12 august 2020

Last night was pretty frustrating. First I had problems with my pointing accuracy, and spent an hour trying to find stars to sync SkyTools to with the Argo. Finally I redid my star alignment and it worked ok. The back neighbors were having a party; while I don't mind them having a good time it's distracting to observe. They went in at around 11pm and it was much quieter -- though I could hear noise from the highway, and at one point what I think were pistol shots in the distance with a speeding car escaping. Also a bright flash followed by an explosion, someone lighting off a firework. It all settled down after midnight.

Another problem was the seeing was greatly variable. I needed to change magnification and masks frequently to find the right combination. Transparency grew worse as the night progressed, the bane of my sea level location. Still a good night with some interesting pairs. I observed until about 1:30am. I noticed a few Perseid meteors, a couple of which left smoke trails.

TDS 875 AB: 508; 205x: Very finely hair-split, slight magnitude difference, white stars
17H 37M 57.96S +28° 41' 33.7" P.A. 359 SEP 0.9 MAG 10.65,11.07

STF 2198 AB: 508; 205x: Bright light yellow A and ~3 delta orange B, wide  
17H 42M 38.37S +26° 33' 06.1" P.A. 25 SEP 7.7 MAG 7.63,11.22 SP K0III DIST. 176.68 PC (576.33 L.Y.)

HO 85 AB: 508; 205x: Blue-white A and slightly red B, wide, ~3 delta.  Did not notice HDS 2604 Aa-Ab, 0.7", 11.3 mag (though I probably could not have resolved it anyway).
18H 25M 20.37S +28° 04' 59.0" P.A. 196 SEP 4.9 MAG 8.68,12.00 SP B9 DIST. 641.03 PC (2091.04 L.Y.)

STF 2317 BC: 508; 533x: BC much cleaner on this night of better seeing, blue stars very close and faint 

18H 25M 19.45S +26° 04' 45.9" P.A. 315 SEP 1.4 MAG 12.50,12.70 DIST. 269.54 PC (879.24 L.Y.)

COU 815 AB: 508; 333x: B is a faint light orange star but is clearly separated from white A. Tough little pair
18H 25M 44.22S +26° 39' 25.0" P.A. 144 SEP 1.6 MAG 9.01,11.30 SP AP

HD 348678: 508; 205x: Neat equal white stars wide.  Not in WDS 

TDT 908 AB: 508; 205x: ~1 delta mag, fairly wide, white stars, B seen direct but brightens with averted vision. 

18H 29M 29.45S +23° 29' 14.4" P.A. 8 SEP 1.8 MAG 11.12,12.25

POU 3419 AB: 508; 205x: Easy pair, white stars, wide separation, ~3 delta mag

18H 32M 02.77S +25° 04' 01.7" P.A. 234 SEP 9.1 MAG 7.89,12.10 SP A5 DIST. 331.13 PC (1080.15 L.Y.)

POU3427 AB: 508; 205x: Easy wide near equal stars 

18H 32M 58.78S +24° 19' 49.7" P.A. 81 SEP 6.8 MAG 10.12,10.44 SP F5

COU 204 AB: 508; 205x:  Easy wide, ~1 delta mag. Not physical

18H 33M 31.63S +21° 02' 00.8" P.A. 130 SEP 11.9 MAG 10.16,10.70 SP F8

TDT 939 AB: 508; 205x: Beautiful clean split, half delta mag, white stars, very close

18H 34M 15.05S +21° 01' 05.0" P.A. 8 SEP 0.6 MAG 10.82,10.83

TDT 938 AB: 508; 533x: Very faint, exceptionally fine, split with seeing and B is slightly brighter with averted vision. 
18H 34M 18.40S +22° 58' 27.6" P.A. 74 SEP 0.6 MAG 11.50,11.79

COU 205 AB: 508; 1067x: Notched elongation, I have the impression of significant delta mag

18H 35M 17.64S +21° 44' 36.8" P.A. 152 SEP 0.3 MAG 9.37,10.67 SP A2 DIST. 158.73 PC (517.78 L.Y.)

COU 207 AB: 508; 333x: Light yellow A and light orange B, nicely split, ~2 delta mag. 
18H 38M 54.97S +22° 21' 58.7" P.A. 298 SEP 1.6 MAG 9.17,10.60 SP G0

BU 248 AB: 203; 205x: 2 Vul.  White A and light blue B, split outside first diffraction ~1.5" really pretty.  [Burnham discovered in 1876 with his 6-inch at 1.86", "a fine pair with a moderate aperture"]

19H 17M 43.64S +23° 01' 32.0" P.A. 128 SEP 1.8 MAG 5.43,8.75 SP B0.5IV DIST. 373.13 PC (1217.15 L.Y.)

COU 322 AB: 508; 533x: Near equal white stars, nice, split more than hairline, slight delta mag.
19H 18M 11.69S +22° 31' 06.4" P.A. 25 SEP 0.5 MAG 10.42,10.50 SP A0

STF 2499 AB: 508; 205x: White stars, near equal, wide
19H 18M 33.52S +21° 56' 51.6" P.A. 325 SEP 2.6 MAG 8.82,9.12 SP B8

ES 483 AB: 508; 205x: Z Vul.  Pale yellow A with slightly red color wide faint companion.  Not physical

19H 21M 39.11S +25° 34' 29.5" P.A. 3 SEP 13.8 MAG 7.30,12.00 SP B3 DIST. 191.94 PC (626.11 L.Y.)

BU 141 AB: 203; 205x: Very finely split, ~2 delta mag, pale white A and light blue B.  [Burnham discovered in 1875 with his 6-inch]
19H 21M 57.26S +22° 30' 23.2" P.A. 84 SEP 0.9 MAG 7.61,9.21 SP B4V DIST. 260.42 PC (849.49 L.Y.)

TDT 1416 AB: 508; 533x: Exceptionally fine, split with seeing, very faint ~1 delta mag.  B resolves at first diffraction, light orange stars. 

19H 23M 28.49S +22° 34' 19.7" P.A. 298 SEP 0.7 MAG 10.53,11.07 SP K5

STF 2515 AB: 508; 205x: Blue-white A and ~2 delta light orange B, wide.  Not physical

19H 24M 33.33S +21° 30' 57.3" P.A. 141 SEP 6.2 MAG 8.45,10.26 SP F2V DIST. 200.8 PC (655.01 L.Y.)

HO 448 AB: 508; 205x: Light yellow stars, ~3 delta mag, wide 

19H 24M 44.82S +23° 36' 56.1" SEP 7.7 MAG 8.46,10.72 SP G5 DIST. 781.25 PC (2548.44 L.Y.)

WSI 22 AB: 508; 205x: Near equal, wide. Not physical
19H 24M 53.90S +21° 26' 29.1" P.A. 272 SEP 15 MAG 10.32,10.47 SP G5

STF 3111 AB: 508; 205x: White stars, very slight magnitude difference, wide >2". Not physical

19H 25M 06.44S +21° 50' 03.4" P.A. 116 SEP 2.5 MAG 9.92,10.16 SP A0

COU 513 AB: 508; 1067x: Deeply notched overlapping disks -- I think it's hairline split at best moments -- slight mag difference 

19H 25M 08.84S +22° 12' 56.9" P.A. 3 SEP 0.3 MAG 9.22,9.92 SP B9 DIST. 549.45 PC (1792.31 L.Y.)

STF 2525 AB: 508; 205x: Near equal yellow-white stars, wide.  An amazingly precise 882.894 year period.  I will not notice the change...

19H 26M 33.71S +27° 19' 21.9" P.A. 289.2 SEP 2.2 MAG 8.19,8.39 SP F8 DIST. 64.52 PC (210.46 L.Y.)

STF 2524 AB: 508; 205x: Near equal white stars, wide.  Not physical
19H 26M 35.78S +25° 29' 48.2" P.A. 82 SEP 5.4 MAG 9.15,9.53 SP A2 DIST. 346.02 PC (1128.72 L.Y.)

STF 2523 AB: 508; 205x: Near equal pale yellow stars, wide.  Physical.
19H 26M 48.38S +21° 09' 46.2" P.A. 148 SEP 6.4 MAG 7.95,8.05 SP B3V+B7V DIST. 1470.59 PC (4797.06 L.Y.)

A 2786 AB: 508; 1067x: Wow!  Exceptionally fine but clean split, ~1 delta split, best without apodising mask, nearly perfect seeing.  In the same FOV as STF 2523.

19H 26M 57.67S +21° 09' 02.7" P.A. 108 SEP 0.4 MAG 10.10,10.08 SP A2

A 159 AB: 508; 1067x: Super difficult.  B appears just within A's diffraction ring, extremely faint, with seeing which is 7/10.  Coalesces to a point at the correct PA, which I looked up during the observation to make sure I was looking at the correct quadrant of the star.  Part of STF 2527 AC.

19H 27M 20.85S +20° 40' 08.0" P.A. 336 SEP 0.8 MAG 8.50,10.43 SP B9 DIST. 384.62 PC (1254.63 L.Y.)

COU 514 AB: 508; 1067x: Subtle notched elongation, white stars, noticeable magnitude difference.

19H 27M 33.15S +20° 09' 17.3" P.A. 88 SEP 0.5 MAG 9.81,9.27 SP B8V

BU 983 AB: 508; 1067x: QR Vul.  Olive shape seen through "rain" of the diffraction. Even with 8-inch mask there is a definite misshape with a faint tail bump to the ball of A's disk.  [Burnham discovered with 18.5-inch Washburn @ 0.86", so it was easier for him!]

20H 15M 15.89S +25° 35' 31.1" P.A. 185 SEP 0.5 MAG 4.80,7.55 SP B3V DIST. 303.95 PC (991.48 L.Y.)

A 389 AB: 508; 205x: Beautiful well split white stars, slight magnitude difference
20H 16M 00.80S +27° 03' 10.8" P.A. 213 SEP 1.7 MAG 9.89,10.11 SP A5

COU 218 AB: 508; 667x: Hairline split, equal stars, light yellow-white

20H 16M 21.85S +23° 09' 03.0" P.A. 235 SEP 0.3 MAG 9.40,9.50 SP F0