heintz, W.D.
HIL - Hill, L.
HJ - Herschel, John
HJL - Halbwachs, J.L.
HLD - Holden, E.S.
HLM - Holmes, E.
HLN - Holden, F.
HO - Hough, G.W.
HRG - Hargrave, L.
HTG - Hastings, C.S.
HU - Hussey, W.J.
HWE - Howe, H.A.
I - Innes, R.T.A.
ITF - Falcon, I.T.
J - Jonckheere, R.
JC - Jacob, W.S.
JNS - Jones, G.L.
JOH - Johnson, E.L.
JOY - Joy, A.H.
JSP - Jessup, M.K.
KNP - Knipe, G.F.
KNT - Knott, G.
KR - Kruger, E.C.
KU - Kustner, F.
KUI - Kuiper, Gerard P.
L - Lewis, T.
LAB – Labeyrie, A. et al
LAL - Lalande, F. de
LAM - Lamont, J. von
LCL - Lacaille, N.L.
LDS – Luyten, W.J. (includes PM catalog)
LEO - Leonard, F.C.
LEP - Lepine, S.
LPM - Luyten p.m. catalog
LPO - La Plata Obs.
LUH - Luhman, K.L.
LUY - Luyten, W.J.
LV - Leavenworth, F.
MA - Madler, J.H.
MCA – McAlister, H.A.
MKT – Pan, X.P. et al
MLB - Milburn, W.
MLF - Muller, F.
MLL - Mitchell, S.A.
MLO - Melbourne Obs.
MLR - Muller, P.
MRL - Morel, P.
NI - Nicholson, M.P.
NZO - New Zealand Obs.
OL - Olivier, C.P.
OLE - Olevic, D.M.
PAN - Pannuzzio, R.
PLQ - Paloque, E.
POL - Pollock, J.A.
POP - Popovic, G.
POU - Pourteau, A.
PRO - Perth Obs.
PRZ - Przbyllok, E.
PTT - Pettitt, E.
PZ - Piazzi, G.
R - Russell, H.C.
RBT – Robertson, J.G. et al
RHD - Richaud
RMK - Rumker, C.
ROE - Roe, E.D.
RSS - Rousseau, J.M.
RST - Rossiter, R.A.
S - South, J.
SCJ - Schjellerup, H.
SE - Secchi, A.
SEE - See, T.J.
SEI - Scheiner, J.
SHJ - South & Herschel, J.
SHY – Shaya E. & Olling R.
SKF – Skiff, B.A.
SKI - Skinner, A.N.
SLR - Sellors, R.P.
SMW - Simonov, G.V.
ST - Stearns, C. L.
STF - Struve, F.G.W.
STFA - W. Struve supplemental catalog
STI - Stein, J.STN - Stone, O.
STT - Struve, Otto
SWR - J. Stock & H. Wroblewski
TAY - Taylor, P.H.TDS – Tycho Catalog part 1
TDT – Tycho Catalog part 2
TOK – Tokovinin, A.
TOR - Torino Obs.
TSN - various, The Astronomical Journal
UC – USNO Astrographic Catalog
VDK - Vanderdonck, J.
VOU - Voute, J.G.
VYS - Vyssotsky, A.N.
WAK - Walker, R.L.
WEI - Weisse, M.
WFC - Yale Observatory
WG - Wrigley, R.W.
WHC - Wilson, H.C.
WHE - Wood, H.E.
WNC - Winnecke, A.
WNO - Washington Naval Observatory
WOH - Wood, H.
WOR - Worley, C.E.
WRH - Wilson, R.H.

short period doubles

I started a new project I hope I will follow through the rest of my life.  I ran a search on SkyTools for binary pair with orbital periods of less than 60 years and separation of greater than 0.2" in northern constellations.  The result was around 150 pairs within grasp of my 20" scope.  Because the period is so short, I should be able to notice positional change within the next 10-20 years -- assuming I make careful sketches of the star fields and keep the records accessible.  One hazard is that some might be too close now, and may take several years before I can resolve.  Nevertheless, noticing change in the sky really excites me, and having just observed the Mercury transit has me thinking of both time and change.  I was able to record one such pair, A 2329, during last night's session.

Seeing was forecasted to be better than I had, 5-6/10 -- though observing over my rooftop was noticeably worse.  Transparency was middling to poor, with typical marine haze in the air, and some dewing.  My pointing accuracy over longer slews is rather poor -- I plan to do the super calibration later this winter once I have trimmed down some bushes and trees so I have the maximum view.  I remade my 8" mask and it worked well.  I observed from 9-11pm, when I needed to get to bed since it was a work night -- the laptop battery died at this point anyway.

STF 36: 20" 333x. =51 Psc. Bright white A and 3 detla mag B, wide. [This was on the short period list but I did not see this one. The short period pair is MCA 1 Aa,Ab, magnitudes 5.84 / 7.99. It was 0.3" at discovery in 1977, so it might've been a feasible pair in large aperture. But currently it is 0.12". The pairs I noticed are the more pedestrian Struves. This one will become splittable in a few years]
00h 32m 23.75s +06° 57' 19.6" P.A. 84 sep 27 mag 5.68,9.52 Sp B9.5V dist. 80.97 pc (264.12 l.y.)

STF 2947 AB: 8" 333x: Near equal and well split bright white stars.
22h 49m 00.68s +68° 34' 12.2" P.A. 56 sep 4.7 mag 6.91,7.02 Sp F4V dist. 63.69 pc (207.76 l.y.)

STF 2948: 8" 333x: Easy pair, white and slightly blue, 2 delta mag, ~2.5"
22h 49m 36.21s +66° 33' 13.8" P.A. 3 sep 2.6 mag 7.26,8.60 Sp B6Vn dist. 261.78 pc (853.93 l.y.)

STF 2950 AB: 8" 333x: Nice pair indeed. Bright yellow-white A and 2 delta mag B, clean split, ~2". May be third fainter much wider split (AC, 39.2" 11.05)
22h 51m 22.51s +61° 41' 47.9" P.A. 272.3 sep 1.13 mag 6.03,7.08 Sp G8III-IV dist. 72.73 pc (237.25 l.y.)

STF 2961 AB: 8" 333x: KZ Cep. Precisely equal pair, seems more than 2". Very nice.
22h 56m 30.92s +62° 52' 06.9" P.A. 349 sep 1.9 mag 8.48,8.61 Sp B0V

MLR 266 AB: 20" 333x: Tried with 8" at first but the faint B star apparent only at full aperture. A star turned a bright yellow-orange and the B star was an obvious steady bright star ~3". At 8" A's color is duller and I can only suspect the B star only after having first seen it at 20". There are other pairs in the system but at 15th mag are out of grasp of a red-zone back yard.
22h 56m 47.19s +62° 43' 37.6" P.A. 355 sep 2.9 mag 7.77,11.35 Sp O7n dist. 436.68 pc (1424.45 l.y.)

A 634 AB: 20" 333x: B star very faint even at full aperture, but can see it well with seeing, ~2". A is blue-white and much brighter with full aperture.
22h 56m 52.31s +59° 41' 27.4" P.A. 300 sep 2.1 mag 8.47,12.00 Sp A0

HJ 1838 AB: 8" 333x: Nice pair, more near equal, about a half delta mag, ~1.5" very nice
22h 58m 28.30s +67° 05' 16.9" P.A. 255 sep 1.5 mag 9.11,9.39 Sp G0 dist. 122.4 pc (399.27 l.y.)

KR 62 AB: 8" 333x: V711 Cep. Neat pair, wide, half delta mag, in the upper right corner of a Corvus asterism, [Eclipsing binary of Algol type, though I can't tell if the eclipsing star is the B star? Only one pair in WDS.  Further: http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/2000IBVS.4923....1G, says . "Since it is unlikely that independent intrinsic variations of the optical companion could match the eclipsing binary in such a selective way, real intrinsic light changes for the eclipsing binary system are highly probable. Observations did not allow to determine which of the visual components of GSC 4282 394 is the Algol-type variable, and it was not possible to deduce it from the Tycho observations either, which do not show the detected variability but a high scatter and spurious oscillations" -- so the AB pair is not eclipsing, but either component may be variable?]
23h 05m 15.30s +63° 23' 42.3" P.A. 325 sep 5.5 mag 9.55,9.87

HJ 1860 AB; 8" 333x: White with wide blue pair, about 1 delta mag
23h 13m 32.24s +62° 39' 43.8" P.A. 335 sep 7.4 mag 9.11,10.60 Sp F0

MLR 71 BC: 8" 333x: Very faint pair, need averted vision to see B star, well split.
23h 12m 42.99s +63° 16' 35.9" P.A. 220 sep 2.9 mag 9.71,10.00 Sp G5

J 859 AB 20" 333x: Elongated smudge at 8", need full 20" to cleanly see as nice sharp points, well separated ~2", equal magnitude
23h 12m 13.63s +62° 17' 53.6" P.A. 155 sep 1.9 mag 11.04,11.65

ES 149 AB: 8" 333x: Nice equal pair, well separated ~6"
23h 39m 56.79s +64° 18' 48.8" P.A. 122 sep 5.6 mag 8.95,9.47 Sp F8

AG 290 AB 8" 333x: Widely separated half delta mag pair
23h 11m 02.35s +65° 54' 39.5" P.A. 265 sep 14.7 mag 9.25,10.01 Sp F0

HU 993: 20" 333x: B star only resolves with full aperture to a sharp point, very clear, well separated ~2", 2 delta mag.
23h 01m 42.54s +67° 47' 43.0" P.A. 215 sep 2.1 mag 8.85,10.29 Sp F8 dist. 124.69 pc (406.74 l.y.)

A 789: 20" 333x: Tried at 8" but it was a smear, needed 20" to resolve into very clean yellowish stars, about a half delta mag, ~2"
23h 24m 21.55s +69° 17' 11.1" P.A. 85 sep 2.2 mag 9.10,9.48 Sp A2

STF 91 AB: 8" 333x: Well separated 1.5 delta mag, white stars
01h 07m 10.99s -01° 43' 55.6" P.A. 315 sep 4.3 mag 7.43,8.56 Sp F9V dist. 48.71 pc (158.89 l.y.)

HJ 633 AB: 8" 333x: 1 delta mag wide
01h 09m 10.45s -02° 53' 08.5" P.A. 143 sep 9.5 mag 9.64,10.59 Sp F8 dist. 92.68 pc (302.32 l.y.)

A 2329 AB: 20" 1067x: Split at 533x but used barlow to confirm the PA accurately since this is a short period pair. Nicely split orange stars, half delta mag. Seeing it now at nearly the furthest extent of its orbit, it will become more difficult with time.  The pair is a "mere" 55.91 lightyears away.
02h 27m 45.86s +04° 25' 55.9" P.A. 102.4 sep 0.53 mag 9.45,9.63 Sp K5 dist. 17.14 pc (55.91 l.y.)

transit of mercury

Yesterday morning was a unique event, the transit of Mercury across the sun.  It was to be half-way across by the time the sun rose in the Bay Area slightly before 7am PST.  A few weeks ago I booked a campsite at Fremont Peak expecting to camp out to stay above any possible marine layer fog.  But for a few days I had a lingering sore throat, so I didn't want to spend a night in the cold.  So, the plan changed where I would get up before 6am and check the sky: if fogged over, I'd drive to some nearby ridge (I planned Henry Coe State Park); if no fog we could observe from home.  We arranged with some friends to meet us at Henry Coe and go hiking afterward.  I readied everything the night before, cars gassed up and just waiting for direction.

As it turned out, there was no fog, so we were able to spend a pleasant morning at home.  The sun cleared Mission Peak it was shining down on the sidewalk and street a little after 7am.  Clara and I set-up the 70mm (actually 48mm with mask) refractor with solar projection funnel, and we could quickly see the tiny dot a little off center.  I moved the scope several times around the sidewalk and street since some distant trees were casting shadows as the sun rose higher.  I started making sketches and notes.

A little later the sun began to show in our back yard, so I moved the scope back there and set-up two more: my PST solar scope and Valerie's 6" f4 with full aperture white light filter.  The PST was freshly repaired with a new objective lens and filter, and I received it back from the manufacturer on Saturday, just in time.  It showed really nice views of prominences, of which there were several: fountains, fans, and spikes, a couple of arches, including one very bright one, and several broken arches.  The 6" showed Mercury as a sharp disk and was a very good view.  Surprisingly there were no sunspots.

Our friends came over during the mid-morning and we enjoyed the views.  It was fun to observe from home since people could break away and do other things, then come back a little later for an update on Mercury's progress.  I had to move the scopes around the yard a couple of times since the meridian tree was casting shadows. Fortunately there was always some area in the yard where we could set-up. Some of the sketches suffer from field rotation problems from moving the scopes, but you can clearly see the movement of Mercury over time.

Toward the end of the transit Mercury could be seen to moved almost real time -- the sun's limb was closer to it and acted as a frame of reference.  As it started to make third contact we could see the little circular nibble Mercury made.  It was best in the 6" but I could even see it on the 70mm's projection screen.  I had Clara stay at the eyepiece of the 6" to watch Mercury finish its transit, since I wanted her to see such an amazing event and remember it.  I asked her to promise to wheel me out of the nursing home to see the next North American Mercury transit thirty years from now, the morning of 7 May 2049.  This one will also be about halfway over when the sun rises in the west, so if we're still here & the weather is clear the events of the day should unfold the same way they did yesterday.

4 november 2019

Transparency was poor last night, with some light dew and lingering smoke haze.  But seeing was pretty good, about 7/10, with moments of better.  So while I could not go after faint pairs, I could get some very close pairs, which is always exciting.  I viewed the moon after dinner in the binoviewer, then started in with doubles after 9pm.  I adjusted the offset from GMT in the Argo, and that fixed the pointing error I had the night before.  However my laptop's clock did not automatically adjust to daylight savings, and I turned in an hour earlier than I wanted to, thinking it was time for bed!

STI 1437 AB: 8" 533x: Obvious pair, wide, ~15" or so, one delta mag [not physical]
00h 49m 32.95s +55° 33' 54.4" P.A. 299 sep 11.1 mag 9.73,10.98 Sp A0

BU 232 AB: 8" 533x: Nice, well split, near equal. Part of a triple, the next one much wider in same PA and two delta mag. [AB-C is 10.06 24.5"]
00h 50m 25.10s +50° 37' 49.6" P.A. 256.4 sep 0.85 mag 8.46,8.79 Sp F5 dist. 101.11 pc (329.82 l.y.)

MLR 27: 20" 1067x: ! Split with seeing, tremulous in turbulence but does split when settled. Noticeable delta mag.
00h 51m 10.71s +60° 18' 54.2" P.A. 212 sep 0.5 mag 10.23,10.16 Sp F5

BU 1 AB: 20" 533x: L shape asterism and the short end tip star has a faint close star, AB. There's a zigzag of four faint stars making an arc beyond this short L. Given this is really an open cluster this is not surprising. [not physical]
00h 52m 49.22s +56° 37' 39.5" P.A. 83 sep 1.5 mag 8.58,9.33 Sp O6.5V dist. 3030.3 pc (9884.84 l.y.)

STI 1460: 20" 533x: B is a faint star, pretty wide, unremarkable [not physical]
00h 52m 55.81s +55° 20' 16.9" P.A. 92 sep 9.6 mag 9.20,12.90 Sp A5 dist. 578.03 pc (1885.53 l.y.)

STF 70 AB: 20" 533x: Yellow-white A and widely separated B, a small point, 3 delta mag
00h 53m 47.53s +52° 41' 21.6" P.A. 247 sep 8.1 mag 6.33,9.49 Sp A0 dist. 88.42 pc (288.43 l.y.)

HU 1018 AB: 20" 533x: Excellent pair, near equal, ~1", very fine.
00h 54m 14.98s +51° 08' 12.0" P.A. 61 sep 0.9 mag 9.88,10.27 Sp K0 dist. 76.86 pc (250.72 l.y.)

A 1258 AB: 20" 1067x: ! Yes! I got it split, what a sight! Suspected at 533x. Reddish A, 1 delta mag brighter than blue B. Perfect star images. Nice color pair.
00h 54m 23.37s +54° 31' 41.0" P.A. 202 sep 0.6 mag 9.73,9.90 Sp G0

HU 802: 20" 1067x: ! Hairline split to overlapping, 1 delta mag, super fine
00h 54m 53.84s +49° 24' 18.9" P.A. 222 sep 0.4 mag 7.81,10.01 Sp A0 dist. 364.96 pc (1190.5 l.y.)

TDS1665 AB: 20" 1067x: ! Can tell is double, elongated, and I got one split in ten seconds, seeing needs to be perfect.
00h 55m 08.24s +57° 13' 30.8" P.A. 30 sep 0.5 mag 10.47,10.54

TDS1667 AB: 20" 533x: Pretty well split once it resolves out of the haze into two near equal points.
00h 55m 25.53s +59° 50' 59.9" P.A. 296 sep 0.6 mag 10.59,10.63

ES 405 AB: 20" 533x: Pretty, near equal white stars, wide separation
00h 55m 41.89s +57° 47' 06.1" P.A. 117 sep 4.4 mag 10.24,10.36

TDS1670 AB: 20" 1067x: ! Rather wide, well split with seeing, bluish stars due to faintness. Very nice pair.
00h 55m 57.82s +58° 32' 38.9" P.A. 26 sep 0.7 mag 11.58,11.61

HLD 4: 20" 533x: Yellowish stars, nicely split, a near equal. [this pair is widening, will get a little easier, was 1" at discovery in 1881 -- Holden, Lick director.]
00h 57m 35.79s +54° 23' 44.8" P.A. 52.7 sep 0.45 mag 9.00,9.50 Sp G0

3 November 2019

With daylight savings time I started to observe shortly before dinner, this time the quarter moon.  Seeing was quite good, and I was pleased that the cheap 25mm Meade eyepieces I used in the binoviewer.  It was a trick to find the right eye position but once there the contrast was quite good.  There was so much amazing detail to be seen.

After evening chores, I went out again at 9pm.  My computer needed to do an update so in the meantime I slewed over to BU 1, a lovely "L" set of stars with a close pair at the tip of the small L.  There was an arc of three faint stars above it, which disappeared when I put the 8" mask on.  I didn't need the mask however since I was getting perfect airy disks at full aperture.

Once the PC was working, I had a lot of trouble slewing to targets.  As I think about it now, I likely need to reset the Argo's clock due to daylight savings time.  It was frustrating, since seeing was so good (though transparency is still hurt with wildfire smoke.

I more or less gave up and decided to have a look at Uranus, which was just clearing the meridian tree.  I needed to slew around a bit to find it, but it really looked great.  At 333x it was a beautiful light blue orb, and I could see some faint small dark swirls in the disk, and one side of it had a buff color to it.  I could also see two faint moons, which disappeared with the 8" mask.

Seeing is to be good again tonight, but there is still a lot of smoke haze in the air.  Hope it will still be a good night.