jupiter shadow transit

We're in for a couple weeks of clouds and rain.  Last night was a rare gap in the clouds so I was excited to have the opportunity for a double shadow transit on Jupiter, even if it was to last only 20 minutes.  When I started viewing through the 6-inch refractor at 9:30pm Europa's shadow was just past midpoint and the moon itself was quite far away from the planet.  Io was approaching the limb and I watched the ingress.  Fortunately Io entered near the middle of the equatorial region, which was relatively dark with orange and umber sunset clouds, so I was able to see the bright yellow spot well into the disk.  After a half an hour or so Io moved in front of a narrow light tan seam in the region and I could not recover it.  (BTW I have noticed a virtual lack of purple festoons this year, I miss those). 

Some low clouds passed from time to time, and I thought it would get completely socked in, but sure enough it would clear and I could still watch the progress.  Of course transparency was crummy, and seeing generally poor especially when passing over a neighbor's roof vent, but there were moments of very good seeing to enjoy seeing Europa's shadow get closer to the limb.

After 11:15pm I started watching carefully for Io's shadow, and finally saw a tiny nibble in the equatorial limb.  Once it was fully on the disk, Europa's shadow was about the same distance from the opposite limb, and it was interesting to see the balance.  Soon enough Europa's shadow slipped from view just as more very substantial clouds came over, so it was time to cover the scope with a tarp and head inside.

15 october 2021

It was an astronomy filled day yesterday.  From 11am to noon I watched the sun through the 6-inch refractor, both white light (one large spot foreshortened and stretched on the limb with crazed cracks around it, and more cracks elsewhere) and in H-alpha, with many interesting prominences like electric forests.  It is dark early now, 7:30pm, so again with the 6-inch I viewed Saturn, Jupiter, and the moon in their turn as they culminated (they were all on an arc not far from each other).  Great views and good contrast despite a thin marine haze blowing in.  The marine haze spoiled the night a little and I wished I was at a higher elevation, but it was still good enough to continue with some double stars.  Seeing was predicted to be good so I opened the 20-inch and from 9-11pm tried my luck.  The haze shrouded very faint stars but I did observe some interesting pairs.  Seeing was variable and I found myself putting on and removing the mask as conditions dictated.  I stayed pointed just west of meridian, in Cygnus, to avoid roof currents.

STF2610 AB: 508; 205x: Wide, white, near equal.  Not physical. 

19h 59m 07.47s +35° 32' 10.1" P.A. 296.00 sep 4.3 mag 8.76,9.24 Sp B9V dist. 358.42 pc (1169.17 l.y.)

A   719 AB: 508; 205x: Well split, noticeably unequal stars, A is light orange.  WDS uncertain, however there is no overlap in their parallax ranges, -34%

20h 00m 16.61s +46° 20' 19.0" P.A. 109.00 sep 3.0 mag 9.90,10.43 Sp A0

STT 394 AB: 508; 205x: Wide, 3 delta mag light yellow A and blue B, pretty.  WDS says physical, and there is 28% overlap in their parallax ranges, 2,011 AU weighted separation, 2.77/1.22 Msun, so possible it is gravitational.

20h 00m 11.43s +36° 24' 50.8" P.A. 294.00 sep 11.0 mag 7.14,10.27 Sp K1III dist. 152.44 pc (497.26 l.y.)

BU  439 AB: 508; 205x: Not easy, I can just see B with direct vision, very faint and rather closely split to light yellow A.  WDS uncertain, and unfortunately there is no parallax range overlap, -52%.  Burnham discovered with the Dearborn 18.5-inch. 

20h 00m 46.25s +29° 49' 19.4" P.A. 222.00 sep 3.3 mag 7.89,12.70 Sp G0V

STF2619 AB: 508; 205x: Pale yellow-white stars, well split, near equal.  Several other wider pairs.  WDS says physical.  My calculator says there is a -1% parallax range overlap, but all the upper and lower limits are 54 parsecs, and there is only 226 AU weighted separation with 0.99/0.98 Msun, so this very possibly is gravitational. 

20h 01m 01.69s +48° 15' 28.5" P.A. 239.00 sep 4.0 mag 8.91,8.92 Sp G5 dist. 60.02 pc (195.79 l.y.)

BU  426 AB: 508; 205x: Part of a neat double-double with BU 427 CD, all of which Burnham discovered with the 6-inch.  Equilateral triangle of equal magnitude stars, two of which are doubles which look very similar, both with 2 delta mag companions but one with twice (BU 426) the still close separation as the other (BU 427).  Their PAs are about 45-degrees different, each pointed away from the third star in the triangle which unfortunately is not double.  WDS says this one is not physical, but they're wrong: 44% parallax range overlap, 995 AU weighted separation, 1.94/1.20 Msun -- points to gravitational.  If they rejected based on proper motion they may not have considered the direction of the orbit...

20h 02m 07.92s +54° 38' 28.0" P.A. 307.00 sep 5.9 mag 8.53,10.50 Sp K0

BU 427 CD: 508; 205x: Double-double with BU 426.  WDS says not physical, and there is -16% parallax range overlap, so it is not (and the radial velocity delta exceeds the escape velocity anyway).

20h 02m 22.85s +54° 40' 07.5" P.A. 336.00 sep 3.1 mag 8.39,10.18 Sp F2III

HO  454 AB: 508; 205x: B visible with averted vision, wide, 4 delta mag.  WDS says physical, and there is 0% overlap in their parallax ranges, 1,295 AU weighted separation, and 2.51/1.05 Msun, so could be gravitational. 

20h 03m 13.50s +50° 27' 53.7" P.A. 53.00 sep 5.9 mag 7.55,11.36 Sp A0 dist. 194.55 pc (634.62 l.y.)

A  1413 AB: 508; 205x: Pretty tough in a dense field of faint stars, closely separated and 1 delta mag.  WDS uncertain, but it is likely gravitational: 78% parallax range overlap, 1,376 AU weighted separation, 2.46/1.99 Msun.

20h 04m 34.48s +36° 40' 49.1" P.A. 139.00 sep 2.4 mag 9.97,10.60 Sp A7V

STH    A: 508; 205x: Near equal fairly well separated -- I don't find any matches for this in WDS.  This is H. Struve, whom I am guessing is Hermann, Otto's uncle.  

BU 1480 AB: 508; 205x: White A and 2 delta B, well separated.  WDS says not physical, and I can't find the companion in Gaia.

20h 05m 09.84s +38° 57' 06.1" P.A. 328.00 sep 8.2 mag 9.22,11.40 Sp A3

BU 1481 AB: 508; 205x: Faint and very wide   i wonder at the interest, proper motions? WDS says not physical

20h 05m 09.78s +38° 28' 42.4" P.A. 240.00 sep 42.7 mag 6.17,13.20 Sp G3V dist. 18.79 pc (61.29 l.y.)

BEW 3: AB: 508; 205x: B is just on edge of detectability, very busy filed.  Not physical.  Bastian, U., Eisloeffel, J., & Wiese, K., a German amateur group.  Not physical.

19h 44m 19.61s +30° 20' 45.5" P.A. 302.00 sep 11.5 mag 11.80,12.50

GYL  23 AB: 508; 205x: Very faint wide B.  Not physical.

20h 06m 32.99s +33° 02' 17.0" P.A. 180.00 sep 13.3 mag 10.97,12.05 Sp F5

STT 398 AB: 158; 445x: With clear disks and still a bit wavering seeing, I can split this nicely, the stars are 2 delta mag, dull blue-white A and blue B.  Spectral class O9.5III+ (blue).  WDS uncertain, but they likely are not gravitational: -28% parallax range overlap.  

20h 07m 23.69s +35° 43' 05.9" P.A. 82.00 sep 1.0 mag 7.45,9.20 Sp O9.5III+ dist. 628.93 pc (2051.57 l.y.)

A  1416 AB: 178; 205x: B emerges to view with averted vision and foveal coaxing, really nice, 3 delta mag, well separated around 5".  WDS uncertain, but it is not likely gravitational: -71% parallax range overlap.

20h 07m 34.39s +38° 37' 51.5" P.A. 42.00 sep 4.7 mag 8.34,11.20 Sp A3V

A   382 AB: 178; 445x: A bit difficult, A is fairly bright, B is significantly fainter and resolves with seeing, fairly well separated around 2".  WDS calls it physical, but there is -37% parallax range overlap. 

20h 08m 01.18s +42° 23' 06.0" P.A. 96.00 sep 1.7 mag 7.21,9.49 Sp K0 dist. 200.4 pc (653.7 l.y.)

A   721 AB: 508; 205x: Large magnitude difference of 3 delta, white stars, well split.  WDS uncertain, but there is -88% parallax range overlap, no not physical.

20h 08m 27.15s +46° 22' 29.6" P.A. 43.00 sep 4.0 mag 8.42,11.52 Sp Am dist. 393.7 pc (1284.25 l.y.)

30 september 2021

Seeing was forecast to be average, and in any case I was too late to open up the 20-inch for it to cool properly, so the 6-inch it was.  Beautiful star images, as typical.  

STF 2986 AB: 152; 175x: Red A and around 3 delta mag B, no other stars in the field.  CDSA notes say "Local solar type double; very dark field.  AB: ps = 1,070 AU."  WDS notes say "Proper motion indicates physical, parallax indicates non-physical."  In reality there is 46% parallax range overlap, it's only 789 AU weighted separation, and 1.10/0.52 solar mass.  BUT there difference in radial velocity (16.02) far exceeds the escape velocity of the system (1.91) -- and this is the reason they are not gravitational.

23h 09m 57.10s +14° 25' 35.6" P.A. 270.00 sep 31.4 mag 6.61,8.88 Sp G0V dist. 24.83 pc (81 l.y.)

STT 483 AB: 152; 175x: 52 Peg.  Very slightly out of round, not notched, weaker at one end.  254-year period.

22h 59m 11.82s +11° 43' 43.8" P.A. 31.70 sep 0.5 mag 6.11,7.27 Sp A8III dist. 94.34 pc (307.74 l.y.)

STF 2958 AB: 152;175x: White A and very faint blue, closely split around 3", nice.  WDS says physical, and there is 10% parallax range overlap, 341 AU weighted separation, 1.96/1.08 solar mass.
22h 56m 51.47s +11° 50' 54.0" P.A. 15.00 sep 4.0 mag 6.63,9.09 Sp A3Vs dist. 98.81 pc (322.32 l.y.)

STTA 241 AB: 152; 175x: Wide, faint, near equal.  WDS says physical, but there is no overlap in their parallax ranges (-84%), and they are fairly distant 8,944 AU weighted separation, 1.57/1.45 solar mass.  

22h 58m 33.60s +12° 03' 04.4" P.A. 160.00 sep 84.9 mag 8.28,8.37 Sp F2 dist. 111.48 pc (363.65 l.y.)

HO 296 AB: 152; 175x: Subtly out of round, no notch, very slightly weaker on one side.  20.83-year period, it is tightening.  

22h 40m 52.71s +14° 32' 57.5" P.A. 27.10 sep 0.3 mag 6.14,7.22 Sp G4V dist. 33.8 pc (110.26 l.y.)

BU 701 AB: 152; 380x: No resolution at all powers up to seeing limit at 380x.  554-year period, Burnham discovered with the 18.5-inch Dearborn, and noted "The companion is evidently moving with it."  Unfortunately no parallax data in EDR3.
22h 28m 07.24s +12° 14' 55.5" P.A. 174.70 sep 1.0 mag 7.34,9.62 Sp K0V dist. 66.4 pc (216.6 l.y.)

STF 2869 AB: 152; 175x: Light yellow A, B seen with averted vision at first then held direct, wide.  WDS says physical, but there is no parallax range overlap (-78%).
22h 10m 22.02s +14° 37' 47.7" P.A. 254.00 sep 20.8 mag 6.33,12.40 Sp K0III dist. 135.69 pc (442.62 l.y.)

STF 2854 AB: 152; 175x: Nice!  Very fine near equal blue-white stars.  WDS uncertain, but they are likely gravitational with 45% parallax range overlap, 130 AU weighted separation, 1.42/1.37 solar mass.  

22h 04m 22.52s +13° 38' 53.4" P.A. 84.00 sep 1.6 mag 7.77,7.89 Sp F6V dist. 72.1 pc (235.19 l.y.)

STF 2908 AB: 152; 175x: White A and 1 delta mag, rather wide B.  WDS uncertain, and they might be gravitational, 4% parallax range overlap, 2,139 AU weighted separation, 2.72/1.66 solar mass.

22h 28m 11.55s +17° 15' 47.9" P.A. 114.00 sep 9.0 mag 7.74,9.68 Sp G9III dist. 462.96 pc (1510.18 l.y.)

COU 240 AB: 152; 285x: Very unequal snowman at 285x, seeing did not support higher powers.  WDS uncertain, and the primary lacks data in EDR3.

22h 56m 23.71s +22° 57' 21.2" P.A. 289.00 sep 0.8 mag 7.73,8.82 Sp F0 dist. 185.53 pc (605.2 l.y.)

HO 482 AB: 152; 285x: Notched elongation, blue-green stars.  383-year period, missing data in EDR3.

22h 51m 26.66s +26° 23' 27.9" P.A. 13.60 sep 0.6 mag 7.34,8.29 Sp A9V dist. 132.63 pc (432.64 l.y.)

STF 2952 AB: 152; 175x: Wide light yellow A and blue B, 2 delta mag.  WDS says physical, but there is no overlap in parallax range (-17%).  Otherwise, there is a moderate 1,191 AU weighted separation and 1.38/0.73 solar mass, and the radial velocity difference (0.39) is less than the escape velocity (1.77) -- only time will tell if this resolves into an orbit.
22h 54m 11.41s +28° 00' 59.8" P.A. 139.00 sep 17.6 mag 7.74,10.47 Sp F8V dist. 50.84 pc (165.84 l.y.)

BU 396 AB: 152; 285x: Doubtful.  I see a glint in the first diffraction but it did not firm up.  Discovered with 6-inch at 1.2".  Lack of data for the secondary in EDR3. 

01h 03m 37.01s +61° 04' 29.4" P.A. 67.00 sep 1.3 mag 6.06,8.62 Sp F0II dist. 613.5 pc (2001.24 l.y.)

BU 258 AB: 152; 175x: Very fine, 2 delta mag, just split.  WDS uncertain, Burnham discovered with his 6-inch at 0.8"!  Sadly there is no parallax range overlap (-72%).

01h 13m 09.82s +61° 42' 22.3" P.A. 263.00 sep 1.6 mag 6.50,8.80 Sp B9V dist. 201.61 pc (657.65 l.y.)

ARY 8 AB: 152; 175x: Wide trio of near equal mag stars.  AB and AC are physical per WDS.  Per EDR3, AB has 44% shared parallax ranges, but a very wide 16,943 AU weighted separation, 3.12/2.75 solar mass, so time will need to tell.  I do not find data on C.  I did not notice AC the Burnham pair, which has a low catalog number indicating 6-inch era discovery, but the year is 1889 which puts it at the Lick 36-inch, discovery separation 0.4".

AB: 00h 10m 37.25s +58° 44' 53.6" P.A. 101.00 sep 39.2 mag 8.13,8.63 Sp B3IV

AC: 00h 10m 37.25s +58° 44' 53.6" P.A. 43.00 sep 104.7 mag 8.13,8.29 Sp B7V

BU 485 Ca-Cb: 00h 10m 46.36s +58° 46' 10.2" P.A. 257.00 sep 0.1 mag 8.77,9.50 Sp B7V dist. 591.72 pc (1930.19 l.y.)

STF 3062 & STF 3057: 152; 175x: A nice double-double, one is near equal and closely split, the other is 2 delta mag, rather wide, yellow.  STF 3062 is a short 106.7-year period pair (which I did not sketch!) now coming off apastron and which will tighten and make a quarter turn by the 2040s.  STF 3057 is uncertain, but the chances are they are physical, with 79% parallax range overlap, 1,650 AU weighted separation, 4.33/2.29 solar mass.

STF 3062: 00h 06m 15.81s +58° 26' 12.5" P.A. 7.10 sep 1.5 mag 6.42,7.32 Sp G3V dist. 21.48 pc (70.07 l.y.)

STF 3057: 00h 04m 54.98s +58° 31' 55.8" P.A. 298.00 sep 3.9 mag 6.70,9.30 Sp B3V dist. 840.34 pc (2741.19 l.y.)

STF 7 AB: 152; 175x: Surprise!  Very fine white stars, <1 delta mag, very closely split.  WDS is uncertain, but there is 86% overlap of parallax ranges, only 546 AU weighted separation, 3.14/2.78 solar mass, so likely gravitational.
00h 11m 38.91s +55° 57' 40.9" P.A. 210.00 sep 1.3 mag 7.99,8.46 Sp B8V dist. 598.8 pc (1953.29 l.y.)

STF 3049 AB: 152; 175x: Cream white A and light yellow, 2 delta mag B, well split.  WDS is uncertain, but there is no parallax range overlap (-12%).

23h 59m 00.53s +55° 45' 17.8" P.A. 326.00 sep 3.1 mag 4.99,7.24 Sp B1V dist. 1388.89 pc (4530.56 l.y.)

MRI 31 AB: 152; 175x: Very wide pair, slightly unequal, reddish color.  The B star has two close 12th magnitude companions

00h 34m 35.58s +62° 35' 25.7" P.A. 9.00 sep 115.4 mag 8.12,9.01 Sp F7V+F8V dist. 63.01 pc (205.54 l.y.)

STF 10 AB: 152; 175x: Wide near equal.  WDS says physical, but there is no overlap of parallax ranges (-32%).

00h 14m 49.33s +62° 50' 25.5" P.A. 176.00 sep 17.6 mag 8.04,8.55 Sp A2V

29 september 2021

A little out of order but it's been a busy time.  This was from the other night; seeing was good enough to open up the 20-inch but not good enough to push the magnifications very high.  Typical haze from the bay built up by 11pm.

STF2726 AB: 508; 205x: 52 Cyg.  Very bright light yellow-orange A and much fainter, obvious B, well split, same color.  WDS uncertain, however there is no overlap in their parallax ranges, so not gravitational.

20h 45m 39.76s +30° 43' 10.8" P.A. 72.00 sep 5.9 mag 4.33,9.53 Sp G9III dist. 61.65 pc (201.1 l.y.)

STF2716 AB: 508; 205x: 49 Cyg.  Light orange pair, about 2 delta mag.  Spectral class G2III (yellow).  WDS uncertain, there is only 1% parallax range overlap, 757 AU weighted separation, and large 4.62/2.40 solar mass.  

20h 41m 02.54s +32° 18' 26.3" P.A. 44.00 sep 2.7 mag 5.75,8.10 Sp G2III dist. 244.5 pc (797.56 l.y.)

A   378 AB: 508; 205x: Excellent near equal split, light orange stars.  Spectral class G5 (yellow).  WDS 591-year period, and it appears to be starting to make a rapid closure to periastron by 2060.  There is 37% parallax range overlap, 139 AU weighted separation, and 1.84/1.56 solar mass.

19h 59m 22.02s +32° 06' 28.0" P.A. 291.40 sep 0.8 mag 8.48,8.98 Sp G5

BU 1133 AB: 508; 445x: B glimpsed with seeing at 445x, a solid point in some flaring from A.  Suspected at 333x.  WDS says physical, and unfortunately there is no parallax data on the companion.  Burnham discovered on the Lick 36-inch at 0.9".

19h 59m 39.13s +31° 49' 35.4" P.A. 342.00 sep 1.1 mag 6.67,9.91 Sp A0 dist. 158.98 pc (518.59 l.y.)

A   379 AB: 508; 205x: Very nice, White A holding a steady disk, and faint B is nicely separated, <3", around 4 delta mag.  WDS says not physical, and there is no parallax data on the companion.

19h 59m 41.80s +30° 54' 50.2" P.A. 227.00 sep 2.6 mag 7.58,11.08 Sp B6II dist. 450.45 pc (1469.37 l.y.)

BU 1258 AB: 508; 333x: Very fine, 3 delta mag, 2" separation, white A and dull yellow B.  WDS uncertain, and there is no parallax data for the companion.  Burnham discovered on the Lick 36-inch at 1.5" while attempting to measure BU 439.  

20h 00m 15.54s +29° 55' 14.3" P.A. 143.00 sep 1.4 mag 7.47,10.90 Sp A0V dist. 213.22 pc (695.52 l.y.)

L    32 AB: 508; 205x: Near equal, well split, seems double... rich field with many other wide type pairs.  WDS says not physical, and there is no overlap (-64%) of the parallax ranges. 

20h 00m 59.11s +29° 55' 30.9" P.A. 129.00 sep 3.3 mag 10.85,11.00 Sp A8V

AG  245 AB: 5087; 205x: Easy, very wide, two delta.  WDS uncertain, but there is no parallax range overlap (-78%).

20h 01m 52.19s +31° 39' 12.4" P.A. 21.00 sep 16.7 mag 8.67,10.20 Sp F5V

HO  117 AB: 508; 205x: Unequal, wide, 1 delta.  WDS uncertain, but it may well be gravitational: 27% parallax range overlap, 1,284 AU weighted separation, 1.46/1.06 solar mass.

20h 02m 29.65s +33° 40' 56.5" P.A. 314.00 sep 5.2 mag 10.41,11.70 Sp F8

COU1806 AB: 508; 333x: Excellent near equal pair, faint and very close, split with 205x, wider with 333x.  WDS uncertain, and there is no parallax range overlap (-25%).

20h 05m 18.16s +33° 07' 00.9" P.A. 288.00 sep 1.2 mag 10.61,10.62 Sp B9

ES  498 AB: 508; 205x: Like many Espins, this B star needed averted vision to show itself.  Very faint, wide.  WDS uncertain, but there is no parallax range overlap (-97%)

20h 05m 42.33s +30° 19' 39.3" P.A. 309.00 sep 8.3 mag 8.86,12.50 Sp F5V dist. 82.99 pc (270.71 l.y.)

A  1197 AB: 508; 445x: Nice light orange stars at the tip of a triangle of similar mag stars, split with 333x with seeing,  wider with 445x, noticeably unequal.  WDS uncertain, and surprisingly no parallax range overlap, -59%.

20h 05m 50.59s +29° 46' 04.9" P.A. 331.00 sep 0.8 mag 9.87,10.07 Sp F6V

BU  440 AB: 508; 205x: In a busy open cluster. 

20h 05m 57.32s +35° 47' 18.2" P.A. 63.00 sep 6.9 mag 6.78,12.00 Sp O9.5Iab dist. 826.45 pc (2695.88 l.y.)

GYL  88 AB: 508; 205x: Unremarkable faint wide pair.  A.N. Goyal.  WDS says physical, and there is 19% parallax range overlap, but a very wide 16,756 AU weighted separation, 2.67/2.41 solar mass.  Needs more time and observations before calling it.

20h 06m 05.68s +34° 17' 00.7" P.A. 152.00 sep 9.9 mag 11.46,11.76 Sp B8

STF2633 AB: 508; 205x: White, fairly wide, unremarkable Struve, 2 delta mag.  WDS uncertain, but it may be gravitational: 46% parallax range overlap, 10,621 AU weighted separation, 4.72/2.33 solar mass.

20h 07m 57.93s +32° 35' 10.8" P.A. 101.00 sep 11.6 mag 7.95,11.01 Sp B8III dist. 558.66 pc (1822.35 l.y.)

A   281 AB: 508; 205x: White stars, obvious, 1 delta mag, well split.  WDS uncertain, but there is 79% parallax range overlap, 572 AU weighted separation, 1.51/1.36 solar mass, so likely gravitational.

20h 10m 36.85s +34° 52' 03.9" P.A. 173.00 sep 4.2 mag 9.01,9.45 Sp F7V dist. 171.53 pc (559.53 l.y.)

COU1474 AB: 508; 205x: White A, very faint B just on the edge of direct vision, well split 3".  WDS uncertain, but there is 92% parallax range overlap, 1,125 AU weighted separation, 2.08/1.24 solar mass and is likely gravitational.  

20h 11m 46.73s +31° 08' 07.7" P.A. 59.00 sep 3.0 mag 9.30,10.50 Sp F5

HO  120 AB: 508; 333x: Very fine, nicely split with seeing, 2 delta, light yellow-orange A.  WDS uncertain, but there is no parallax range overlap -57%

20h 11m 58.71s +34° 35' 39.5" P.A. 114.00 sep 1.2 mag 9.12,10.65 Sp G8IV

AG  401 AB: 508; 205x: 1 delta fairly wide.  Not physical. 

20h 12m 20.11s +29° 22' 44.4" P.A. 306.00 sep 4.0 mag 9.41,10.20 Sp A0

short period night

The forecast last night was for clear skies, above average transparency, and excellent seeing -- and for once that last forecast did not disappoint.  Except for a pleasant twenty minutes on Jupiter when it was at culmination, I spent all my time observing short period binaries, with good results.  Apodising mask used throughout, since it wasn't quite perfection, but it was pretty close.

BU 1129 AB: 508; 889x: Light orange stars, obviously not single at 445x, and the disks separated as I powered up.  Less than 1 delta mag, the best view with 889x, which showed a constant hairline split even with wavering seeing, PA NNW.  A really nice pair.  Spectral class A8III (white).  121.7-year period, currently 0.328" separated, it is approaching apastron now and will hang there until the 2050s.  Burnham discovered in 1889 on the Lick 36-inch at 0.3" and noted "If [the proper motion in Ast. Gess. Catalogue]...is substantially correct, this is a physical system."   

19h 21m 36.09s +52° 22' 34.9" P.A. 339.20 sep 0.3 mag 7.69,7.84 Sp A8III dist. 205.34 pc (669.82 l.y.)

STT 400 AB: 508; 445x: Easy, nice clean disks, nicely split, 1 delta magnitude cream white A and light orange B, three field stars forming a triangle around it as reference.  PA to NW.  Spectral class G3V (yellow).  Physical with 85.61-year period, it is 0.647" separated at apastron now and with make a quarter turn and tighten to 0.2" in the 2040s.  

20h 10m 13.32s +43° 56' 44.2" P.A. 325.40 sep 0.7 mag 7.60,9.83 Sp G3V dist. 51.33 pc (167.44 l.y.)

MCA 55 Aa-Ac: 508; 445-1778x: Alberio A.  Using all powers at both 20-inch and 7-inch, A is consistently out of round with the weaker end in the southern direction.  Alberio B remains relatively round in the diffraction dance.  Currently 0.365", it is widening to apastron by 2035 and might even be splitable by then.

19h 30m 43.29s +27° 57' 34.9" P.A. 239.40 sep 0.4 mag 3.37,5.16 Sp K3III+B0V dist. 133.16 pc (434.37 l.y.)

COU1962 AB: 508; 889x: Very tough, light orange stars, just barely split at best moments, almost 1 delta mag, PA to S.  =V2425 Cyg, for which I don't find a light curve on AAVSO -- I assume it's easier to observe the split when this is at minima.  Spectral class K0 (yellow-orange).  Currently 0.119" !  Only a 20.414-year period, it will make a quarter turn and widen slightly by 2028, and reach apastron by 2033.  

20h 31m 07.72s +33° 32' 33.6" P.A. 121.80 sep 0.1 mag 9.03,9.51 Sp K0 dist. 48.85 pc (159.35 l.y.)

STT 533 ?: 508; 889x: Split disks within diffraction, light yellow orange A, B is more orange, 2 delta mag, PA to S.  Spectral class G1IV+K2IV (yellow/yellow-orange).  WDS does not give any close pairing; they reference proper motions differences indicating--presumably--the wide pair is optical, but again no pairing listed for a ~0.5" binary.  WDS notes say "Gontcharov & Kiyaeva (2010) detect variation in Hipparcos data which they conclude is due to an unseen companion, orbiting the primary with a period of 45 +/- 5 years. The companion is >4 mag fainter than the primary; spectral type estimated as WD or RD, mass 0.4 +/- 0.3 Msun."  The Sixth Orbital Catalog provides the orbital solution for the Gontcharov pair, shown here, which nearly matches my observation however what I see is much brighter than ">4 mag fainter." and definiely "seen" not "unseen."  I think this is a case where a direct observation (speckle interferometry or more visual observations) need to be made.

KUI 102 AB: 508; 667x: Overlapping disks, strongly notched, white stars, PA to south.  Currently 0.22" it will continue to widen into the 2040s.  58.4-year period.

21h 00m 03.95s +07° 30' 58.2" P.A. 193.20 sep 0.2 mag 6.23,8.13 Sp F1Vp dist. 75.82 pc (247.32 l.y.)

SE 2 BC: 508; 667x: Component of STF2481, which are light yellow-orange near equal well split stars.  High power showed maybe one of them (which I mistook for the primary) was out of round? This is SE 2.  PA of the main pair is nearly N-S, so in my sketch I noted the out of round perpendicular to this, which is nearly correct to the current SW PA.  62.79-year period, currently 0.17" it will make a half circuit and substantially widen by 2050 so it's worth coming back to.

19h 11m 07.99s +38° 46' 52.4" P.A. 256.10 sep 0.2 mag 8.31,9.40 Sp G5V dist. 52.85 pc (172.4 l.y.)

BU  696 AB: 508; 667x: At finest moments very clean clear split, round disks, 1.5 delta, PA just west of north, with two field stars forming a triangle.  160.3-year period, it is approaching apastron and will widen by 2050, currently 0.329".  Burnham discovered in 1877 with the Dearborn 18.5-inch at 0.5" and says: "Obviously the movement of both stars is the same."

22h 04m 30.12s +15° 51' 28.6" P.A. 354.00 sep 0.3 mag 7.95,9.63 Sp G0V dist. 93.37 pc (304.57 l.y.)

HEI 88 AB: 508; 889x: Difficult observation and my notes are a very simple "Maybe?" showing a PA to the SSW.  This turns out to be correct!  35.46-year period, near apastron now, it will widen and turn slightly north to a more westerly PA by 2030.  Currently 0.256".

23h 20m 52.91s +16° 42' 39.2" P.A. 207.70 sep 0.3 mag 9.05,9.84 Sp F7V dist. 77.7 pc (253.46 l.y.)

BU 1099 AB: 508; 889x: Obvious elongation but no notching, PA seems NNE, in a lot of diffraction.  83.1-year period, currently 0.157", it will make more than a quarter turn and widen to 0.2" by 2038.  Burnham discovered in 1889 with the Lick 36-inch at 0.2" and says it's a "close and difficult" pair.  

00h 56m 46.94s +60° 21' 46.3" P.A. 44.00 sep 0.2 mag 6.10,6.57 Sp B7V+B7V dist. 165.02 pc (538.3 l.y.)

BU 1026 AB: 508; 533x: Split with seeing, 2 delta mag, fairly difficult, PA WNW.   Currently 0.345" it will tighten and have a northerly PA by 2040.  

00h 12m 08.05s +53° 37' 26.1" P.A. 326.30 sep 0.3 mag 7.25,8.46 Sp A7Vn+F2V dist. 119.9 pc (391.11 l.y.)