3 november 2021

Last night was something of a gift, as I was not expecting to observe. We've had rainy and cloudy weather all week, but it cleared up in the afternoon tolerably well. After work and family obligations were over, I looked outside at 9pm and saw it was still clear, so I took the tarp off the 6-inch f/15 refractor and started probing some double stars. Transparency was not very good but the seeing was ok. Even in mediocre conditions this telescope will perform well, which is why I am so glad I made the effort to set it up.  At around 11:30pm I felt tired, so I put the tarp back on and went inside -- and it started to cloud up just then so I didn't regret going inside.  In the morning I found it had rained overnight, so things worked out just fine.

BU 396 AB: 152; 285x: Subtly notched snowman, unequal.  Burnham discovered with the 6-inch at 1.2", obviously on a better night.  WDS uncertain, no Gaia data on the secondary.
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 513 AB: 152; 285x: Overlapping disks at all powers, 1 delta mag.  Burnham says: "This most interesting binary was discovered with the 18.5-inch, but at that time it was easily seen with the 6-inch.  It is now (1898) a very difficult object, and only measurable with a large aperture under the best conditions."  1.0" at discovery, it is now 0.4" and found to have a 61.14-year period and will continue to tighten until the 2040s.  I don't find Gaia data on the secondary.

02h 01m 57.55s +70° 54' 25.4" P.A. 14.10 sep 0.4 mag 4.65,6.74 Sp A3V dist. 35.26 pc (115.02 l.y.)

STF 191 AB: 152; 175x: Ice blue A and light orange B, 2 delta mag, well separated. A seems out of round.  WDS asserts it's physical however there is -1% parallax overlap, 603 AU weighted separation, 2.48/1.23 Msol.  Only time will tell.
02h 03m 10.45s +73° 51' 02.1" P.A. 196.00 sep 5.3 mag 6.20,9.10 Sp A5III dist. 118.62 pc (386.94 l.y.)

STF 185 AB: 152; 285x: Very close hairline with 175x, about 2 delta mag, steady split with 285x.  WDS uncertain, however there is -83% parallax range overlap, so it cannot be.
02h 02m 09.27s +75° 30' 07.9" P.A. 9.00 sep 1.1 mag 6.77,8.58 Sp A0 dist. 191.94 pc (626.11 l.y.)

STF 170 AB: 152; 175x: Nice and clean split, light blue A and light orange B, 1 delta mag.  WDS uncertain, but there is some chance it is binary: 16% parallax range overlap, 559 AU weighted separation, 2.36/1.97 Msol. 

01h 55m 27.35s +76° 13' 28.4" P.A. 244.00 sep 3.2 mag 7.49,8.24 Sp A5 dist. 157.98 pc (515.33 l.y.)

STF 114 AB: 152; 175x: Light orange A and very light orange B, 2 delta mag.  WDS uncertain, but there is -42% parallax range overlap, so it cannot be.

01h 24m 08.14s +72° 50' 49.6" P.A. 356.00 sep 3.7 mag 7.23,9.74 Sp A0 dist. 568.18 pc (1853.4 l.y.)

STF 13 AB: 152; 175x: Equal white stars, hairline split.  Nice!  Physical with a 1245-year period.  69% parallax range overlap, 173 AU weighted separation, 2.63/2.47 Msol.

00h 16m 14.02s +76° 57' 03.0" P.A. 47.60 sep 1.0 mag 7.03,7.12 Sp B8Vnn dist. 192.31 pc (627.32 l.y.)

HN 122 AB: 152; 175x: Bright yellow-white A with faint companion.  

STF 48 AB: 152; 175x: Near equal white, well separated.  WDS uncertain, but there is 58% parallax range overlap, 1,493 AU weighted separation, 2.62/2/47 Msol, so it's probable they are gravitational.

00h 42m 40.01s +71° 21' 57.3" P.A. 333.00 sep 5.4 mag 7.80,8.05 Sp ApSi dist. 277.01 pc (903.61 l.y.)

A 2901 AB: 152; 285x: Seems a very subtle out of round, but not certain.  Physical with a 1517-year orbit, will not significantly widen in my lifetime.  Discovered at 0.2", 0.4" now.  No Gaia data

01h 01m 30.15s +69° 21' 30.7" P.A. 66.60 sep 0.4 mag 7.12,7.84 Sp B9 dist. 273.97 pc (893.69 l.y.)

STF 65 AB: 152; 175x: Near equal, white, well separated.  WDS uncertain, but they probably are gravitational with 73% parallax range overlap, 656 AU weighted separation, 2.22/2.24 Msol.  

00h 52m 45.61s +68° 51' 59.3" P.A. 221.00 sep 3.2 mag 8.00,8.02 Sp A2 dist. 255.75 pc (834.26 l.y.)

STF 26 AB-C: 152; 175x: White A and 3 delta mag, fairly wide B.  Component of STT 6, which is 7.54/8.77 0.7" 335-year period -- I did not notice any misshape in A, it should be easy in the 20-inch.  No Gaia data on A or B so sadly can't calculate.

00h 21m 22.17s +67° 00' 19.5" P.A. 115.00 sep 13.1 mag 7.54,9.92 Sp B8.5V dist. 165.56 pc (540.06 l.y.)

STT 1 AB: 152; 175x: Nice to have the first in Otto's catalog.  Hairline split white A and blue B, 2-3 delta mag.  WDS uncertain, and there is -15% parallax range overlap, despite 509 AU weighted separation and 3.17/1.97, it is not gravitational.

00h 11m 50.44s +66° 07' 34.8" P.A. 212.00 sep 1.6 mag 7.45,9.47 Sp A0 dist. 255.1 pc (832.14 l.y.)

STF 136 AB: 152; 175x: White, 1 delta mag, very wide.  WDS says physical based on proper motions, but they do not share their parallax ranges (-53%), so are not binary.

01h 34m 51.61s +12° 33' 31.2" P.A. 77.00 sep 15.6 mag 7.33,8.33 Sp A6V dist. 231.48 pc (755.09 l.y.)

BU 4 AB: 152; 175x: Very subtle out of roundness.  There is another very faint wide B (AC, 7.12/13.60 29.3").  Discovered at 0.5" with his 6-inch, so Burnham must have had a great night.  WDS says physical, but not Gaia data on the primary.

01h 21m 19.23s +11° 32' 12.3" P.A. 106.00 sep 0.6 mag 7.12,8.86 Sp F1III dist. 206.61 pc (673.96 l.y.)

STT 22 AB: 152; 175x: White A and very faint wide B.  B is on edge of detectability.  WDS uncertain, but they likely are binary: 74% parallax range overlap, 754 AU weighted separation, 1.75/0.83 Msol. 

01h 07m 03.98s +11° 33' 07.5" P.A. 202.00 sep 7.6 mag 7.26,10.49 Sp A9V dist. 79.68 pc (259.92 l.y.)

STF 88 AB: 152; 175x: Spot-on equal white stars, wide.  WDS says physical, and they likely are binary: 29% parallax range overlap, 2,704 AU weighted separation and 2.76/2.52 Msol.

01h 05m 40.93s +21° 28' 23.6" P.A. 159.00 sep 29.9 mag 5.27,5.45 Sp B9.5V+A0V dist. 84.32 pc (275.05 l.y.)

STF 73 AB: 152; 175x: Superfine near equal yellow-orange stars, nice!  Binary with 167.5-year period.  It is nearly at apastron and will widen very slightly by 2040.

00h 54m 58.02s +23° 37' 42.4" P.A. 335.60 sep 1.2 mag 6.12,6.54 Sp K1IV dist. 37.98 pc (123.89 l.y.)

BU 303 AB: 152; 175x: Notched elongation all powers.  Burnham discovered with the 6-inch at 0.6" so it was a little easier!  WDS uncertain, lacking Gaia data.
01h 09m 39.15s +23° 47' 39.3" P.A. 295.00 sep 0.5 mag 7.32,7.56 Sp F0IV dist. 121.95 pc (397.8 l.y.)

STF 99 AB: 152; 175x: Light orange A and very faint, 4 delta mag B.  WDS uncertain, but they are likely binary: 45% parallax range overlap, 922 AU weighted separation, 3.89/1.13 Msol.  

01h 13m 44.94s +24° 35' 01.6" P.A. 227.00 sep 7.5 mag 4.65,9.11 Sp G8III dist. 136.8 pc (446.24 l.y.)

STT 26 AB: 152; 175x: Light orange A and 4 delta mag B, wide.  WDS claims physical, but there is -4% parallax range overlap, so they are likely not binary.

01h 12m 59.47s +30° 03' 51.2" P.A. 258.00 sep 10.7 mag 6.34,10.54 Sp G9III+G1V dist. 116.01 pc (378.42 l.y.)

HJ 636 AB: 152; 175x: Very faint wide B needs foveal coaxing and then can hold direct.  WDS claims physical, however they don't share parallax ranges (-15%) and there's a quite far 4,521 AU weighted separation 2.62/1.13 Msol, so they likely are not binary.

01h 14m 20.83s +30° 32' 31.6" P.A. 288.00 sep 20.4 mag 7.36,11.75 Sp B9.5IV dist. 269.54 pc (879.24 l.y.)

STF 98 AB: 152; 175x: Light yellow A and blue B, wide, 1 delta mag.  WDS uncertain, but they do not share parallax ranges -78%.

01h 12m 52.98s +32° 04' 31.7" P.A. 250.00 sep 20.0 mag 7.02,8.14 Sp A0V+A3IV dist. 131.58 pc (429.21 l.y.)

S 393 AB: 152; 175x: Light orange and very wide, faint B.  WDS says not physical, and they're correct, -94% parallax range overlap.

01h 06m 11.20s +32° 10' 53.3" P.A. 295.00 sep 60.0 mag 6.42,10.61 Sp K0 dist. 172.71 pc (563.38 l.y.)

STF 464 AB: 152; 175x: Really nice.  With the refractor, the bright primary star does not flare too much and the very faint B hangs outside the diffraction, a firm fine point.  WDS claims physical, and there is 56% parallax range overlap, 3,450 AU weighted separation, and a heavy 8.15/1.93 Msol.  

03h 54m 07.92s +31° 53' 01.2" P.A. 208.00 sep 12.8 mag 2.86,9.16 Sp B1Ib dist. 230.41 pc (751.6 l.y.)

BU 535 AB: 152; 285x: Strong sense of out of roundness at all powers, but not certain.  Burnham discovered with the 18.5-inch at 1.0".  WDS uncertain, and I don't find Gaia data for the secondary.

03h 44m 19.13s +32° 17' 17.7" P.A. 20.00 sep 1.1 mag 3.91,6.70 Sp B1III dist. 343.64 pc (1120.95 l.y.)

BU 533 AB: 152; 285x: Excellent!  Near equal light yellow-orange stars, hairline at 175x and close clean split at 285x. Burnham discovered with the 18.5-inch Dearborn refractor at 0.4".  WDS has medium confidence of binarity with a 463-year period, currently coming off apastron.  However there is no shared parallax range (-12%), despite only 103 AU weighted separation and 1.63/1.68 Msol.  This may turn out not to be binary.

03h 35m 37.81s +31° 40' 48.7" P.A. 220.60 sep 1.0 mag 7.55,7.74 Sp F4V dist. 85.98 pc (280.47 l.y.)

TOK 13 AB: 152; 175x: UX Ari.  Light orange A and wide, 3 delta mag B.  Spectral class G5IV-V (yellow).  WDS claims physical, however they do not share their parallax ranges (-27%) and the weighted separation (4,893 AU) is very far for the light mass 1.60/0.75 -- they are not binary.
03h 26m 35.36s +28° 42' 55.2" P.A. 129.00 sep 95.6 mag 6.59,10.00 Sp G5IV-V dist. 51.63 pc (168.42 l.y.)