Thursday, May 28, 2020

24 may 2020

Last night had excellent transparency and good seeing. It was a near new moon too, so under normal times I would have tried to go out. But it's difficult to justify going out, assuming I could find a place to go, when the rest of the family is stuck at home with little to do. So I stayed at home and observed doubles with my 20-inch. The best seeing was forecast to start at 1am, so I tried to rest in the evening and started after 10pm. Transparency was compromised by marine haze which always settles in over the Bay Area -- which is why the higher elevations sites are preferred. Seeing was not especially good and I was getting soft views in the beginning of the night at 533x and above. It did improve later in the night but not significantly. So much time on the ladder made my legs and back feel uncomfortable. I will need to be sure to stretch more and improve my muscle flexibility; spending so long on a ladder can be difficult. I should check into stiff soled shoes, to provide some added support.

I took breaks for snacks and something to drink. The weather was mild throughout. I think roof and other radiation cooling effected the seeing somewhat. My telescope's location means I'm pointed south to meridian and when I observe several nights at a time I end up going over skies I have already picked over, leaving few targets. I don't want to slew my scope too much lest I wake the neighbors with the motor sounds and the clatter of when I reposition my ladder. Tonight is predicted to be very good again -- so before everyone goes to bed I think I'll position the scope to the north and see if it helps me get new targets.

At the end of the night I lay down on my back on the patio, and used binoculars to scan about. Of course it's nothing like a dark site, but the views were really nice. Spotted M13 and M92; tried for M57 but didn't see it. I will bring out my 6" f5 refractor that I've been working on to give it a test drive tonight.

COU55 AB: 508; 533x: Shimmery at this magnification. Averted vision picks out the B star, even though it's only one delta mag, ~2" separation
13H 12M 28.87S +20° 49' 36.1" P.A. 127 SEP 2.4 MAG 9.98,10.80 SP F5 DIST. 117.37 PC (382.86 L.Y.)

HU 573 AB: 508; 333x: B star is faint but can pick it out with averted vision, well separated. A is a light yellow-white color.
13H 12M 29.95S +22° 55' 02.1" P.A. 185 SEP 4.1 MAG 9.83,12.30 SP G0 DIST. 295.86 PC (965.1 L.Y.)

HDS1873 AB: 508; 333x: IO Com. A is light yellow, B comes out of hiding with averted vision and lingers in my vision a little before fading. A is light blue. ~4" separation
13H 21M 03.57S +22° 28' 25.6" P.A. 184 SEP 4.4 MAG 9.24,12.70 SP G5 DIST. 168.63 PC (550.07 L.Y.)

BRT 161 AB: 508; 333x: Needed averted vision to see B star, ~5" from the 9th mag white A star
13H 25M 39.37S +25° 40' 55.9" P.A. 52 SEP 4.5 MAG 9.20,11.80 SP F8 DIST. 90.5 PC (295.21 L.Y.)

BU 115 AB: 508; 333x: When seeing settles out, I can detect a very faint point just beyond first diffraction, ~1.5". It's a smear during poorer seeing. Large magnitude difference. I could repeat the view at 667x but 333x is better. Burnham discovered this with his 6-inch at 1.3" -- it was more difficult for me at wider separation and larger aperture!
13H 45M 20.87S +09° 03' 28.6" P.A. 258 SEP 1.6 MAG 7.53,10.40 SP G5 DIST. 54.67 PC (178.33 L.Y.)

BU 801 AB: 508; 333x: A is light-yellow, B visible as point ~3" separation, very faint. Burnham discovered with the 15.5-inch refractor at Washburn
13H 46M 37.63S +10° 50' 26.2" P.A. 325 SEP 3.1 MAG 8.70,11.05 SP K2 DIST. 271.74 PC (886.42 L.Y.)

STF 1792 AB: 508; 333x: White stars one delta, ~2" separation
13H 57M 03.72S +12° 27' 03.5" P.A. 291 SEP 2.3 MAG 9.98,10.89 SP F8 DIST. 1470.59 PC (4797.06 L.Y.)

BRT1280 AB: 508; 333x: B is faint, a little reddish, can hold direct and averted vision brightens it. Wide, ~6"
13H 58M 20.22S +10° 08' 04.6" P.A. 109 SEP 6.2 MAG 8.08,11.55 SP F5 DIST. 82.58 PC (269.38 L.Y.)

A 569 AB: 508; 533x: Hairline split at best moments, to touching disks the rest of the time. Near equal white. Very tough
14H 01M 11.59S +25° 21' 36.4" P.A. 150 SEP 0.6 MAG 10.14,10.31 SP G0

HDS1978 AB: 508; 333x: A bit tough. I needed to flash B forth a little with averted vision to show clearly. ~1", 3-4 delta mag. I think this is as faint as I can go in my urban site.
14H 06M 16.46S +21° 59' 56.4" P.A. 122 SEP 1.2 MAG 9.86,13.54 SP G0 DIST. 2500 PC (8155 L.Y.)

A 346 AB: 508; 333x: Needed averted vision to flash hint of B, which is strange since they should be near equal. ~1"
14H 07M 50.60S +24° 43' 14.9" P.A. 310 SEP 0.9 MAG 10.31,10.49 SP G

COU 2507 AB: 508; 333x: I can barely detect the presence of these stars with direct vision, need averted to show hint of secondary. very tight, ~1" or slightly more
14H 09M 13.59S +18° 10' 42.4" P.A. 137 SEP 1.5 MAG 10.47,11.50

STF 1817 AB: 508; 1067x: !! I can only get a notched elongation using all powers, near equal. 0.19 separation, I think the first time I got below 0.2"! Struve discovery at 1.55" in 1832.
14H 14M 12.81S +26° 41' 43.8" P.A. 326.5 SEP 0.19 MAG 8.98,8.77 SP F8 DIST. 123.46 PC (402.73 L.Y.)

HDS2006 AB: 508; 333x: B seen only with averted vision, <1" separated from 9th mag white A star.
14H 16M 26.18S +25° 39' 09.2" P.A. 249 SEP 0.7 MAG 9.19,12.06 SP K0 DIST. 735.29 PC (2398.52 L.Y.)

TDS9181 AB: 508; 533x: Hairline best moments, noticeable magnitude difference
14H 23M 27.40S +26° 49' 24.3" P.A. 330 SEP 0.5 MAG 10.79,11.05

COU 184 AB: 508; 533x: Good clean image, ~1" separation, ~1 delta mag, yellow-white
14H 23M 38.30S +20° 08' 37.9" P.A. 113 SEP 0.9 MAG 10.84,10.85 SP G0

WFC 149 AB: 508; 533x: Well split, noticeable mag difference, ~1 delta mag, ~5" separation.
14H 27M 13.43S +18° 50' 22.3" P.A. 102 SEP 5 MAG 10.68,11.83

COU 2508 AB: 508; 667x: Dim near equal, brief hairline split at best moments, otherwise touching disks. 0.4" at discovery in 1988.
14H 28M 35.11S +18° 18' 11.7" P.A. 75 SEP 0.5 MAG 11.40,11.40

POU 3170 AB: 508; 333x: Faint but pretty pair, noticeable magnitude difference, ~4" separation
14H 28M 40.17S +24° 03' 51.6" P.A. 153 SEP 3.3 MAG 10.00,10.50

STF 3086 AB: 508; 333x: Easy wide tenth magnitude stars, ~1 delta mag, wide, light yellow color
14H 32M 20.64S +17° 18' 28.8" P.A. 272 SEP 6 MAG 10.06,10.83 SP F8+G5

HO 387 AB: 508; 333x: Though faint, B is easily seen while the scope is slewing. But when stopped it is harder to see and needed averted vision to see. A case where movement in the scope reveals the star. In a nice field, there is a line of ninth magnitude stars flowing beside it
14H 32M 52.45S +20° 09' 08.4" P.A. 242 SEP 9.4 MAG 9.74,12.59 SP G0 DIST. 163.4 PC (533.01 L.Y.)

BRT2418 AB: 508; 333x: Near equal white, ~5" separation
14H 35M 20.10S +20° 03' 21.7" P.A. 195 SEP 3.8 MAG 10.84,11.05

A 571 AB: 508; 333x: Very nice, B is a very faint glow on and ~0.5" separated from A, large delta mag, white
14H 39M 19.41S +26° 48' 23.6" P.A. 109 SEP 1.8 MAG 8.62,11.26 SP F2 DIST. 180.51 PC (588.82 L.Y.)

COU 406 AB: 508; 333x: Need averted vision to see b, it's only flashing of white, ~4" separation
14H 40M 19.78S +25° 48' 34.3" P.A. 17 SEP 3 MAG 9.01,12.00 SP F DIST. 177.94 PC (580.44 L.Y.)

A 2070 AB: 508; 333x: B holds steady when scope moving and then I need averted vision to clearly see it.
14H 41M 57.83S +17° 53' 07.5" P.A. 215 SEP 3.5 MAG 8.54,10.52 SP G0 DIST. 65.02 PC (212.1 L.Y.)

HU 575 AB: 508; 1067x: Overlapping disks to, hairline split in best moments, light orange stars.
14H 42M 33.63S +19° 28' 46.9" P.A. 84.3 SEP 0.33 MAG 9.77,10.05 SP M0 DIST. 21.58 PC (70.39 L.Y.)

COU 99 AB; 507; 667x: Split in best moments, fairly well apart. Very dim, however, and tough because of that.
14H 43M 13.12S +22° 45' 47.5" P.A. 206 SEP 0.7 MAG 11.00,11.50 SP K5

HO 551 AB: 508; 333x: Pretty tough one, need averted vision to see B, which is blue and pretty wide, A is light yellow-orange
16H 12M 25.15S +26° 25' 53.1" P.A. 81 SEP 6.9 MAG 8.01,12.80 SP K1III DIST. 301.2 PC (982.51 L.Y.)

COU 485 AB: 508; 333x: In the same field as HO 551. Exceedingly tight and faint, the pair is very close together and averted vision helps to brighten it
16H 12M 36.06S +26° 22' 47.3" P.A. 327 SEP 0.9 MAG 11.58,12.04

STF 2022 AB: 508; 333x: Rich field of stars, though no open cluster noted on my atlas, looks like a Hydra head in the 80mm finder. This is as an excellent pair, white, very large mag difference and B is just a tiny point hanging out just beyond A. Nice
16H 12M 45.46S +26° 40' 14.0" P.A. 153 SEP 2.5 MAG 6.54,10.03 SP F2V DIST. 73.26 PC (238.97 L.Y.)

BU 812 AB: 508; 333x: White pair, ~1 delta, split, <1". Burnham discovered with the Washburn 15.5" 0.87"
16H 07M 07.91S +16° 53' 37.6" P.A. 96 SEP 0.7 MAG 9.06,9.86 SP F5 DIST. 144.72 PC (472.08 L.Y.)

BRT2423 AB: 508; 333x: faint, half delta mag,, pretty wide, bluish due to faintness. Physical
16H 07M 17.49S +18° 52' 01.1" P.A. 334 SEP 4.8 MAG 10.80,11.00

WEI 30 AB: 508; 333x: Easy wide pair, more than 1 delta mag, white. physical
16H 07M 43.95S +20° 22' 27.9" P.A. 224 SEP 12.2 MAG 8.71,10.34 SP F5 DIST. 98.52 PC (321.37 L.Y.)

HDS227 AB: 508; 333x: White star, B appears averted vision only, ~1.5", physical
16H 08M 39.39S +22° 12' 13.8" P.A. 82 SEP 1.2 MAG 8.99,12.28 SP F5 DIST. 100.1 PC (326.53 L.Y.)

BRT3310 AB: 508; 333x: Faint pair, near equal, pretty wide ~5". (not physical)
16H 09M 34.19S +24° 02' 44.6" P.A. 257 SEP 4.3 MAG 11.50,11.70

COU 197 AB: 508; 667x: Suspect elongation only at all powers.
16H 11M 06.97S +20° 14' 38.0" P.A. 47 SEP 0.5 MAG 11.60,11.60

STF 2035 AB: 508; 333x: Lovely pair near bright star. ~1+ delta mag, >2" separation. A blue-white, B is slightly red. Physical
16H 18M 09.39S +25° 51' 41.2" P.A. 35 SEP 2.6 MAG 9.71,10.90 SP F5

COU 412 AB: 508; 333x: Very fine, B flashes with averted version, very close ~1" separation
16H 19M 13.71S +25° 52' 51.9" P.A. 84 SEP 1 MAG 9.90,12.40

BRT3311 AB: 508; 333x: Easy pair, near equal, ~5" separation. Not physical
16H 22M 33.77S +26° 24' 10.9" P.A. 217 SEP 4.8 MAG 11.80,11.70

A 25 AB: 508; 333x: Pretty light yellow and blue stars, B is rather faint, wide separation
16H 23M 59.49S +20° 23' 38.9" P.A. 113 SEP 5.5 MAG 8.28,10.80 SP K0

STF 2043 AB: 508; 333x: Pretty cream white A and grey-blue B, fairly faint, wide separation, large magnitude difference. Physical
16H 25M 26.90S +17° 18' 10.6" P.A. 85 SEP 9.9 MAG 8.03,11.44 SP G0 DIST. 107.07 PC (349.26 L.Y.)

WFC 174 AB: 508; 333x: Dual tenth magnitude, slight magnitude difference, wide. Physical
16H 25M 29.45S +19° 44' 12.6" P.A. 340 SEP 8 MAG 10.58,10.68

COU 198 AB: 508; 333x: Need averted vision to flash B out, very tight in but split cleanly
16H 25M 31.89S +20° 54' 17.6" P.A. 163 SEP 1.1 MAG 11.00,11.60

STH 3 AB: 508; 333x. Nice! Bright white A star, 12th mag B star is close, ~2" separation, and coalesces to a point with seeing
16H 27M 46.52S +20° 53' 44.2" P.A. 286 SEP 2.3 MAG 8.37,12.40 SP G DIST. 76.45 PC (249.38 L.Y.)

STF 2049 AB: 508; 333x: Nice clear but close split, ~2 delta mag & ~1.5" separation
16H 27M 54.63S +25° 59' 03.4" P.A. 195 SEP 1.1 MAG 7.33,8.10 SP A2.5V DIST. 132.8 PC (433.19 L.Y.)

COU 413 AB: 508; 333x: White star, B seen only with averted vision, wide, ~5"
16H 27M 49.33S +25° 05' 34.9" P.A. 320 SEP 4.6 MAG 9.70,10.50 SP A0

STF 2052 AB: 508; 333x: Yellow-white stars, ~1 delta mag, ~2.5" separation, very pretty. Physical
16H 28M 52.67S +18° 24' 50.6" P.A. 118.1 SEP 2.45 MAG 7.69,7.91 SP K1V DIST. 19.66 PC (64.13 L.Y.)

A 2084 AB: 508; 533x: Just hairline split, yellow-orange stars, near equal
16H 29M 33.44S +16° 35' 28.5" P.A. 131 SEP 0.4 MAG 10.24,10.22 SP G0

A 1860 AB: 508; 333x: Pretty light orange and blue pair, wide ~3-4", ~2 delta mag. Not physical, sadly
16H 29M 56.73S +14° 23' 39.9" P.A. 83 SEP 3.2 MAG 9.62,11.40 SP F5

A 566 AB: 508; 333x: cool "double double" in the field. This is the wide pair, near equal, ~5" separation
13H 22M 17.99S +26° 31' 10.1" P.A. 66 SEP 1.9 MAG 9.03,10.79 SP G0 DIST. 180.51 PC (588.82 L.Y.)

STF 2058 AB: 508; 333x: In the same field as A 566. This one is tighter, ~2" separation, near equal and brighter than A 566 -- I guess A 566 was out of reach of Struve's 9-inch?
16H 31M 43.32S +19° 18' 36.5" P.A. 352 SEP 2.1 MAG 10.37,10.55 SP K0

BU 817 AB: 508; 333x: Tight but split nicely, near equal white.
16H 32M 33.43S +23° 13' 56.0" P.A. 327 SEP 0.9 MAG 9.33,9.53 SP F8 DIST. 176.06 PC (574.31 L.Y.)

HO 553 AB: 508; 333x: B not hard to miss, though it is very faint and very widely separated
16H 40M 56.50S +21° 56' 53.3" P.A. 184 SEP 11.6 MAG 7.74,12.40 SP F8 DIST. 45.64 PC (148.88 L.Y.)

COU 2512 AB: 508; 667x: I only see a smudgy elongation, no resolution, seeing maybe getting worse
16H 41M 17.91S +18° 15' 32.9" P.A. 3 SEP 0.3 MAG 11.40,11.40

STF 2085 AB: 508; 333x: A is very light yellow and B very light blue, wide, ~1.5 delta mag.
16H 42M 26.09S +21° 35' 34.3" P.A. 309 SEP 5.9 MAG 7.38,9.17 SP A0IV DIST. 190.48 PC (621.35 L.Y.)

STF 2087 AB: 508; 333x: Pretty, near equal white, wide (not physical)
16H 42M 34.83S +23° 40' 01.9" P.A. 287 SEP 5.2 MAG 8.84,8.90 SP G5IV DIST. 53.85 PC (175.66 L.Y.)

STF 2094 AB: 508; 333x: Tight near equal white with a fainter plus one nearby.
16H 44M 10.57S +23° 31' 02.8" P.A. 73 SEP 1.1 MAG 7.48,7.87 SP F5III DIST. 156.49 PC (510.47 L.Y.)

HU 576 AB: 508; 333x: ! Quite a beautiful pairing, a real contrast in brightness. White is white, B is clean and steady, blue, ~5" separation, very nice pair
14H 45M 20.21S +20° 09' 22.5" P.A. 188 SEP 5.6 MAG 8.70,12.10 SP F5 DIST. 187.97 PC (613.16 L.Y.)

TDS9317 AB: 508; 333x: Need averted vision to see B, then can barely hold direct. Close, ~2", ~1 delta mag
14H 49M 40.92S +17° 09' 56.6" P.A. 141 SEP 2.3 MAG 11.02,11.98

POU3175 AB: 508; 333x: Faint pair, but both easily seen, wide ~5", noticeable mag difference. Not physical
14H 51M 07.34S +22° 58' 42.4" P.A. 299 SEP 3.8 MAG 11.40,12.20

COU 305 AB: 508; 333x: A is bright light yellow. B forms pretty clearly ~4" out, a dim shadow
14H 52M 29.24S +23° 48' 04.7" P.A. 65 SEP 3.7 MAG 7.37,12.50 SP K0 DIST. 210.53 PC (686.75 L.Y.)

COU 408 AB: 508; 333x: Faint, near equal, need averted vision to brighten B up a little
14H 54M 33.66S +22° 51' 10.0" P.A. 174 SEP 1.9 MAG 12.49,13.50

A 2072 AB: 508; 533x: Nice clean well split, near equal white stars. Hairline split at 333x
14H 58M 58.39S +17° 31' 41.3" P.A. 237 SEP 0.7 MAG 10.31,10.41 SP G5

COU 188 AB: 508; 667x: I sense elongation but can't get good focus at 1067x. 667x is best but it's not clean either. I suspect elongation even with just 533x
14H 59M 31.66S +17° 53' 27.6" P.A. 227 SEP 0.3 MAG 9.60,9.80 SP G0

TDS 772 AB: 508; 333x: Tight near equal, faint
15H 23M 09.33S +26° 28' 18.5" P.A. 357 SEP 1 MAG 11.61,11.87

TDS9592 AB: 508; 667x: Very tough, but B appears as the dimmest point within A's first diffraction when seeing totally settles and a is round and still
15H 41M 52.12S +26° 55' 27.4" P.A. 36 SEP 0.4 MAG 10.52,10.77

STF 1967 AB: 508; 1067x: Gamma CrB. Disk is misshapen, but not easy to tell an orientation. 0.7" at discovery, it is near closest separation now. Short period.
15H 42M 44.57S +26° 17' 44.3" P.A. 104.6 SEP 0.22 MAG 4.04,5.60 SP B9V+A3V DIST. 44.78 PC (146.07 L.Y.)

BRT 167 AB: 508; 333x: Nice little pair, ~3" and a slight magnitude difference, with Gamma CrB shining like a great sun nearby
15H 42M 55.89S +26° 23' 37.3" P.A. 235 SEP 3.1 MAG 12.24,12.20

COU 616 AB: 508; 333x: Very nice, just split at this magnification. Slight magnitude difference
15H 48M 27.69S +25° 59' 51.8" P.A. 161 SEP 0.8 MAG 9.31,9.87 SP G0

TDS9703 AB: 508; 533x: A is plain enough to see, white, but to see B I need averted vision and it is so tight it grows like a spike coming from A. Too dim to split.
15H 57M 12.46S +26° 40' 15.1" P.A. 296 SEP 0.7 MAG 11.94,12.22

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