not just for nebula anymore

The star party I planned to attend later this week is being disrupted by the remnants of a tropical storm, with risks of showers and thunderstorms.  Tuesday night (the 16th) seemed the only night I could get away for a darker sky, but being a weekday meant fighting traffic in all directions.  I ended up going to Henry Coe as it's relatively close.

I have been working to recover the 8-inch folded refractor I bought almost a year ago and have made some progress (correcting a flipped objective, adjusting the flat mirror height to spec.) but it still does not provide good clean images.  So instead of bringing it out, I brought my C8, intending to use it in prime focus mode to view star clusters and galaxies.  With prime focus in the C8 I have 78x magnification and 0.5-degree field of view (I couldn't reach focus with my corrector, I need to try a different diagonal).  Unfiltered the whole night.  It fit the night pretty well, and I had been meaning to try out this combination for several months anyway.  Since the Milky Way is slipping into the western sky, and the west is completely washed out at Henry Coe by light pollution, it was no night to try nebula.  The C8 was the best choice, and I'm glad I got to know its capabilities with night vision.

I was the first in the lot and Richard and Philip arrived at sunset.  Richard with a 5-inch refractor and Philip with a lovely 17.5-inch dob.  Once dark I ran through alignment on the AVX mount with Mirach as the last calibration star, and I immediately noticed NGC 404, Mirach's ghost, pretty bright oval with a bright central core.  It is an isolated dwarf lenticular galaxy around 10 mly distant, just outside our local group.  Off to a good start.

I ran through a number of open clusters to start, such as M52, NGC 129, and so on.  NGC 7789, Caroline's Rose, was especially beautiful and really does look like a rose, with semi-circular loops of bright and faint stars expanding from the center and folding into each other.  SQML was 20.4 once fully dark.

I then went through mostly galaxies, and I was very impressed with what I could see.  I had the sense I was seeing in the C8+NV what I had seen with my 20-inch from much darker skies.  

NGC 7331: Bright round core, like a ball floating on a frisbee, an effect of the contrast between the very elongated halo and subtle dark lanes on the near-side close to the core.  Flea NGC 7340 noticed immediately, well away from the galaxy, with NGC 7335 seen with slightly more effort, and smaller, fainter NGC 7336 noticed with considerably more effort.  NGC 7336 not noticed at all, nor the supernova, nor the very tiny NGC 7326 or NGC 7325 on the other side of the galaxy than the fleas.  Philip tried with his 17.5-inch, and I could pick out NGC 7340 pretty well, but not any others -- I may not have been dark adapted because of the night vision device.  Richard was able to see the three I mentioned.

Stephen's Quintet: 3 galaxies (NGC 7318, 7319, 7320) seen with certainty as in a triangle, with a sense of the area inside and around the triangle lumpenly brighter from the surrounding skies.  7318 was the brightest, elongated with a bright core, the other two were small soft irregular glows.

NGC 7549, NGC 7550, NGC 7547: Three galaxies forming an isosceles triangle.  7459 was a small non-stellar oval glow, oriented N-S next to a bright star.  7550 was fairly evenly bright, larger round glow.  7547 was small, elongated 3:1 ENE-WSW, with a bright stellar core.  

NGC 40's bright irregularly round shell had brighter edges on either side of the outer shell, like parenthesis.  There was a gap between the bright central star and the shell, and outflows of nebula escaping the poles.  Most curiously, these outburst portions positively shimmered -- not from seeing, but as if by variations in light pulses.  I observed this twice at different times during the night, at different elevations, and the effect was the same.  

NGC 1501: Prominent central star, faint round halo with crisp edges, forms a subtly irregularly round circle, with soft mottling inside the halo.

NGC 382 is in the center of a 14-galaxy group, most aligned in a N-S string.  I drew 5 galaxies in my sketchbook: 382, 380, 379, 385, 384, though a couple of what I took to be stars might have been small galaxies, but I didn't count those.  They all appeared as small elliptical glows of varying size, brightness, and orientation, and it was neat to see them in a string like that.

IC 342: a soft, moderately large round glow, seen best with gain turned down low.  I sense some swirling effect in the mottling, especially near the center bright stellar core, but it is very subtle.  NV does not do well with face-on galaxies.

NGC 891: This was very large, a bit more than the FOV, and very ghostly, seeming to float in the dense field of stars.  Faint, long, with a prominent dark lane down the center.  

NGC 910 group: Just a half degree to the southeast from NGC 891 is NGC 910 and friends, a string of five brighter NGC galaxies, plus a couple more very faint and small NGC and MCGs.  910 was the brightest by far, then leading north like breadcrumbs were 911, 909, 906, and 914 off to one side.  These all appeared as small elliptical glows in various orientations.

NGC 80 group: Another cluster of galaxies of which I saw eight: 80, 83, 90, 93, 79, 85, 86, 96 all as small elliptical glows, except for 90 which was slightly mottled and round.

NGC 772: This is a disrupted spiral and appeared so: a bright core off-center to a diffuse comma-shaped halo with a long bright arm, which I could clearly see, to the north.  Smaller, fainter elliptical NGC 770 was close by to the southwest. 

NGC 200 and others: Another string of galaxies, this time seven in the field of view (193, 204, 199, 194, 200, 198, 182), all pretty bright oval and round glows except for 199 which was smaller and fainter.

AGC 426, Perseus Galaxy Cluster: when centered on NGC 1272, I can see more than 15 galaxies in the field with direct vision, and a few more with averted vision.  Several bright ones, then smaller non-stellar glows appear.  This view more than anything convinces me the night vision device really does triple the effective aperture!

NGC 1023 / 1023A: One of the more dramatic galaxies seen.  Very large, bright, very long arms extending beyond the FOV, and swirly dark nebula around the core.  The eastern tip had a brightening which is elongated at a slight angle than the main galaxy, this is 1023A, its satellite galaxy.  Too bad Jamie wasn't there to have a look!

It was at this point I remembered how night vision does particularly well with flat galaxies, so I pulled out Alvin Huey's Flat Galaxy Observing Guide and observed some I hadn't looked at before:

NGC 100: Lovely long galaxy at least 8:1 NE-SW, with a bright central core and a halo which gently tapers to very fine tips.  Vmag 13.9, size 5.4 x 0.6'.

NGC 522: Small but bright, with a very bright core and long tapering tips, 6:1 NE-SW.  A string of 3 fine stars just north of the galaxy.  Bmag 13.9b, size 2.7 x 0.4'.  Did not notice IC 102.

IC 194: Difficult, very faint, small but very extended streak nearly N-S, slightly brighter round core.  Mag 15.2p, size 1.4 x 0.2'.

IC 176: Very difficult, extremely faint, needed to check the star pattern in the guide to locate it.  Small 4:1 E-W glow with a very faintly brighter core.

NGC 973, with IC 1815 in field: 193 looks like a smaller version of NGC 891, edge-on and bisected by a dark lane, 6:1 NE-SW, Mag 13.6p, size 3.7 x 0.6'.  IC 1815 was a small out-of-round glow with a brighter core.

NGC 1110: Extremely faint, needed to play with the gain setting to detect it: weak glow NNE-SSW, 5:1, very slightly brighter central region and diffuse, very faint tips.  Mag. 15.0 2.8 x 0.5' 

NGC 1145: Fairly easily seen, in an "L" shape asterism of three equal magnitude stars, 6:1 NE-SW, it has a compact bright core, and the halo is mottled -- I have the sense it is slightly inclined towards us showing some spiral structure.  Mag 13.6b 3.2 x 0.5' 

NGC 1163: Very faint, lays off of a triangle asterism.  Brighter bulging core region quickly fading to sharp tips.  Mag 14.7b, size 2.8 x 0.3' 

NGC 1247: Pretty bright, very bright core, mottled inner halo, diffuse tips, 6:1 ENE-WSW.  Mag. 13.5b 3.3 x 0.5'.

IC 2098: Extremely faint, small, 6:1 E-W, with a slightly brighter round core which bulges from the halo.  Mag 14.5, size 2.5 x 0.2' 

NGC 925: face-on barred spiral, appeared as a fairly large, faint mottled glow with a small bright core and a brighter smudge in the halo glow extending E-W from the core.   

NGC 253: Probably the sight of the night: Gigantic galaxy filling more than the field of view, very mottled halo with swirls of dark nebula around the core.

27 august 2025

Observed with the 6-inch, pretty good seeing for the aperture, some haze.  I went back to using the zoom eyepiece for the connivence.  

BU  692 AB: 152; 250x: Very close B seen intermittently with seeing, very difficult.  -37% PRO, it is not binary.

21h 50m 05.37s +31° 50' 52.4" P.A. 10.00 sep 2.9 mag 7.47,11.03 Sp K0 dist. 181.16 pc (590.94 l.y.)

BU 1516 AB: 152; 125x: Wide and faint, three similar stars in a wide triangle around the primary.  Lacks parallax data.

22h 41m 27.67s +10° 49' 53.0" P.A. 145.00 sep 57.0 mag 3.38,11.60 Sp B8V dist. 62.66 pc (204.4 l.y.)

ES 1028 AB: 152; 180x: Moderately close B seen with foveal coaxing, large delta mag.  35% PRO, 1,336 AU WS, 2.6+1.2 Msol, but RVD 2.7 > EV 2.2, it is not likely binary.

22h 42m 24.05s +54° 14' 54.3" P.A. 243.00 sep 6.0 mag 7.58,10.57 Sp A0V dist. 208.77 pc (681.01 l.y.)

HJ 1756 AB: 152; 180x: Very pretty, with averted vision the system looks like a planet and moons, one on either side, one close (AB) and other father and off kilter (AD).  Can hold the faint stars better with higher power.  B lacks parallax data, A and D don't overlap.

22h 21m 52.83s +40° 39' 59.1" P.A. 286.00 sep 22.3 mag 6.69,10.49 Sp K3.5III dist. 165.02 pc (538.3 l.y.)

HJ 1791 AB: 152; 125x: Wide, 2 Dm.  43% PRO, 1,016 AU WS, 1.3+0.8 Msol, and RVD 1.9 = EV 1.9, 0.08 PMV, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit.

22h 35m 39.29s +56° 51' 40.2" P.A. 59.00 sep 17.1 mag 7.71,9.69 Sp G0

STF2881 AB: 152; 250x: Close split, unequal.  11% PRO, 194 AU WS, 2.1+1.8 Msol, it is likely binary.  SOC grade 4 orbit, 1345-year period.  

22h 14m 34.67s +29° 34' 20.6" P.A. 75.00 sep 1.3 mag 7.65,8.24 Sp F6III dist. 171.53 pc (559.53 l.y.)

STF2908 AB: 152; 125x: Wide, dull white and light orange, 2 Dm.  4% PRO, 2,139 AU WS, 2.7+1.7 Msol, 0.09 PMV, it is possibly binary, an orbit can be tried.

22h 28m 11.55s +17° 15' 47.9" P.A. 114.00 sep 9.1 mag 7.74,9.68 Sp G9III dist. 462.96 pc (1510.18 l.y.)

STF2948 AB: 152; 250x: Very pretty light white and blue stars, close split, seen with 125x, but nicely seen 250x, 2 Dm.  -18% PRO, it is not binary.

22h 49m 36.21s +66° 33' 13.8" P.A. 3.00 sep 2.6 mag 7.26,8.60 Sp B6Vn dist. 261.78 pc (853.93 l.y.)

STF2950 AB: 152; 250x: Hairline split high power only, very unequal.  73% PRO, 102 AU WS, 1.6+2.2 Msol, but -0.03 PMV.  SOC grade 4 orbit, 817-year history, time will tell.

22h 51m 22.51s +61° 41' 47.9" P.A. 270.00 sep 1.1 mag 6.03,7.08 Sp G8III-IV dist. 72.73 pc (237.25 l.y.)

STFA 58 AC: 152; 70x: Superwide, 2 Dm.  49% PRO, but 11,624 AU WS, 6.7+3.9 Msol, but RVD 3.1 > EV 1.3, it is not binary.

22h 29m 10.25s +58° 24' 54.7" P.A. 191.00 sep 41.0 mag 4.21,6.11 Sp F5Iab+B7 dist. 265.25 pc (865.25 l.y.)

STT 458 AB: 152; 380x: Hairline split, unequal, suspected double with lower powers.  29% PRO, 274 AU WS, 3.1+2.3 Msol, 0.09 PMV, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit.

21h 56m 27.30s +59° 47' 42.4" P.A. 349.00 sep 1.0 mag 7.20,8.41 Sp A0V dist. 346.02 pc (1128.72 l.y.)

STT 467 AB: 152; 250x: Light orange star very wide faint B seen averted vision only with 125x, can hold it with 280x.  RVD 4.7 > EV 1.2, it is not binary.

22h 14m 48.57s +22° 31' 24.3" P.A. 273.00 sep 23.0 mag 6.73,12.20 Sp G8III dist. 220.26 pc (718.49 l.y.)

STT 470 AB: 152; 125x: White and light blue stars, close separation with low power, 3 Dm.  8% PRO, 492 AU WS, 1.9+1.0 Msol, RVD 2.3 < EV 3.3, 0.07 PMV, it is possible to be binary, an orbit can be tried.

22h 20m 57.68s +66° 57' 54.5" P.A. 351.00 sep 4.3 mag 7.37,9.77 Sp A7V dist. 104.82 pc (341.92 l.y.)

STT 480 AB: 152; 125x: Wide near equal pair, near an open cluster, which is a few brighter stars and a glow of unresolved stars.  10% PRO, 1,942 AU WS, 1.4+1.1 Msol, RVD 0.9 < EV 1.5, 0.08 PMV, it is possible to be binary, and needs an orbit.

22h 46m 05.29s +58° 04' 19.6" P.A. 117.00 sep 30.7 mag 7.65,8.64 Sp F8

STT 481 AB: 152; 250x: Lovely close spilt with low through high powers, white and blue, 2 Dm.  4% PRO, 576 AU WS, 2.8+1.7 Msol, 0.07 PMV, there is some chance it's binary, an orbit can be tried.

22h 43m 50.72s +78° 31' 05.7" P.A. 277.00 sep 2.2 mag 7.46,9.54 Sp A0II-III dist. 390.63 pc (1274.24 l.y.) 

quick observing trip

I decided last minute to head to the "road 6" observing site, on the central coast, on 24 August.  I could fit one quick trip so long as I started driving back at around 4am to get back home and take one of my kids to school after a doctor's appointment.  I planned to have around 3.5 hours of observing, (8:30pm to midnight), 3-4 hours of sleep, and then the 3-hour drive home.  While places like Lake Sonoma and Fremont Peak were shorter drives, their transparency forecasts were poorer.  

This was my first visit to the site, and while the horizons are compromised by trees and hills in multiple directions, it is a large and flat area, peacefully off the main road.  There's a decent view due south through a gap in hills to -43 degrees declination, then on up through Polaris, so at least objects can be observed at culmination.  After setting up I spent some time clearing the area of loaf-sized rocks which were scattered around, to make the area even more drivable.  Once fully dark, my SQML read 21.35 -- not great but around as good as I've had from this area.  Around 11pm I noticed the sky quality had dropped, to 21.2, and I noticed some high puffy clouds surrounding Polaris.  West and south were still clear, so I continued until midnight.  I used my 10-inch f/3.75 Newtonian with a PVS-14 night vision device and an assortment of filters.  Here are some highlights:

M16 Obvious pillars of creation, the two opposite the dark nebula intrusion which points at them -- along with a finger-like pillar to one side.  The nebula was like a shell, the obvious effect of stellar winds blowing gaseous material away.  I traced the wisps of nebula which surround the brightest part to other nearby nebula and was reminded of how connected they all are -- the bright objects like the Eagle, Swan, Lagoon, etc. are simply more visible because stars illuminate them more.  I can't find a good image to show this interconnectedness -- the following, from the MDW Sky Survey, shows the nebula brighter than what I saw, but hopefully conveys what I mean.  

Sh2-12 / NGC 6383 Bright star with a small associated cluster, surrounded by very faint, large, mottled round nebula, larger than the field so I needed to pan around to its irregular edges, nibbled with dark nebula.  Just off the side from it is M6 the butterfly cluster, which when I center in the field, I can see the outer arc of this nebulous sphere.

NGC 6357 Very small intense elongation in the center of a very nebulous field., with many wisps and knots surrounding it, streaked with dark nebula, speckled with spheres, and wisps trailing from it in all directions.

NGC 6302 Bug Nebula.  I can see it unfiltered, but it completely disappears with the 685 longpass filter, best view TriBand filter.  Though at small scale, I can see the two ansae, one longer than the other.

M57: Bright and round.  Due to small scale, I didn't look for detail.  But in a 2-degree field, the goal was not to see particulars of the nebula, it was to see it floating in the myriad of stars the night vision device reveals.

I woke at 3am after a too-short nap in my car and got out to stretch.  Looking up, I could see M31 in between puffs of cloud.  And then I heard the soft leathery flaps of bat wings and looked up to see a very large bat 10 feet above me, quietly making its rounds.  Starting the drive home, listened to Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber's "The Rosary Sonatas," also called "The Mystery Sonatas."  I bought the CDs from Half Price Books out of curiosity a few weeks ago, not knowing anything about the music, and left them in my car.  I was shocked by their beauty and the virtuosity of the playing.  Biber wrote in the late 1600s, and in parts the sonatas sounded like the honed results of his improvisations on the violin.  He was the Jimi Hendrix of his era, finding new sounds and possibilities with his instrument. Travelling through the tunnel of light formed by my headlights, I saw a frog hopping across the road, a few mice, a young bobcat zigzag in front of me.

I don't know if it was my exhaustion, the exhilaration of seeing things in the sky very few humans even know about, or the transcendence of the music, but I was in a mystical state of mind.  Starting on the main road, I felt my tunnel of light was leading me through a sort of hell, at least an astronomer's hell, complete with vapors and fiery lights.  Few of us travel to our observing sites at night, so it was disturbing to see why the sky quality is not as good as the light pollution map would promise, and why we resort to ever larger aperture telescopes or technology (astrophotography, night vision) to enjoy this hobby.  The nearby military base casts its own light dome.  Individual farms blaze with security lights on sheds and barns.  The haze of fog in the Salinas Valley diffuses the light into the sky, rather than blanketing it like a marine layer.  I noticed a pillar of light, like something from the Bible, forming an awful vertical rainbow miles ahead of me before reaching the source: nighttime pickers at their hard labor, following behind the brightly lit sorting machine and tractor.  Multiple buildings along 101 have bright unshielded lights pointed up.  One large multistory building under construction had around 10 floors framed but lacked outer walls.  The entire inside was brightly lit up -- I presume for nighttime construction crews -- it was bright enough to light the interior of my car though it was a quarter mile away, and it formed a sickly glow in the sky above.  One winery had its tank and pump system completely lit up.  I think north of San Francisco is not being developed so much, so places like Lake Sonoma is getting to be darker than sites south -- unfortunately north typically have worse transparency.  In any case, it does not bode well.

Fortunately, the 2 CDs worth of Biber's music carried me home safely. 

august 18 2025, doubles and titan transit

Observed with the 6-inch.  Seeing was slightly better than average, as was transparency.  I observed a number of double stars as I waited for Saturn to rise, with a Titan shadow transit set to begin at 11:30pm.  Fortunately Saturn was placed well enough to observe with my 6-inch before passing behind the meridian tree, and seeing by that time was better.  I saw the shadow, which was a bit blurred by seeing (and the less resolution to be had from a 6-inch scope), but with moments of sharpness.  So that's two Titan shadow transits, with a third opportunity to come during the September new moon.  I did not forget to have a look at small blue-grey Neptune, which was just out of a low power field of view from Saturn.

I used my Baader turret eyepiece set.  The orthoscopic eyepieces are very fine, and it's not too much trouble to move between the eyepieces, though there is a chance the scope moves out of position, and of course one has to take one's eye away from the view.  The zoom is better, but I don't mind the larger range of magnification the turret makes available.

BU   75 AB: 152; 380x: Excellent close split, slightly unequal.  Approaching periastron, where it was at discovery in 1872.  SOC class 2 orbit, 150-year period (and 155 light years away, in a near symmetry).

21h 55m 31.42s +10° 52' 49.5" P.A. 28.00 sep 1.1 mag 8.40,8.56 Sp G5 dist. 47.78 pc (155.86 l.y.)

BU  133 AB: 152; 250x: Hairline split with seeing, unequal, white.  Lacks Gaia parallax data.  Burnhams notes little change in his era.

18h 27m 43.73s -26° 38' 05.6" P.A. 230.00 sep 0.6 mag 6.59,8.48 Sp A8V+F2V dist. 78.12 pc (254.83 l.y.)

BU  276 AB: 152; 250x: 1 Dm well split in choppy seeing.  -59% PRO, it is not binary.

22h 00m 50.24s -28° 27' 13.6" P.A. 113.00 sep 1.9 mag 5.70,6.77 Sp B8Ve dist. 250.63 pc (817.56 l.y.)

BU  369 AB: 152; 180x: Wide B seen with averted vision low and high powers.  93% PRO, 3,746 AU WS, 2.6+0.9 Msol, but RVD 3.7 > EV 1.3, it is not binary.

21h 26m 29.08s +52° 44' 52.7" P.A. 31.00 sep 16.0 mag 7.59,11.80 Sp B9.5V dist. 198.81 pc (648.52 l.y.)

BU  436 AB: 152; 125x: Wide very faint B.  56% PRO, 2,237 AU WS, 1.9+0.7 Msol, but RVD 3.3 > EV 1.4, it is not binary. HO 290 AC, fainter and closer, is also not binary, not sharing any parallax overlap.

22h 10m 54.89s +57° 56' 28.9" P.A. 327.00 sep 19.8 mag 7.42,12.00 Sp A5 dist. 104.6 pc (341.21 l.y.)

BU  694 AB: 152; 380x: Very close split, >1 Dm, suspected with lower powers but only split with very high.  Lacks Gaia data.  

22h 02m 56.68s +44° 38' 59.8" P.A. 8.00 sep 1.0 mag 5.71,7.76 Sp A0IV dist. 151.06 pc (492.76 l.y.)

H 1  48 AB: 152; 250x: Hairline split, unequal, seems light red and blue.  Lacks Gaia data.  SOC grade 3 orbit, 82.76-year period, it is reaching periastron now and will hang nearly in place for another 30 years.  

21h 13m 42.46s +64° 24' 15.1" P.A. 247.00 sep 0.9 mag 7.21,7.33 Sp G2IV+G2IV dist. 42.75 pc (139.45 l.y.)

H N  56 AB: 152; 125x: Very pretty light orange A and light blue B, 1 Dm, good split.  27% PRO, 380 AU WS, 2.4+1.6 Msol, PMV 0.07, it might be binary, an orbit can be tried.

22h 14m 18.02s -21° 04' 28.9" P.A. 112.00 sep 5.2 mag 5.63,6.72 Sp K0III+F2V dist. 71.58 pc (233.49 l.y.)

H N  73 AB: 152; 125x: Faint wide companion to Deneb.  Lacks Gaia data.  Highly unlikely to be binary. 

20h 41m 25.91s +45° 16' 49.2" P.A. 105.00 sep 75.6 mag 1.25,11.70 Sp A2Iae dist. 432.9 pc (1412.12 l.y.)

HJ 1741 AB: 152; 70x: Superwide, B with averted vision only.  -76% PRO, it is not binary. 

22h 11m 09.78s +50° 49' 23.8" P.A. 286.00 sep 37.8 mag 5.40,10.99 Sp A5V dist. 56.15 pc (183.16 l.y.)

HO  178 AB: 152; 125x: Wide faint B with averted vision.  -5% PRO, it is not likely binary.  

22h 11m 28.36s +32° 05' 09.9" P.A. 221.00 sep 3.4 mag 7.40,11.16 Sp F0 dist. 121.8 pc (397.31 l.y.)

HWE  59 AB: 152; 125x: Very pretty large Dm, like a star with a planet, wide.  89% PRO, 1,301 AU WS, 2.4+1.0 Msol, but RVD 3.9 > EV 2.1, it is not binary.

22h 01m 32.85s -15° 36' 43.2" P.A. 270.00 sep 9.2 mag 7.16,10.32 Sp G8IV+F0V dist. 128.04 pc (417.67 l.y.)

SCA 104 AB: 152; 70x; Superwide faint B.  -84% PRO, it is not binary.

21h 52m 21.25s -03° 10' 28.8" P.A. 116.00 sep 63.8 mag 6.59,11.00 Sp A0 dist. 184.16 pc (600.73 l.y.)

STF2819 AB: 152; 125x: Pretty pair, 1 Dm, wide, light orange and dull white.  Also seen with 60mm 40x.  97% PRO, 1,304 AU WS, 1.8+1.4 Msol, 0.07 PMV, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit.

21h 40m 21.45s +57° 34' 53.7" P.A. 59.00 sep 12.7 mag 7.44,8.64 Sp F5V

STF2833 AB: 152; 180x: Faint wide B, direct but brightens with averted vision.  61% PRO, 1,035 AU WS, 1.7+1.0 Msol, RVD 2.2 = EV 2.2, 0.09 PMV, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit.

21h 51m 56.56s +09° 04' 46.0" P.A. 337.00 sep 8.4 mag 7.84,10.20 Sp A5 dist. 118.34 pc (386.03 l.y.)

STF2834 AB: 152; 180x: Large delta, faint B well split.  11% PRO, 374 AU WS, 1.9+0.9 Msol, RVD 3.0 < EV 3.6, PMV 0.05, there is some chance it's binary and needs an orbit.

21h 51m 40.18s +19° 18' 25.0" P.A. 298.00 sep 4.3 mag 6.93,9.89 Sp F5IV dist. 91.91 pc (299.81 l.y.)

STF2836 AB: 152; 180x: Faint, well split B.  -84% PRO, it is not binary.

21h 49m 08.12s +66° 47' 31.9" P.A. 155.00 sep 11.7 mag 6.53,10.36 Sp F4V dist. 98.04 pc (319.81 l.y.)

STF2845 AB: 152; 280x: Closely split near equal white.  -52% PRO, it is not binary.

21h 52m 20.95s +63° 06' 04.5" P.A. 173.00 sep 2.0 mag 8.07,8.20 Sp B2V dist. 746.27 pc (2434.33 l.y.)

STF2869 AB: 152; 125x: Wide B seen with averted vision only.  -78% PRO, it is not binary.

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.)

STF2873 AB: 152; 125x: Well separated near equal white stars, seen with 60mm 40x too.  84% PRO, 567 AU WS, 1.3+1.1 Msol, but PMV is -0.13, it is not likely binary.  SOC grade 5 orbit 6581-year period.

21h 58m 13.53s +82° 52' 10.8" P.A. 65.00 sep 13.7 mag 7.00,7.47 Sp F8V dist. 29.9 pc (97.53 l.y.)

STN  56 AB: 152; 125x: Faint wide b wide can hold with direct vision, brighter averted.  57% PRO, 796 AU WS, 1.6+0.7 Msol, but RVD 2.8 > EV 2.2, it is not likely binary.

21h 59m 34.75s -27° 37' 49.8" P.A. 36.00 sep 11.3 mag 7.26,10.48 Sp F0V+K3V dist. 75.59 pc (246.57 l.y.)

STT 437 AB: 152; 180x: Very pretty close split pair with low power, nicely seen higher powers, pale yellow-white, very slightly unequal. 13% PRO, 168 AU WS, 1.5+1.7 Msol, but low 0.03 PMV, there is a small chance it is binary.  SOC grade 4 orbit 1218-year period.

21h 20m 50.12s +32° 27' 10.2" P.A. 17.00 sep 2.5 mag 7.15,7.42 Sp G4V dist. 65.62 pc (214.05 l.y.)

STT 457 AB: 152; 250x: Fine split, large delta, white and blue, only split with high powers.  28% PRO, 614 AU WS, 5.2+3.1 Msol, PMV 0.08, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit.

21h 55m 30.99s +65° 19' 14.9" P.A. 246.00 sep 1.4 mag 6.01,8.17 Sp B2.5Ve dist. 314.47 pc (1025.8 l.y.)

STTA225 AB: 152; 70x: Superwide, >1 Dm.  91% PRO, 7,513 AU WS, 1.9+1.3 Msol, RVD 1.6 > EV 0.9, it is not binary.

21h 57m 30.97s +04° 09' 27.8" P.A. 287.00 sep 75.2 mag 7.10,8.57 Sp F5 dist. 97.28 pc (317.33 l.y.)

STTA226 AB: 152; 70x: Superwide, 1 Dm.  -28% PRO, it is not binary.

21h 53m 08.19s +68° 06' 26.9" P.A. 245.00 sep 76.3 mag 7.52,8.91 Sp G8II dist. 421.94 pc (1376.37 l.y.) 

8 august 2025

Another night of predicted good seeing, which was more or less correct.  Observed with the 20-inch again from 10:30pm to midnight.  I observed one super close CDSA piar, but have exhausted my CDSA and movement pair lists for this part of the sky -- fall weather usually being the clearest and with best seeing -- so I observed from a red star list.  Most appeared light yellow or orange to me, though the color was stronger with more magnification.  I used the 7-inch mask for most of these as the star images were much cleaner.  While the colored stars are pretty to look at, my descriptions are a rather uninspired record of their color only.

AGC 10 AB: 508; 1270x: Light orange unequal stars, hairline split 1016x and up.  Wide fainter blue star nearby to west (STF 2570 AB-C).   No Gaia parallax data for the primary but given their closeness an orbit can be tried.

19h 44m 56.78s +10° 46' 30.6" P.A. 137.00 sep 0.2 mag 8.43,8.42 Sp B3IV-V dist. 170.94 pc (557.61 l.y.)

36 Aql: bright light yellow 

BLL  37: light orange 

BLL  38: light yellow orange 

HD 181330: light orange 

HD 183868: white 

HD 186548: must be the fainter star in between two brighter white stars, since it's the only one with color, light orange

HD 187150: light yellow orange 

HD 187238: very light orange 

HD 189114: pale orange 

S  Vul: faint pale red, color shows a little better with magnification 

STF2521: fairly bright light orange, wide companion 

STF2532: light orange easy wide faint companion 

STF2566: very pale yellow 

T  Sge: faint light orange 

V1293 Aql: light yellow 

V342 Sge: pale orange 

V389 Vul: pale orange 

5 august 2025

Predicted above average seeing so I opened the 20-inch and observed from 10:30pm-12:30am.  Seeing was pretty good, so I went for some movement pairs, but rather than improving through the night seeing became choppier.  So, I switched back and forth with the 7-inch mask.  Transparency was poor, and a haze slowly grew thicker as the night continued, with some dew.

B 430 AB: 508; 1270x: Single all powers.  No Gaia parallax data.  SOC grade 2 orbit, now at periastron 0.197", not in my reach.

19h 15m 32.40s -25° 15' 23.8" P.A. 104.00 sep 0.2 mag 5.50,5.70 Sp A8V+G8III dist. 91.49 pc (298.44 l.y.)

STFA 38 AD: 178; 140x: Zeta 2 Lyr.  1 Dm, wide, slight green tint.  83% PRO, 2119 AU WS, 2.5+1.8 Msol, RVD 1.2 < EV 1.9, and 0.05 PMV, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit.  All the Burnham faint stars in this family have vastly differing parallax, they are not binary.

18h 44m 46.36s +37° 36' 18.4" P.A. 150.00 sep 43.7 mag 4.34,5.62 Sp F0IVv dist. 47.69 pc (155.56 l.y.)

BU 1127 AB: 178; 280x: Overlapping disks, 2 Dm.  Currently 0.677", not quite resolvable (should have tried even higher magnification).  No Gaia data for the secondary, an orbit should be tried.

18h 02m 30.89s +44° 14' 02.6" P.A. 39.00 sep 0.7 mag 7.31,9.20 Sp F5V dist. 81.3 pc (265.2 l.y.)

BU 1202 AB: 508; 1270x: Elongated most powers until I can get two photocenters at high power, white stars.  It was 0.656" in 2013, difficult to say it would have closed below my Dawes limit so quickly, unless I observed the wrong star.  An orbit can be tried.  No Gaia data for the secondary.

18h 01m 32.36s +03° 31' 27.4" P.A. 344.00 sep 0.7 mag 8.67,9.69 Sp A0 dist. 246.91 pc (805.42 l.y.)

HU  235 AB: 178; 280x: Very fine close split, 3 Dm.  35% PRO, 121 AU WS, 1.8+1,0 Msol, 0.05 PMV, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit tried.

17h 57m 05.08s +45° 51' 21.4" P.A. 289.00 sep 1.8 mag 6.88,9.04 Sp F7IV dist. 70.03 pc (228.44 l.y.)

 

LDS6413 AB: 508; 140x: Superwide, need to pan the scope.  B is 11-12 mag.  -17% PRO, it is not binary.

18h 00m 38.89s +29° 34' 18.9" P.A. 105.00 sep 88.1 mag 7.08,13.10 Sp G2V+M dist. 28.36 pc (92.51 l.y.)

MLR 571 AB: 508; 1270x: Single all powers.  No Gaia data for secondary.  SOC grade 3 orbit, 71-year period, periastron in 2045 at 0.18"

17h 33m 31.60s +57° 33' 31.4" P.A. 330.00 sep 0.1 mag 7.23,6.87 Sp A5V+G5III dist. 250 pc (815.5 l.y.)

STF2161 AB: 178; 140x: 1 Dm, very slight green tint to each star, well separated. -41% PRO, it is not binary.

17h 23m 40.97s +37° 08' 45.3" P.A. 321.00 sep 4.0 mag 4.50,5.40 Sp B9.5III dist. 120.63 pc (393.5 l.y.)

STF2245 BA: 178; 140x: White, unequal stars, good split.  -74% PRO, it is not binary.  

17h 56m 24.24s +18° 19' 38.1" P.A. 112.00 sep 2.7 mag 7.43,7.55 Sp A0III dist. 240.96 pc (786.01 l.y.)

STF2264 AB: 178; 140x: 95 Her.  Bright well separated, unequal, both light yellow, the fainter star a slightly richer yellow.  95% PRO, 842 AU WS, 3.6+3.6 Msol, RVD 0.6 < EV 3.9, PMV 0.08, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

18h 01m 30.41s +21° 35' 44.8" P.A. 255.00 sep 6.4 mag 4.85,5.20 Sp A5IIIn dist. 127.88 pc (417.14 l.y.)

STF2282 AB: 178; 140x: Unequal, well split.  Missed opportunity, BC is a 0.2" pair, need to reobserve.

18h 06m 30.47s +40° 21' 39.6" P.A. 83.00 sep 2.7 mag 7.93,9.43 Sp A1V dist. 512.82 pc (1672.82 l.y.)

STF2384 AB: 508; 560x: Fine white pair, 1 Dm, good split at high powers, suspected double at lower powers. No Gaia data for the secondary.  SOC grade 3 orbit 133-year period, it is widening toward >0.8" periastron in the 2070s. 

18h 38m 23.66s +67° 07' 35.6" P.A. 307.00 sep 0.4 mag 8.31,8.95 Sp G5 dist. 53.82 pc (175.56 l.y.)

STF3127 AB: 178; 280x: Light blue-green stars, split low to high, large Dm.  -94% PRO, it is not binary.  It's odd that such disparate stars appear the same odd color

17h 15m 01.92s +24° 50' 22.5" P.A. 291.00 sep 13.8 mag 3.12,8.30 Sp A3IV dist. 23.04 pc (75.16 l.y.)

STF3129 AB: 178; 140x: Easy wide 3 Dm pair.  -14% PRO, it is not binary.

18h 01m 07.16s +45° 21' 03.3" P.A. 168.00 sep 30.8 mag 7.59,10.64 Sp B9 dist. 132.28 pc (431.5 l.y.)

STT 331 AB: 178; 280x: Lovely close split, >1 Dm.  8% PRO, 520 AU WS, 3.6+2.9 Msol, 0.05 PMV, it is possible to be binary and an orbit can be tried.

17h 32m 02.86s +02° 49' 25.4" P.A. 353.00 sep 1.0 mag 7.74,8.82 Sp B5V dist. 476.19 pc (1553.33 l.y.)

STT 341 AB: 508; 560x: Excellent close split, light dull yellow stars, 1 Dm, near a pretty arc of similar magnitude stars.  No Gaia parallax data.  SOC grade 2 orbit 20-year period, it is widening to periastron in 2029, moving from ESE to SE PA.

18h 05m 49.72s +21° 26' 45.6" P.A. 89.00 sep 0.3 mag 7.39,8.82 Sp G0V+G5V dist. 39.45 pc (128.69 l.y.)

STT 344 AB: 178; 390x: Very fine split, large delta, faint B.  -46% PRO, it is not binary.

18h 07m 06.29s +49° 42' 37.6" P.A. 140.00 sep 2.3 mag 6.47,10.31 Sp A2V dist. 221.24 pc (721.68 l.y.)

STT 400 AB: 508; 560x: 1 Dm light orange stars, easy split, suspected low powers, split 280x, nicer view higher powers. No Gaia parallax for the secondary.  SOC grade 2 orbit, 85.61-year period, it is at periastron now and will rapidly close through the 2040s.

20h 10m 13.32s +43° 56' 44.2" P.A. 329.00 sep 0.7 mag 7.60,9.83 Sp G3V dist. 51.33 pc (167.44 l.y.)

 

4 august 2025

Some warning weather and with it an offshore wind to keep the marine layer marine.  Seeing was good for the 6-inch so that's what I used.  The sky was still hazy, so fainter stars were more difficult to see.  Only had an hour and a half out, but it felt nice to be back in the habit.  I have already observed almost all the CDSA list in the summer sky, so I switched to the Burnham list for many of the observations. 

BU 56 AB: 152; 250x: Excellent close pair, 1 Dm, just split with seeing.  2% PRO, 101 AU WS, 1.1+1.3 Msol, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit tried.

20h 05m 07.26s -04° 18' 29.3" P.A. 189.00 sep 1.3 mag 8.01,9.10 Sp F5 dist. 77.46 pc (252.67 l.y.)

BU 60 AB: 152; 175x: Bright white A and very faint close B. 60% PRO, 712 AU WS, 4.2+2.0 Msol, but 0.01 PMV.  It might be binary, and orbit can be tried.

20h 27m 19.20s -18° 12' 42.1" P.A. 148.00 sep 3.5 mag 5.13,8.53 Sp B8II-III dist. 167.22 pc (545.47 l.y.)

BU 62 AB: 152; 250x: Very finely split faint stars, near equal.  -18% PRO, 607 AU WS, 2.8+2.3 Msol, it is not likely binary.

20h 28m 00.64s +30° 08' 02.6" P.A. 133.00 sep 1.2 mag 8.70,9.79 Sp A0

BU 67 AB: 152; 250x: Overlapping disks, large Dm.  -8% PRO, 181 AU WS, 2.2+1.1 Msol, low 0.06 PMV, it is not likely binary.

20h 50m 36.05s +30° 54' 45.7" P.A. 311.00 sep 1.5 mag 6.85,9.87 Sp A8III dist. 120.05 pc (391.6 l.y.)

BU 68 AB: 152; 175x: Faint, unequal stars, closely split.  -10% PRO, 352 AU WS, 0.09 PMV, it is not likely binary.

20h 59m 28.27s +50° 12' 41.0" P.A. 149.00 sep 2.0 mag 9.20,9.68 Sp A5 dist. 184.16 pc (600.73 l.y.)

BU 154 AB: 152; 175x: Split with low power, better view higher, unequal, fairly close split.  60% PRO, 527 AU WS, 1.7+1.4 Msol, and RVD 1.0 < EV 3.2, 0.09 PMV.  It is likely binary (as opposed to StelleDoppie) and needs an orbit.

20h 52m 49.68s -16° 09' 54.5" P.A. 61.00 sep 3.0 mag 8.97,9.97 Sp G2V dist. 247.52 pc (807.41 l.y.)

BU  249 AB: 152; 250x: With seeing and high power only, white stars, large delta, very fine split.  No Gaia parallax data for companion.  Given how close it is, an orbit should be tried.

19h 38m 21.68s +00° 20' 43.6" P.A. 106.00 sep 0.8 mag 7.40,9.41 Sp A7IV dist. 106.16 pc (346.29 l.y.)

BU  423 AB: 152; 250x: Very faint, near equal, hazy view, with seeing.  93% PRO, 363 AU WS, 2.2+2.5 Msol, 0.05 PMV, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit.

19h 27m 51.67s -29° 29' 55.3" P.A. 127.00 sep 1.2 mag 8.58,8.89 Sp G0 dist. 251.26 pc (819.61 l.y.)

BU 425 AB: 152; 175x: Very fine split, near equal.  -20% PRO, it is not likely binary.

19h 57m 32.28s +20° 17' 40.1" P.A. 240.00 sep 1.4 mag 9.17,9.24 Sp B9 dist. 540.54 pc (1763.24 l.y.)

BU 442 AB: 152; 125x: Rich field in finder and main scope, arc of three stars.  42% PRO, 8,641 AU WS, 4.7+3.4 Msol, there is some chance it is binary, can orbit can be tried.

20h 16m 29.84s +37° 38' 35.4" P.A. 103.00 sep 18.3 mag 9.72,8.04 Sp B0III

BU 1475 AB: 152; 125x: Light orange A and well split B, 2 Dm.  66% PRO, 6,920 AU WS, 5.2+3.1 Msol, but RVD 2.6 > EV 1.5, it is not binary

19h 57m 53.70s -09° 03' 30.3" P.A. 113.00 sep 10.4 mag 7.77,9.47 Sp K2 dist. 247.52 pc (807.41 l.y.)

BU 1478 AB: 152; 125x: Wide B with averted vision only, compared to bright white A.   -70% PRO, it is not binary.

20h 03m 49.62s +14° 58' 58.8" P.A. 170.00 sep 28.6 mag 7.00,11.43 Sp G0Ia dist. 2380.95 pc (7766.66 l.y.)

H N 119 AB: 152; 125x: Bright yellow A and well split, faint 2 Dm light orange B.  64% PRO, 641 AU WS, 2.7+1.1 Msol, but RVD 3.9 > EV 3.3, and there is a low PMV 0.01, it is not likely binary.

19h 29m 52.18s -26° 59' 08.2" P.A. 144.00 sep 7.5 mag 5.61,8.82 Sp K2III dist. 71.74 pc (234.02 l.y.)

S 715 AB: 152; 125x: Wide 1 Dm white stars, seems to lie on the edge of a star field or open cluster.  55% PRO, 1165 AU WS, 2.3+1.9 Msol, but a slightly negative -0.08 PMV, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit.

19h 17m 39.96s -15° 58' 01.7" P.A. 17.00 sep 8.4 mag 7.07,7.90 Sp A3V dist. 132.8 pc (433.19 l.y.)

SCJ 22 AB: 152; 250x: Split with 125x, better seen with 175x & 250x.  Light yellow near equal close split.  -46% PRO, it should not be binary, but it is only 34 AU WS, 0.9+0.9, and a SOC grade 2 orbit.  Parallax may be error prone at near distances?  167-year period.

19h 28m 12.26s -12° 08' 40.7" P.A. 296.00 sep 1.2 mag 8.12,8.69 Sp G8V dist. 36.62 pc (119.45 l.y.)

STF2504 AB: 152; 125x: Lovely well split pair, 2 Dm, white A and light-yellow B.  13% PRO, 542 AU WS, 1.6+1.0, RVD 1.8 < EV 2.9, and 0.06 PMV, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit.

19h 20m 59.85s +19° 08' 43.4" P.A. 282.00 sep 8.7 mag 7.00,9.03 Sp F5V dist. 62.7 pc (204.53 l.y.)

STFB 10 A: 152; 125x:  Altair.  Very wide, need to pan scope.  No Gaia parallax data, anyone's guess.

19h 50m 46.99s +08° 52' 05.9" P.A. 286.00 sep 195.8 mag 0.95,9.82 Sp A7V dist. 5.13 pc (16.73 l.y.) 

28 july 2025

July has been a very poor observing month.  The whole summer has been unusually cool, with the marine layer blowing in each evening.  Good for comfort, bad for backyard astronomy.  This night was clear, but with poor transparency and average seeing.  Nonetheless there were two observations I needed to make, in response to posts I had seen on CN.

HU 575 AB: 508, 564x: A short period pair I've been following in my movement pair list.  This night it was suspected double at lower power but easily split with higher powers.  Unequal light orange stars.  When I compare this sketch to one made in May 2020, I notice considerable change in the PA, and that I needed far less magnification to split it (0.336" PA 71.4 in 2020, and 0.482" 25.4 in 2025).  

Next was the Cygnus Egg, RAFGL 2688, which someone raved how night vision had transformed the view.  Using my 20-inch, I observed it visually and with NV.  

Visually, the nebula appears like two small, faint elongated elliptical galaxies end to end with a small gap between, with the points nearest each other a little brighter.  The "wings" were narrow lines and faded at the opposing ends.  I needed 282x to darken the background sky for the "best view."  Adding a single polarizer, and spinning the eyepiece, helped marginally to bring out more glow.

Using the PVS-14 afocally with the 67mm Plossl+ (38x) and a 685 longpass filter did have a dramatic effect.  It was now a high surface brightness object and appeared like two comets with fan-shaped tails facing each other.  The brighter one appeared slightly larger and seemed to have a star at its inside tip; the other was fainter, with a shorter tail, its inside tip was brighter.  I did not notice any detail; the image scale was small.  I had a similar view unfiltered, but the background sky was brighter, and I preferred the filtered view.

I then used the PVS-14 in prime focus mode -- having removed the 1x objective and using threaded adapters to a 2-inch nosepiece and adding a 2x barlow to reach focus (195x).  Still with the 685 longpass, I had a similar view as afocal but at much larger image scale.  This time, I could see subtle, turbulent dark mottling inside both "wings," but I did not see it as a distinct "X" shape or as concentric rippling (as in the Hubble photos).  I did, however, have the sense of a extremely faint roundish, puffy cloud of nebula, some 3x the diameter of the wings and surrounding them -- but this could have just been background nebulous atmosphere.  Maybe this would show better at a dark site.