good progress on short period project

I had an excellent night last night at home with the 20-inch. Transparency was 3/5 with some moisture in the sky, brighter stars throwing off haze. But seeing was quite good, 7/10 but with moments of perfection, so I found I could push magnification way up. After doing a couple of sub 0.5" I decided to open up the short period list. I ended up observing twelve pairs from that list! Many exciting pairs. I found using the apodizing mask really helped so I left it on pretty much the whole time. I observed to past 11pm until I felt tired and the seeing and transparency started to fail. I'm glad I have my 20-inch set-up so I can exploit such nights.

HU 1225 AB: 508; 333x: Visible with 20" only, the B star is too faint for the 8" in these conditions. A is light orange, B a deeper orange compared with A, 4 delta mag and ~3.5".
05h 22m 56.87s +14° 21' 40.0" P.A. 320 sep 3.4 mag 7.82,11.00 Sp K0III dist. 198.41 pc (647.21 l.y.)

HU 1226 AB: 508; 533x: Suspected at 333x but a bit too fuzzy. Nice very clean split at 533x, slightly orange stars, near equal
05h 25m 05.57s +15° 21' 44.0" P.A. 55 sep 0.7 mag 9.77,9.85 Sp F0V

J 589 AB: 508; 533x: I thought this would be harder since they are faint but they're an easy, wide light blue star pair, near equal
05h 26m 28.22s +14° 55' 45.2" P.A. 193 sep 5 mag 11.90,12.21 Sp G2V

HJ 3273 AB: 508; 533x: Easy pair, bluish-white stars, near equal, wide. [did not notice FYM 218 AC, 10.24/13.80 18.5"]
05h 26m 39.80s +15° 12' 30.0" P.A. 47 sep 12 mag 10.24,10.11 Sp G0

BRT 1181 AB: 508; 533x: Easy pair, light blue stars, half delta mag, wide ~3.5" [not physical]
05h 26m 47.03s +14° 40' 52.3" P.A. 354 sep 3.5 mag 11.19,11.31 Sp F6V

TDS 3201 AB: 508; 533x: ! super fine but split, more than half delta mag, fine focus needed to remove any glare. What a nice pair, ice blue color stars.
05h 27m 40.03s +14° 08' 08.4" P.A. 237 sep 0.4 mag 9.47,9.69 Sp A0

HU 1228 AB: 508; 1067x: Snowman overlapping disks at best moments, one second out of ten. Slightly orange stars and slight mag difference.
05h 29m 48.07s +13° 34' 57.3" P.A. 16 sep 0.3 mag 9.80,9.80 Sp A

STT 165 AB: 508; 533x: 45 Gem. With apodizing mask. Bright light orange and very wide eleventh mag B, 4-5 delta mag, ~15". [not physical]
07h 08m 22.04s +15° 55' 51.3" P.A. 6 sep 16 mag 5.44,10.90 Sp G8III dist. 98.91 pc (322.64 l.y.)

WNC 2 A-BC: 508; 533x: Easy and obvious pair, bright 7th mag stars ~3". [This was a first try at the short period list but I missed the object, which is A 847 BC, 7.67/7.84 0.3" -- need to try again.]
05h 23m 51.32s -00° 51' 59.8" P.A. 158.3 sep 3.13 mag 6.87,6.96 Sp F6V dist. 55.71 pc (181.73 l.y.)

A 2462 AB; 508; 1067x: Short period list. Notched, noticeable magnitude difference, B star pointed in direction of apex of right triangle it forms with two other eighth magnitude stars. Light orange stars.
07h 02m 37.42s +15° 58' 26.5" P.A. 250.5 sep 0.2 mag 9.24,9.00 Sp G0V dist. 79.37 pc (258.9 l.y.)

SHB 1 AB; 508; 213x: Procyon B.  !! I got it! Wow! Using the 25mm plossl with occulting cross bars and a barlow, no apodizing mask to sharpen the diffraction spike, I set the cross bars over the diffraction spikes from spider to completely block all of A's light, I saw a constant small hard point to the north, ~5". The point moves around when I shift A and the cross bars in the view, and I can repeat it several times, so I'm confident it is not glare or an artifact. Wow this is great. However, I would like to repeat this observation on a different night, and also to check the separation in this optical train with an easier 5" pair -- extraordinary claims need back up [Update: on 4 March I did a comparison of the side using the 25mm eyepiece with barlow with a 4" separated pair, and based on the image scale I saw, I can confirm I did NOT see Procyon B.  What I saw in the above observation was much too far out from the A star.  I think using a cross-shaped occulting bar is the correct strategy, I just need to make one in a shorter focal length eyepiece to see it in an image scale I am used to]
7h 39m 18.12s +05° 13' 30 .0" P.A. 316.4 sep 4.62 mag 0.46,10.80 Sp F5IV-V+DQ dist. 3.51 pc (11.45 l.y.)

STT 185 AB: 508; 1067x: Without the apodizing mask I get a clean split with seeing but constant split with the mask. Light orange stars, noticeable mag difference.
07h 57m 16.39s +01° 07' 37.3" P.A. 23 sep 0.4 mag 7.10,7.30 Sp F7V dist. 61.96 pc (202.11 l.y.)



BU 101 AB: 508; 1067x: 9 Pup. Elongated to notched, orientation correct, light orange. Very tough. [B is coming off it's furthest orbit and will be exceptionally difficult in 10 years, but easier in 15 years]
07h 51m 46.31s -13° 53' 52.8" P.A. 303.7 sep 0.44 mag 5.61,6.49 Sp G1V dist. 16.5 pc (53.82 l.y.)


STF 1196 AB: 508; 533x: Zeta 2 Cnc = Tegmen. Lovely light orange pair, ~1", about 1 delta mag, with third slightly fainter as a triple (AB-C).
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.)



BU 581 AB: 508; 1067x: ! With apodizing mask. Beautiful clean split, almost wide, light orange stars, slight mag difference. There is a third 2x fainter star further out, might be plus one. Wow. [3rd is AB-C, 8.46/11.78 5.5"]
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.)

A 551 AB; 508; 1067x: LO Hya. With apodizing mask. Easy split, noticeable half delta mag. Another fainter star further out likely +1 [The +1 is STF 1233 AB-C, 6.42/10.49 18.3". AB at furthest extent of orbit, will tighten considerably the next 20 years]
08h 28m 29.16s -02° 31' 01.6" P.A. 62.9 sep 0.37 mag 7.00,7.10 Sp A5m dist. 74.57 pc (243.25 l.y.)



STF 3121 AB: 508; 533x: IP Cnc ! Split at 533x, used 1067x to recheck orientation. With apodizing mask. Light yellow-orange stars, nice and clean split, very slight mag difference. Real nice.
09h 17m 53.45s +28° 33' 37.7" P.A. 30 sep 0.51 mag 7.90,8.00 Sp K0 dist. 17.27 pc (56.33 l.y.)



A 1585 AB: 508; 1067x: Kappa UMa = Talitha australis: With apodizing mask. Much glare but snowman seen steadily inside the mess. Looks like Eta Carina nebula, with a larger bulge toward us and the smaller bulge pointed up and away. No field stars at this magnification, went down to 533x to notice one for the sketch.
09h 03m 37.56s +47° 09' 24.0" P.A. 282 sep 0.27 mag 4.16,4.54 Sp A1V dist. 109.89 pc (358.46 l.y.)



HJ 2477 A-BC: 508; 213x: Iota UMa = Talitha. Using 25mm occulting bars with barlow, no mask, putting the bright star's diffraction spikes under the bars, I can see the hard point of the B star, brighter & closer than Procyon B outside of A's glare. One other field star. [HJ 2477's period is 2735 years. The short period is BC is HU 628 9.90/10.10 0.9" 39 year period -- how in the world did he see that?]
08h 59m 12.45s +48° 02' 30.6" P.A. 106.2 sep 2.21 mag 3.13,9.20 Sp A7IV dist. 14.51 pc (47.33 l.y.)

HU 879 AB: 508; 533x: Beta LMi. With apodizing mask I see an out of roundness / olive shape, too much glare to tell orientation, no other field stars. [When I first put my eye to the eyepiece a passenger jet on landing approach to Oakland passed through the edge of the field and flashed its light!]
10h 27m 53.09s +36° 42' 26.9" P.A. 228 sep 0.52 mag 4.62,6.04 Sp G8III dist. 47.19 pc (153.93 l.y.)


STF 1273 AB-C: 508; 533x: Epsilon Hya A is bright orange-yellow, B is much fainter and a little blue, ~3". [SP 1 AB is 3.49/5.00 0.2" not seen]
08h 46m 46.51s +06° 25' 07.7" P.A. 309.8 sep 2.82 mag 3.49,6.66 Sp F8V dist. 39.64 pc (129.31 l.y.)

BAL 2347 AB: 508; 533x: B star considerably fainter needed averted vision to flash it out, but then hold it direct. Both stars a little blue, wide separation, half delta mag.
08h 47m 58.80s +03° 07' 39.5" P.A. 204 sep 4 mag 9.30,10.80 Sp A5

AGC 3 AB: 508; 533x: ! Rho Hya Bright white A star and much fainter B star, but it's still a hard bluish point very fine. Nice one
08h 48m 25.98s +05° 50' 16.4" P.A. 146 sep 12.1 mag 4.36,11.90 Sp A0Vn dist. 108.58 pc (354.19 l.y.)

A 2550 AB: 508; 533x: ! Wow exceptionally fine pair. B is very faint but can hold direct vision after flashing it out using averted vision. Very close, hairline split, amazing pair. At 1067x the stars dim a little can still see B but need averted vision all the time.
08h 48m 35.67s +03° 04' 05.2" P.A. 204 sep 0.4 mag 9.49,9.82 Sp F5

A 2552 AB: 508; 533x: ! Wow fine split. Pale yellow A and blue B, about one delta mag. Nice split, amazing [82.4 year period]
08h 48m 40.30s +00° 56' 31.0" P.A. 27.6 sep 0.3 mag 9.11,8.48 Sp F5 dist. 98.72 pc (322.02 l.y.)

BAL 2351 AB: 508; 533x: Easy wide pair, B star is very blue. One delta mag. [not physical]
08h 50m 30.10s +03° 32' 34.3" P.A. 110 sep 14.2 mag 9.30,10.60 Sp F8

STF 1290 AB: 508; 533x: White stars, wide, 2 delta mag
08h 52m 03.40s +04° 27' 58.0" P.A. 325 sep 2.8 mag 7.40,9.24 Sp A2 dist. 202.84 pc (661.66 l.y.)

A 2752 AB: 508; 533x: Easy wide pair, B is 1.5 delta mag and very blue
08h 53m 26.66s +05° 12' 47.2" P.A. 231 sep 5.1 mag 8.99,11.01 Sp A

24 february 2020 fremont peak

Finally a clear sky forecasted near a new moon, so I booked the Challenger for Monday night. I arrived at 5:30pm and opened up. I needed to vacuum rodent droppings from the floor (there were a lot behind the mount pier) and clean up. The Challenger's mirror is filthy, with built-up ripples of dirt. It made me angry that it's not really being taken care of -- though it's before the start of public nights so perhaps they'll clean it up later in March.

I started observing once dark, using the 5-inch refractor as a finder scope. I guess I had about a 1.5 degree FOV, and star hopping was arduous. The cross-axis mount was another sore-point. But the main problem was the sky: my SQML didn't get above 20.50 even in the best area of the sky. There was no fog to cover the surrounding cities but there was enough haze to reflect light up into the sky. Seeing was pretty bad too, though it improved through the night. I got tired after a couple hours, and when a couple of new members (imagers) who showed up wanted some views through the scope, I obliged by finding easy Telrad finds, and didn't mind the non-observing time -- I had given up. I've pretty much determined I need a new large aperture deep sky / dark sky scope to satisfy that need for observing. Fremont Peak's sky just isn't good enough. I'll continue to use it for now and try to adapt to its limitations.

Sauer 1 is a small and faint open cluster which Steve brought to my attention. It is part of the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy (Sgr dSph) stream. It is composed of mainly 17th and 18th magnitude stars, so nothing much to expect from this than a small glow: "Found correct location with finder charts, noticed non-stellar haze with direct vision but was seeing dependent. Two or three extremely faint stars resolved on the north & west boarder of the haze with averted vision and seeing. Since Steve mentioned they were mainly red giants I used a Wratten #12 yellow filter, which seemed a little better than without. 281x best but also tried 457x."

Pothier 17 is an asterism plotted in Interstellarum south east of Sr 1.  @ 118x, "Lambda-shaped asterism of 12 11th-12th magnitude stars, ~6'x6' size, which lie within a larger triangle of 9th-10th magnitude stars. The "V" part of the lambda is open to the SE."

Abell 20: faint planetary nebula, 281x w/ OIII: "Ghostly round halo with soft but distinct edges, evenly lit but the eastern rim is a bit brighter. Consistent direct vision with brightening noticed with averted; small central star."

NGC 2346: Bright planetary nebula.  At 281x with OIII filter, the bright central star seems too bloated to be a star -- could be nebula shell or just poor seeing.  Irregular oval shell with mottling, orientated NNW-SSE.  This is a spectacular bipolar in images, but seeing not supporting a better view.

Abell 22: At 281x with OIII filter, it has a green central star and a very large, round, slightly purplish middle bar like structure inside a much larger round shell, mostly evenly lit with a soft but distinct edge.

Abell 24: At 281x with OIII filter, the central star blinks and there is a large, round, very faint and diffuse halo.

Abell 25: 281x with OIII, a blinking central star with a very faint round halo, pretty tough.

Arp 221: Galaxy group at 281x, the group is small and faint.  A (MCG-2-25-6, MAG 14V, 0.7'X0.6') is easily seen as an elongated mottled galaxy, spiral.  B (mac 0936-1120 MAG 18V 0.4'X0.3') pops into view with averted vision.  C (W companion mag 16v) is tentatively seen.  Bright star to the north, helps to keep it out of the field.

MCG-2-25-17: At 281x, very faint, elongated, E-W, about 3:2, small. [only the central bar and some inner halo ring seen; DSS reveals spiral halo extensions well out from the center]

Arp 245 (NGC 2992 mag 13.2 4.5'x1.0' Sab & NGC 2993 mag 13.1, 1.3'x0.9' Sa): At 281x, two galaxies seen, NGC 2992 about three times larger than the other.  N2992 has a bright core displaced to the SW end of the elongated faint & mottled halo; the galaxy is NNE-SSW.  NGC 2993 is small, a little off round, with its core also offset to the SW.

NGC 3145: At 281x, mottled, bright stellar nucleus, NE-SW 3:2.  Very near a bright star which is best kept out of the field.

NGC 3242, Jupiter's Ghost: with OIII filter.  Bright, bluish, with central star and inner shell (annulus?) which is compressed and elongated within the larger round shell, which has nice crisp edges.

Arp 320 = Hickson 57 = Copeland's Septet: at 281x, faint group dominated by A = NGC 3753, a NW-SE elongation and the largest and brightest of the group.  On it's NE edge is D = NGC 3754, and on its SW edge is C = NGC 3750.  Separated like parenthesis is a fainter set, NGC 3746 which was brightest and largest; NGC 3745 to its north a small faint round smudge; and a little separated from then E = NGC 3748 which was very faint and slightly elongated.  Did not see 57H component, though I did sketch a small non-stellar smudge for F = NGC 3751 which lay to the south of the group.  A challenging but satisfying set.

There were several other things I looked at, like the Leo Triplet and M51.  But I looked only briefly and didn't take any notes, since they were for Carlos' benefit, a mini star party just for him.  I had rather given up on observing seriously.

I almost forgot to mention: this was the first light of an 80mm f4 mirror mounted monocular scope I built over the last few weeks (literally pulled off the protective plastic sheet off the mirror before I used it).  It's a simple wooden box painted black (and which Carol and Clara painted with astronomy designs -- making it a bit of folk art).  It could be known as the 80mmMMM.  I have the mirror yoke attached to the box and the box is attached to a tripod, so I can set it at a comfortable angle -- which I did while sitting on the south facing bench in front of the observatory.  I can use 2" eyepieces, so with the 31mm Nagler I get 7.8 degrees TFOV.  It was really a wonderful scope, enjoyable views, with a bit of coma or astigmatism at the edges.  The most memorable view was the open cluster chain of M38 - M36 - M37, all in the same field, with M38 and M37 on either edge.  It looked something like this, though without all the nebulosity.  I look forward to enjoying this scope on my outings, and especially for the next Great Comet:

18 february 2020

Had a pretty long session last night.  There were a couple of clear nights last week, but I was sick and couldn't go out -- so I welcomed any clear night.  Seeing was middling, and transparency was too, but still worthwhile and was able to see a lot.  I had the apodizing mask on pretty much the whole time, and felt it was better overall than masking down to 8-inches -- more resolution, fainter stars.  High magnifications were washed out with haze and seeing, so most of the time kept it fairly low.  Some more cloudy weather in store the rest of this week.

I started out with Venus at 205x and a blue filter.  It was steady and in a waxing gibbous phase.  I couldn't convince myself I could see cloud shading variations, but it seemed evident. Doubles in Orion then moved further up for better seeing in Gemini.

STF 667 AB: 508 533x: Orange and yellowish-blue B, ~5", 2 delta mag.
05h 14m 41.31s -07° 04' 18.1" P.A. 316 sep 4.2 mag 7.15,8.78 Sp K2 dist. 297.62 pc (970.84 l.y.)

A 2639 AB: 508; 533x: Light white-yellow and 2 delta mag B, ~0.8"
05h 18m 03.50s +03° 41' 30.4" P.A. 277 sep 0.8 mag 8.58,9.67 Sp F5 dist. 128.53 pc (419.26 l.y.)

STT 106 AB: 508; 533x: ~4 delta mag B, wide, ivory color.
05h 22m 11.20s +05° 23' 43.1" P.A. 40 sep 9.5 mag 7.06,10.06 Sp F6V dist. 56.66 pc (184.82 l.y.)

STF 700 AB: 508; 533x: V1804 Ori. Near equal white pretty wide
05h 23m 05.54s +01° 03' 24.7" P.A. 4 sep 4.8 mag 7.69,7.89 Sp B9V+B9.5V dist. 232.02 pc (756.85 l.y.)

A 2703 AB: 508; 1067x: Definite notch at best moments, slight magnitude difference, tough
05h 24m 33.14s +09° 10' 15.1" P.A. 90 sep 0.2 mag 8.40,9.00 Sp F5 dist. 109.65 pc (357.68 l.y.)

AG 107 AB: 508; 333x: Very nice white pair, near equal, ~1.5" nicely split
06h 12m 49.60s +24° 25' 36.2" P.A. 179 sep 1.5 mag 9.56,9.82 Sp A0

STF 860 AB; 508; 333x: Blue-white A and slightly red B, wide, ~2 delta, nice
06h 11m 04.87s +24° 52' 56.3" P.A. 358 sep 5.9 mag 8.64,9.81 Sp B9 dist. 2222.22 pc (7248.88 l.y.)

TU Gem 508; 333x: Very rich orange color. I get a hint of elongation with 1067x but nothing definite, just a sense. [SkyTools included this as a super tight double star but I can't find the WDS reference.]

COU 1101 AB: 508; 333x: Just split, white, half delta mag, in a nice field near some open clusters.
06h 09m 35.99s +26° 29' 49.1" P.A. 167 sep 0.9 mag 10.82,10.82 Sp G0 dist. 183.15 pc (597.44 l.y.)

HU 452 AB: 508; 333x: Light yellow orange and light blue stars, more than half delta mag, pretty wide [not physical]
06h 19m 46.83s +22° 18' 16.6" P.A. 343 sep 2.6 mag 9.47,10.82 Sp B1.5V

TDS3753 AB: 508; 333x: Quite faint B star, very tough, ~1" and 1 delta mag.
06h 20m 30.31s +25° 05' 21.4" P.A. 78 sep 0.9 mag 11.22,11.44

J 1941 AB: 508; 333x: Faint bluish wide pair, equal, obvious. [however can't pull this up in WDS...]

AG 112 AB: 508; 333x: Very pretty equal white, wide ~4". [not physical :-( ]
06h 27m 30.03s +24° 32' 00.8" P.A. 209 sep 2.8 mag 9.83,9.88 Sp A0

BRT2351 AB: 508; 333x: White, half delta mag, wide ~5", makes a wide equilateral triangle with two other stars. [not physical]
06h 27m 36.35s +21° 53' 38.8" P.A. 39 sep 4.4 mag 10.30,10.90

J 1092 AB: 508; 333x: A bit faint, bluish, wide ~5", half delta mag.
06h 27m 51.15s +22° 51' 06.2" P.A. 226 sep 6.8 mag 11.60,12.50

WEI 12 AB: 508; 333x: Near equal white, wide, unremarkable.
06h 31m 08.66s +21° 43' 06.0" P.A. 66 sep 8.6 mag 8.63,8.70 Sp F0

TDS 254 AB: 508; 333x: Just split, noticeable delta mag, yellow-white A star.
06h 31m 46.04s +21° 24' 25.6" P.A. 288 sep 0.8 mag 10.55,10.59

STT 145 AB: 508; 333x: Bright yellow-white B and very much fainter B, just outside of A's glare, ~1.5", 3 delta mag.
06h 32m 20.69s +15° 42' 22.3" P.A. 338 sep 1.5 mag 7.30,9.93 Sp F5 dist. 198.02 pc (645.94 l.y.)

A 2452 AB: 508; 333x: Fine near equal pair, well split but close.
06h 38m 07.10s +19° 52' 38.7" P.A. 89 sep 0.9 mag 9.29,9.64 Sp G

J 353 AB: 508; 333x: White A and slightly red B, wide ~5", 2 delta mag.
06h 39m 57.85s +16° 21' 39.2" P.A. 65 sep 4.1 mag 9.40,10.30 Sp F0

BRT 1208 AB: 508; 333x: Easy wide pair, white A and a little red B, ~2 delta mag.
06h 40m 35.04s +17° 38' 26.5" P.A. 175 sep 5.1 mag 7.89,10.49 Sp F8 dist. 71.84 pc (234.34 l.y.)

KU 27 AB: 508; 333x: Easy equal white, wide, in a rich field
06h 42m 11.50s +14° 51' 29.5" P.A. 187 sep 6.9 mag 10.14,10.40 Sp G0

AG 119 AB: 508; 333x: Fine near equal white, nicely split ~1.5". There's another pair on the edge of the field, wider and brighter
06h 44m 37.54s +23° 26' 48.9" P.A. 83 sep 1.5 mag 8.94,9.13 Sp F8

POU1983 AB: 508; 333x: Faint but easily seen, near equal, well split to wide, ~2.5" , bluish due to faintness
06h 45m 16.14s +24° 12' 43.5" P.A. 315 sep 2.9 mag 11.30,11.60

BRT 146 AB: 508; 333x: Faint, 1 delta mag, ~1.5" well split
06h 45m 55.18s +24° 05' 58.0" P.A. 47 sep 3.6 mag 11.20,11.80

HO 238 AB: 508; 1067x: Barely hairline split at best moments, but conditions have a lot of haze and bloating. A half delta mag is noticeable. I can tell the star is a pair at 333x, but no where near resolvable.
06h 46m 20.91s +18° 12' 08.2" P.A. 174 sep 0.3 mag 8.95,9.09 Sp A2

COU 472 AB: 508; 333x: ! Faint but very fine pair, really pretty in the field, a little blue, half delta mag, ~1.5" Nice
06h 46m 07.21s +22° 33' 06.8" P.A. 83 sep 1.9 mag 11.40,11.35

POU2009 AB: 508; 333x: Just barely there, averted vision brightend it up, but I can still pull it out direct. Faint, bluish, wide, near equal.
06h 47m 00.33s +23° 35' 21.9" P.A. 215 sep 6.4 mag 12.60,12.70

BRT2362 AB: 508; 333x: Dare I say a glittering pair, faint but it twinkles, wide, bluish, probably parts of a plus one about twice as separated but with similar mag [not physical]
06h 47m 12.56s +17° 27' 46.5" P.A. 7 sep 3.4 mag 11.90,12.60

J 992 AB: 508; 333x: B star almost needs averted vision to see, but shows up direct when seeing stills. Wide ~5", 1 delta mag, nice pair [not physical]
06h 48m 08.72s +16° 53' 16.6" P.A. 100 sep 4 mag 11.50,12.30

WFC 46 AB: 508; 333x: Wide bluish pair about half delta mag. I see a third star with averted vision pretty close to one of these stars, ~3-4" interesting [PAL 3 BC, 11.65/13.50 5.6"]
06h 51m 02.45s +19° 14' 40.0" P.A. 297 sep 9.2 mag 11.36,11.65

PAL 3 BC: 508; 333x: Third star seen with averted vision pretty close to WFC 46 B, ~3-4"
06h 51m 01.86s +19° 14' 44.2" P.A. 295 sep 5.6 mag 11.65,13.50

POU 2065 AB: 508; 333x: Pretty faint, pulled out with averted and held there, wide, about half delta mag. [not physical]
06h 51m 25.93s +24° 25' 17.4" P.A. 175 sep 4.8 mag 12.12,12.90

POU 2072 AB: 508; 333x: Easy, white and blue, ~1.5 delta mag, pretty wide.
06h 51m 42.09s +23° 14' 36.4" P.A. 38 sep 9.8 mag 9.50,11.30

STF 991 AB: 508; 333x: Pretty off-yellow A and a little ruddy red B, nice
06h 57m 01.26s +24° 57' 27.9" P.A. 165 sep 3.8 mag 7.95,9.21 Sp A0 dist. 225.73 pc (736.33 l.y.)

A 2459 AB: 508; 1067x: Notched near equal at best moments
06h 57m 39.64s +19° 35' 04.1" P.A. 274 sep 0.4 mag 9.80,9.80 Sp A2

6 february 2020

I had a fairly long session last night, starting shortly after dark and continuing until 10:40pm.  Transparency was better than previous nights but really not better than 2.5/5; there was still a lot of glare in the sky from the nearly full moon shining off the water vapor.  Seeing was also middling, 5.5/10, so I kept it mostly with the 8-inch mask and lower powers.  At one point I put on my apodizing mask and it had a noticeable improvement on the stellar images, which makes me wonder if instead of the 8-mask I should just use the apodizing mask for greater resolving power.  Doubles mostly, and I finished up on the moon.

STF 336 AB: 203; 333x: Nice light orange and light blue stars, 1.5 delta mag, wide, ~9"
03h 01m 29.07s +32° 24' 45.8" P.A. 8 sep 8.7 mag 6.96,8.27 Sp G5IV dist. 168.07 pc (548.24 l.y.)

STF 331 AB: 203; 333x: Slightly yellow-white pair, wide, about 1.5 delta mag.
03h 00m 52.18s +52° 21' 06.5" P.A. 86 sep 11.8 mag 5.21,6.17 Sp B7V+B9V dist. 140.65 pc (458.8 l.y.)

STF 652: 203, 333x: Very nice light orange A and greenish blue B, well split ~1.5", 2 delta
05h 11m 45.35s +01° 02' 12.5" P.A. 180 sep 1.7 mag 6.26,7.44 Sp A+G2:III dist. 195.31 pc (637.1 l.y.)

STF 654 AB: 203, 333x: Rho Ori Bright light orange-yellow A star with 3 delta mag yellow-white B, ~5"
05h 13m 17.48s +02° 51' 40.5" P.A. 65 sep 6.4 mag 4.62,8.50 Sp K2II dist. 107.3 pc (350.01 l.y.)

STT 517 AB: 203; 333x: Consistently split but images are bloated by poor seeing, yellowish white stars, <1", near equal.
05h 13m 31.55s +01° 58' 03.7" P.A. 241 sep 0.71 mag 6.79,6.99 Sp A5V dist. 212.31 pc (692.56 l.y.)

STF 664 AB: 203; 333x: Near equal, well split, "headlights in fog" pair. Slightly yellow.
05h 15m 10.54s +08° 25' 56.8" P.A. 177 sep 4.8 mag 7.77,8.42 Sp A9IV dist. 120.19 pc (392.06 l.y.)

A 2638 AB: 203; 333x: Tough pair in these conditions, moon haze. Slightly unequal and very close, resolves with seeing to two distinct faint points, but a haze around them
05h 15m 52.51s +03° 44' 55.7" P.A. 280 sep 1 mag 9.24,9.45 Sp F5 dist. 168.92 pc (551.02 l.y.)

BU 318 AB: 203; 333x: Elongation, certainly a pair, but not resolved.
05h 16m 14.58s -03° 28' 59.1" P.A. 264 sep 0.6 mag 8.81,8.28 Sp B8V dist. 196.46 pc (640.85 l.y.)

STF 678 AB: 203; 333x: Nice pair, near equal, pretty wide, nice view with seeing.
05h 17m 39.01s +04° 41' 01.8" P.A. 104 sep 3.6 mag 9.11,9.44 Sp F0 dist. 173.01 pc (564.36 l.y.)

WNC 2 A-BC: 203; 333x: Nice near equal, light yellow-white stars, well split. nice pair [BC is A 847 7.67/7.84 0.3" and could have been gotten on a better night!]
05h 23m 51.32s -00° 51' 59.8" P.A. 158.3 sep 3.13 mag 6.87,6.96 Sp F6V dist. 55.71 pc (181.73 l.y.)

STF 702 AB: 203; 333x: Wide, bluish for faintness, probably not physical [not physical]
05h 24m 17.61s +02° 22' 04.6" P.A. 80 sep 8.3 mag 9.60,10.10 Sp A0

STF 708 AB; 203; 333x: Resolves only with seeing, fuzzy otherwise, about 2 delta mag and ~2"
05h 25m 11.28s +01° 55' 26.1" P.A. 321 sep 2.8 mag 7.74,8.90 Sp B8V dist. 543.48 pc (1772.83 l.y.)

A 848 AB: 203; 533x: Suspect elongation at 333x, at 533x I get a snowman, very definite with seeing. White stars, noticeable mag difference.
05h 25m 31.08s -00° 32' 38.2" P.A. 179.9 sep 0.34 mag 6.93,7.88 Sp B9pHgSi dist. 215.05 pc (701.49 l.y.)

STF 725 AB: 203; 333x: 31 Ori Large mag difference but since is wide separation it is easier to see. Bluish B vs bright light orange A.
05h 29m 43.98s -01° 05' 31.8" P.A. 88 sep 13 mag 4.69,9.70 Sp K5III dist. 155.76 pc (508.09 l.y.)

STF 712 AB: 203; 333x: More than 1 delta mag, light off-white A and slightly blue B, wide.
05h 26m 31.22s +02° 56' 09.3" P.A. 66 sep 3.2 mag 6.70,8.59 Sp B9.5V dist. 145.77 pc (475.5 l.y.)

Psi 2 Ori: 203; 333x: Bright white A and very much fainter four delta mag B. Both orange, separated pretty well but A' brightness makes it look closer

STF 728 AB: 203; 333x: 32 Ori White and off white pair, 1.5 delta mag, ~1.5". Nice and very clean with seeing
05h 30m 47.06s +05° 56' 53.3" P.A. 44 sep 1.35 mag 4.44,5.75 Sp B5V dist. 92.85 pc (302.88 l.y.)

STF 726 AB: 203; 333x: Very nice, unequal, ~1", 1 delta mag, very fine
05h 30m 51.75s +10° 15' 15.7" P.A. 264 sep 1.2 mag 7.90,8.59 Sp B9 dist. 4545.45 pc (14827.26 l.y.)

STF 738 AB: 203; 333x: Meissa. White pair, 2 delta mag, ~5". Bright clean white [not physical]
05h 35m 08.28s +09° 56' 03.0" P.A. 44 sep 4.3 mag 3.51,5.45 Sp O8III+B0V dist. 336.7 pc (1098.32 l.y.)

STF 774 AB: 203; 333x: Alnitak. Easy, 2 delta mag,~2", white
05h 40m 45.52s -01° 56' 33.3" P.A. 166.9 sep 2.17 mag 1.88,3.70 Sp O9.2Ib dist. 225.73 pc (736.33 l.y.)

STF 789 AB: 203 333x: Wide, 3 delta mag, ~15", B looks blue. [did not notice BC, A 2655, 13.7 mag B 1.1"]
05h 45m 01.80s +04° 00' 29.3" P.A. 150 sep 14 mag 6.13,10.17 Sp gF0n dist. 58.86 pc (192 l.y.)

STT 119 AB: 20" 533x Suspect elongations with 8" 533x & 20" 533x, but image not good enough. But I got a nice clean split with apodizing mask, nearly perfrect disks. Orange stars well split, <1", about 1 delta mag.
05h 47m 54.88s +07° 57' 37.5" P.A. 355 sep 0.7 mag 8.08,8.93 Sp F8 dist. 122.55 pc (399.76 l.y.)

STF 795 AB: 20" 533x: 52 Ori. Close but well split, near equal, ivory white. with apodising mask
05h 48m 00.21s +06° 27' 14.5" P.A. 220.5 sep 1 mag 5.99,6.03 Sp A5V dist. 165.02 pc (538.3 l.y.)

STT 123 AB: 20" 533x: Orange A and blue B, ~2.5", 2 delta mag
05h 54m 09.53s +10° 14' 39.4" P.A. 187 sep 2.1 mag 7.34,9.05 Sp G5 dist. 132.8 pc (433.19 l.y.)

A 2658 AB: 20" 533x: Hairline split, near equal pair, faint. With apodizing mask
05h 55m 00.02s +06° 13' 21.5" P.A. 73 sep 0.4 mag 10.18,10.30 Sp F5

STF 818 AB: 20" 533x: Fairly faint, wide, slightly blue, a small mag delta
05h 55m 19.45s +04° 42' 49.8" P.A. 277 sep 5.9 mag 9.84,10.06 Sp K0

STF 820 AB: 20" 333x: Pretty orange A and light orange B, wide, about 2 delta mag.
05h 55m 42.95s +08° 58' 57.9" P.A. 110 sep 5.1 mag 9.10,9.79 Sp G0

ARG 63 AB: 20" 333x: Wide, half delta mag. unremarkable [however it is a physical pair 432 LY away. A is a 0.5" pair with 12th mag B, worth a try on Challenger.]

05h 57m 08.58s +10° 13' 45.7" P.A. 68 sep 32.5 mag 8.69,9.09 Sp F2 dist. 132.45 pc (432.05 l.y.)

The moon was nearly full and casting off a lot of glare in the sky, but view was still good at 333x with a moon filter, 20".  I panned about the terminator and limb, naturally.  Among the detail seen were the Marius Hills, the first time I remember seeing them: a large group of volcanic cones, very rubbly looking with numerous rilles cutting through.  I also saw the strange oval bright marking Reiner Gamma, though I did not notice the swirl underneath it.  Sirsalis Rille was very impressive and long (it is the longest rille).  Plenty of fine features to occupy the eye.

occultation

I was all excited about observing last night, with a clear forecast -- even if it was windy and seeing was to be poor.  I tried for comet C/2017 T2 (Panstarrs), and while I'm sure SkyTools pointed the scope in the correct spot, I only "think" I made it out -- a hazy patch at 100x which had some stellar spots like a small open cluster -- which made me doubt I had it.

I slewed over to the moon since it was moving through the Hyades and I though there was a good chance it would occult a star.  Sure enough there was one bright star about to be occulted by the dark half of the moon.  I used the 8-inch mask and watched carefully, not wanting to blink.  There was some haze building.  Just at the moment the star winked out, the wind gusted and blue my mask off the front of the scope, brightening the whole scene.

I didn't notice any other possible stars to occult so I went inside to get warmer clothes on and have some tea.  When I came back out the sky was masked by thin clouds.  Skunked!

The forecast continues to be muddled: cold, mostly clear, poor seeing.  Hope it settles out soon.

31 January 2020

Finally, a (mostly) clear night.  There were still some high clouds at dusk when I opened up the observatory.  The primary was half dewed-over, in the area away from the 12v lightbulb I put behind the mirror a couple weeks ago.  The fans soon cleared up the dew.  (When I closed last night I set both a bulb and a fan on the mirror, hopefully that will help.)

I looked at the moon for a while using binoviewers.  Seeing was good enough to use the 10mm eyepiece, and full aperture (267x).  There were many interesting features however my moon atlas was in the house and I didn't retrieve it.  After an hour or so I slewed to Uranus, which was just a few degrees away, and was easy to find as a light blue orb with a tan color sash along one limb.

I went back outside at nearly 9:00pm, and went in on doubles.  Seeing was uneven, and I had my cleanest views with the 8-inch mask on and only 333x.  Transparency was poor, with a haze showing around the moon -- all of which limited me to brighter pairs.  Conditions seemed to improve somewhat after 10pm, but I eventually tired out at 11pm and packed in.  The forecast was for more clouds building overnight, so I didn't feel bad.

BU 1008 AB; 203; 333x; Propus. Yellow A and blue-yellow B, 2 delta mag, 1.5" very nice
06h 14m 52.69s +22° 30' 24.6" P.A. 251.7 sep 1.61 mag 3.52,6.15 Sp M3.5I-II dist. 117.92 pc (384.66 l.y.)

STT 143 AB; 203; 333x: Very pretty yellow-white A star with blue-white B, 3 delta mag., well split.
06h 31m 09.99s +16° 56' 19.0" P.A. 103 sep 7.9 mag 6.20,10.10 Sp K2III

J 1956 AB; 203; 333x: Faint but wide pair, blue color due to faintness, one more visible than other. Seems in a string of three [not physical]
06h 33m 02.93s +17° 05' 11.7" P.A. 60 sep 9.8 mag 9.50,9.90

STF 932 AB; 203; 333x: Very neat near equal white stars, well split.
06h 34m 21.57s +14° 45' 08.3" P.A. 299.1 sep 1.61 mag 8.31,8.54 Sp F5 dist. 80.06 pc (261.16 l.y.)

J 273 AB; 203; 333x: Near equal white, pretty wide.
06h 55m 18.52s +12° 35' 07.0" P.A. 340 sep 4.4 mag 9.91,10.34 Sp G1V

STF 982 AB; 203; 333x: 38 Gem. Light yellow A and blue B, quite wide, very pretty. AC much wider separation much fainter not noticed.
06h 54m 38.63s +13° 10' 40.1" P.A. 142.4 sep 7.33 mag 4.75,7.80 Sp F0Vp dist. 25.63 pc (83.61 l.y.)

STF 899 AB: 203; 333x: Near equal, rather wide, one a little yellow the other light blue-white
06h 22m 49.64s +17° 34' 27.3" P.A. 17 sep 2.2 mag 7.41,8.01 Sp A0V dist. 325.73 pc (1062.53 l.y.)

AG 109 AB; 203; 333x: Very nice, half delta mag, nicely split white stars. Very good
06h 19m 44.83s +21° 28' 27.7" P.A. 16 sep 2.4 mag 9.44,9.67 Sp G0

J 686 AB; 203; 333x: Very fine pair, near equal to half delta mag white stars, nicely separated but pleasingly close pair
06h 17m 26.20s +22° 25' 37.0" P.A. 49 sep 2.3 mag 10.48,10.67 Sp B8

AG 323 AB; 203; 333x: Wow! pops with seeing, 1 delta mag, ~2". Very nice. Two other stars much fainter on the outer reaches likely part of system [these are AC and AD]
06h 19m 45.23s +22° 06' 38.8" P.A. 49 sep 1.8 mag 9.04,10.21 Sp B1V:p dist. 543.48 pc (1772.83 l.y.)

OL 67 AB: 203; 333x: Averted vision only, wide, pops with seeing, just able to see it.
06h 23m 00.44s +22° 13' 12.8" P.A. 39 sep 5.2 mag 10.90,11.90

STT 140 AB: 203; 333x: Nice 3 delta mag pair, wide, clean with seeing, bluish stars.
06h 26m 37.73s +15° 31' 25.3" P.A. 119 sep 3 mag 6.92,10.08 Sp B9.5IV dist. 337.84 pc (1102.03 l.y.)

STT 141 AB: 203; 333x: Beautiful blue-white A star and 2 delta mag B, nice split, ~2.5"
06h 30m 01.34s +17° 54' 23.8" P.A. 144 sep 2.3 mag 7.69,9.78 Sp A0

HO 27 AB: 203; 333x: Nice near equal, though mag difference is notable. Third slightly brighter a bit further out [this is AC, 9.64/9.71 23"]
06h 56m 03.65s +20° 05' 03.2" P.A. 127 sep 3.7 mag 9.64,10.08 Sp A2

STT 170 AB: 203; 333x: Notched, near equal at 333x. At 667x, hairline split very easy to see, near equal white stars.
07h 17m 38.51s +09° 17' 31.5" P.A. 288.8 sep 0.55 mag 7.37,7.67 Sp G0IV-V dist. 41.61 pc (135.73 l.y.)

A 2862 AB: 203; 333x: Very close, less than one disk width, 2 delta mag, light orange stars. Tough. Can't see B star at 667x.
07h 20m 02.62s +03° 46' 36.5" P.A. 62 sep 0.8 mag 8.36,9.58 Sp K0 dist. 735.29 pc (2398.52 l.y.)

A 2863 AB: 203; 333x: White near equal, very fine pair in dense field.
07h 20m 09.95s -00° 01' 11.5" P.A. 288 sep 1.2 mag 9.29,9.46 Sp A3

STF 1074 AB: 203; 333x: Very nice, touching disks to hairline. White, near equal. Great! [There are three other fainter BU pairs not noticed.]
07h 20m 31.07s +00° 24' 13.1" P.A. 172 sep 0.8 mag 7.44,7.80 Sp B9.5V dist. 228.31 pc (744.75 l.y.)

STF 1076 AB: 203; 333x: Very fine near equal white stars, well split.
07h 21m 01.96s +04° 03' 23.6" P.A. 108 sep 2.9 mag 9.49,9.58 Sp A0

STF 1095 AB: 203; 333x: White stars, wide, 1 delta mag.
07h 27m 22.75s +08° 45' 14.0" P.A. 78 sep 10.3 mag 8.61,9.35 Sp A2 dist. 729.93 pc (2381.03 l.y.)

BRD 2 AB: 203; 333x: Wow! Exceptionally fine pair, white, near equal, nicely split, just outside of Procyon's glare. Great! [AB,C 14th mag not seen]
07h 39m 46.65s +05° 16' 25.5" P.A. 188 sep 0.9 mag 9.22,9.53 Sp A5

STF 1126 AB: 203; 333x: A bit more delta mag than listed, split, white, rather bright pair
07h 40m 06.99s +05° 13' 51.9" P.A. 178 sep 0.82 mag 6.55,6.96 Sp A0III

AG 143 AB: 203; 333x: Pretty orange and blue, light colors, wide, faint
07h 41m 10.49s +01° 08' 18.1" P.A. 98 sep 5.7 mag 9.10,10.10 Sp G5

STF 1137 AB: 203; 333x: Light orange and blue, pretty wide, 1.5 delta mag.
07h 46m 35.35s +04° 07' 50.1" P.A. 133 sep 2.9 mag 7.96,9.12 Sp F5 dist. 440.53 pc (1437.01 l.y.)

STT 182 AB: 203; 333x: Compact white pair, more near equal than Sky Tools says, white, easy split.
07h 52m 42.12s +03° 23' 02.2" P.A. 9 sep 0.9 mag 7.82,7.93 Sp A2 dist. 210.08 pc (685.28 l.y.)

STF 1182 AB: 203; 333x: A white, B a little ruddy, wide, 2 delta mag.

08h 05m 24.43s +05° 49' 38.9" P.A. 75 sep 4.9 mag 7.48,8.76 Sp B9 dist. 328.95 pc (1073.03 l.y.)