2018 CalStar second night

The sky was more transparent though seeing remained average.  So I didn't try hard on doubles.  I didn't try hard on much -- my observing has been lackadaisical and undirected, so the number of objects observed are few.  The quality of the observations was not good either.  The Argo/Servo still gave me problems.  I need to set it up at home again and really work out the tracking and the handpad control.  I can't do it at a star party when I should be using the time to observe.

I swept some more with the Springsonian, sharing views with Marko and Bill.  At the end of the night around 2am I looked at comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner after seeing it in Steve's scope -- something the scope is meant to do.  This morning at Chez Dan several people were interested in the scope, so I expect visitors tonight.  And tonight I should really put the hammer down -- don't bother with the Argo, just observe.  I think I'll pick some galaxy cluster and work it hard using the Uranometria charts.

Transparency 3/5 Seeing 6/10

WSI 110 / STF 2725: The Struve was easy, half delta mag and wide.  I was after the super close WSI but had no hope of seeing it.
20H 46M 13.31S +15° 54' 26.4" P.A. 321 SEP 0.1 MAG 7.90,8.90 SP K0

AC 15: Tried this at Steve's suggestion, he was not able to resolve the B star -- I gave it a try too but after many passes at different magnifications I could not see it either -- will need to keep trying. [I found out I was looking at 90 Her, when AC 15 is actually 99 Her.  So I need to try again!]

Poskus 1: ~30 brighter stars in a wide oval shape, some fainter behind, around 1/4 degree.

NGC 7006: Very faint galaxy-like, without star resolution, small.  It is a very densely packed cluster of faint stars, so looks more uniform in surface brightness.  205x; did not try higher magnification to resolve...

NGC 7094: ! Some barest hint of round shell without filter, but only having seen it with averted vision first then can hold direct; central star is hazy without filter.  OIII shows it best, brightens the nebula considerably.  The edge is crisp and there is some brightening along the west and south rim.  Somewhat irregularly bright middle.

NGC 7101: Very faint, need averted vision to notice.  Quasi-stellar nucleus, low surface brightness halo with diffuse edge, round.  [C v13.5]

MCG+01-55-005: Edge on 6:1 NNE-SSW but some gentle incline; very faint halo, moderately large.  Stellar nucleus flashing with averted vision.  In spite of its faintness I have a strong sense of spiral structure.  [b14.9]

BU 75: Yellow white and faint blue, well split [Saw AB,C.  AB is 1.1" equal mag.]
21H 55M 31.42S +10° 52' 49.5" P.A. 211 SEP 35.3 MAG 7.72,12.50 SP G5

MLB 282: Did not see -- may not have been looking at the correct star.  It should be near equal triple with 4" separation.

NGC 14 = Arp 235: 333x.  Fairly large, fairly faint, diffuse halo gradually brighter core, non-stellar knot on the west side of the core with what seems to be a spiral arm separated from the knot like a parenthesis also to the west.  Strong appearance of spiral, or at least mottling; core orientated N-S.  [v12.1, IBm]

NGC 7814: Large, bright oval / bulging central core, uneven surface brightness, mottled wide extended halo with diffuse edges.  NW-SE.  333x  [The mottling may have been hints of the dramatic dust lane.]

Arp 130: 205x  Two quasi-stellar nuclei share a round small faint halo.

UGC 148: Small, elongated, very faint, nebulous.  Just barely stellar nucleus, barely brighter core offset to the south, elongated 6:1 E-W, long diffuse tips.  Very pretty.    [SAc b14.0]

IC 4: Small, fairly faint, quasi-stellar nucleus, gradually brighter core N-S, round halo.  [In fact a pretty barred spiral.]

NGC 57: Moderately large, stellar nucleus, bright round core, faint round diffuse halo.  [E1, v11.6]

NGC 100: Beautiful.  Very faint edge-on, lengthens and brightens with averted vision, very long, NE-SW.  Quite a sight.  Some mottling in the core area suggesting spiral or dust lanes.

UGC 1154: Very faint, very small, round, stellar nucleus.  [b14.4, S].

NGC 661: Small, bright, intense oval core NE-SW, diffuse thin halo. [E2, v12.2]

MCG+5+5-11: Averted vision only, small, even surface brightness, N-S elongation.

NGC 670: 4:1 N-S, edge on, bright bulging core and fading tips.  [S0, v12.7]

NGC 672 [SBc v10.9] & IC 1727 [v11.5 SB]: Dramatic pair of large fairly bright spiral galaxies.  NGC 672 is brighter, with a prominent bright core and a large diffuse halo 3:1 NE-SW; the SW halo is brighter and larger (the near-side spiral arm) and is peppered with five faint knots.  IC 1727 is fainter, and more chaotic in appearance: bright but small elongated core NW-SE, with a large faint sweeping halo giving strong impression of spiral structure.  William Herschel discovered NGC 672; how could he miss IC 1727?  Other than the IC's fainter surface brightness, he should have been able to see it.  205x & 333x.

NGC 684: Stellar nucleus, bright small core, elongated 4:1 E-W.  333x [v12.4, Sb]

IC 1737: 3:1 Gradually brighter to the middle, diffuse edges, near the "Putter Cluster" XXXXX
-- Check atlas, wrong designation?

Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner: 10-inch Springsonian, 37x: Bright coma and a lot going on (mottling) in the coma and tail.  Long wide tail and a stubby anti-tail.  Comet filter dims the main tail but livens up the coma.  Steve's 24-inch showed streamers radiating from the coma into the main tail, which appeared larger and with a larger/longer antitail.  Prominently green color.

2018 CalStar first night

I arrived Wednesday at around 4:30pm and the temperature was a surprising 95 degrees.  The Bay Area was under a persistent haze of smoke and water vapor, but the sky kept getting more blue as I drove south to Lake San Antonio.  I found a spot next to Steve and began setting up both my 20-inch and my 10-inch Springsonian.

I started out doing the star alignment with the Argo/Servo CAT, but it would not take -- when I tried to find an object it said not aligned.  This happened twice, before I got the message to redo the first step.  Then I was able to land at an object within half a degree -- it was at the edge of a low-power eyepiece.  But then I had the same problems as before: The object would drift out of the eyepiece and when I use the handpad to try to center it, the object would overshoot.  I kept at it for about an hour, trying to get it to work efficiently, but I felt I was losing observing time and eventually I just gave up.  Since the object I wanted would be off the field I still needed charts to find it.  And I had more trouble with the handpad than I did having to bump the scope manually to keep an object in view in an undriven scope.  I'll try again tonight but so far I am not happy with this system!

When I grew frustrated I went over to the 10-inch for some Milky Way scanning, and felt better at the simplicity of using that scope.  Tonight I need to use binoviewers on it.  I went back to the 20-inch and did some deep sky, but it was not satisfying -- transparency was on the poor side -- and switched to doubles instead.  SQM was 21.5 -- hurt by transparency and the Paseo Robles light dome to the south east. Seeing was 6/10 until about 11pm then improved to 7/10 until I stopped observing around 2:30 am.

UGC 12163: This was the galaxy I was looking for last time I was out at Pinnacles when I noticed a double star.  Using 333x the galaxy had a quasi-stellar nucleus (which tipped me off it was a galaxy and not a star) with a very faint small round halo which brightened with averted vision.  It is a Seyfert 1 galaxy, and close-up DSS2 shows a disturbed barred spiral with brightenings on the NW and SE arms -- might both be background objects?   After observing it I went on to the doubles which surround it:

CHE 406: Orange A, faint B seen direct vision, well split
22H 42M 49.63S +29° 43' 42.7" P.A. 202 SEP 16 MAG 9.13,13.60 SP M0

BKO 665: A is blue-white; B seen averted vision only. well split.
22H 44M 12.90S +29° 36' 37.3" P.A. 23 SEP 17.7 MAG 7.80,13.60 SP M0

I noticed another double 45" to the direct north of the UGC galaxy, near equal, 13.5" separated PA ESE.  The star to the west is [SRB2001] 3 and to the ESE is not identified in SIMBAD or GAIA, so I can't tell if it might be a physical pair.  SIMBAD says SRB2001 3 is just a star, no note of multiplicity.

I went back to CHE 410 to attempt to see the 5" separated 16th magnitude star I noticed before on the DSS2 -- even though it seems not to be a double.  At 333x I immediately saw the 19" separated 13th magnitude B star flash with averted vision as before, but did not see the 16th mag star -- seeing was flaring the star.  At 667x the 19" B star ceased to be flashing AV only and became a steady DV object.  I had a hint of the 5" separated star, which I felt as a small point brightening in the correct PA about 25% of the time, but don't feel I have a good enough sighting to claim it.  Perhaps seeing will be better tonight.

NGC 7303: 205x.  Very faint, diffuse, irregularly bright core & edges, weak concentration, faint nucleus; 3:1 ENE-WSW.  Lies in a general vacancy of stars.  Very faint double star 1.9' to the SW.  Photos show a highly disrupted halo with several knots and a great swooping arm to the NE, which should appear more interesting in larger apertures and higher magnification.

NGC 7292: Diffuse 3:1 with brighter core, but no nucleus -- seems to be a foreground star near where the nucleus would be.  To SW is a group of four 11-12th magnitude stars, three in triangle.  [Saw the foreground star which is not identified in Aladin.]  The halo is larger and rounder in DSS2.

UGC 12011B: Hazy quasi-stellar nucleus, round halo which glows brighter and grows larger with averted vision.  Near an 11th magnitude star 1.7' to the NW.  [This is a pair of galaxies, both Bmag 14, so I am not certain of what I saw.  I did not resolve two nuclei.]

Ray 15: Group of around 12 stars, varying magnitudes.  Four brightest form a square, two to the south appear double.  205x.  [Check this one later, can't find in Aladin]

AGC 10: Part of a wider split system, but can't resolve the 0.2" pair, though elongation is suggested. [AB,C is the wider pair, 7.62/9.81 4.3"]
19H 44M 56.78S +10° 46' 30.6" P.A. 140 SEP 0.2 MAG 8.43,8.42 SP B3IV-V

J 124: Two faint stars around where one is listed [Seeing both AB and AC, 13.5 and 13.7, 20.5" and 21.5", nearly the same PA 254 and 220.]

NGC 6837: Very faint, small knot of stars.  Seems not much different than other small clumps around, detached but not much concentrated.  205x [I should have used lower power to set it off from the background more.]

UGC 11512: Seen at the edge of direct vision [B mag 14.4, SB spiral].  Brightens with averted vision.  3:1 N-S, gradually brighter core, irregular surface brightness.  In a box of four stars, one of which [SW corner,TYC 1080-572-1 vmag 10.64] is double PA to N, 11.25" 1 delta mag.

NGC 6840 & 6843: Both open clusters are poor, loose, with some a medium brightness range and not well separated.  Why the NGC designation?  [John Herschel discovered them, but seems they are not true clusters, just some random brighter stars in front of the richer Milky Way background.]

NGC 6858: Another disappointing cluster, mostly bright stars, bean shaped N-S, rather large.  Pretty orange 9th magnitude star to east in field.  205x.

BU 428: A couple of faint stars, wide separation, cant tell what might be it... [not seen, 0.8"]
20H 06M 43.37S +12° 56' 12.1" P.A. 356 SEP 0.8 MAG 7.55,9.13 SP F4III

NGC 7312: 205x.  2:1 E-W oval halo, very faint, need averted vision to pick up, then can hold with direct.  Gradually brighter to middle. [DSS2 shows a beautiful barred spiral with a bright oval core. SBb, v13.4]

NGC 7374A: My notes say "Oval, very diffuse, gradually brighter to middle" but this is actually a small galaxy with an IC pair -- so not seen, I think.

NGC 7386 area [WBL 688 galaxy cluster 360 mly distant]: 7386 is second brightest and second largest, 3:2 NW-SE, with a bright core, moderately bright and fairly large [S0, v12.3].  5.6' to SSW is NGC 7385 which is bright and large, NE-SW halo & bright core [E2, v12.0].  SIMBAD says quasar 4C.11.71 z=0.026165 is in the core of this galaxy -- radio loud AGN].  NGC 7387 was a small oval glow 5.3' SW of 7386 [S0 v14.0].  NGC 7389 was small, faint, NW-SE 3:1 with a brighter core and lay in the middle of the group.  NGC 7390 was very small, very faint, round at the SE corner of the group [S0 v14.2]. NGC 7383 was at the SW corner, also very small, very faint and round [SB0 v13.7].  So that's six NGC in the area.  I had sense of some other extremely faint, non-stellar smudges, which were likely even fainter galaxies, but they did not come through.

NGC 7479: ! Long bright central bar running N-S then a strong arm sweeping to the west then north in a great mist of halo which grows larger with averted vision.  Eastern arm is much weaker and needs averted vision to see.  There's a faint [v13.1] star just to the north tip of the bar.  The SIMBAD layer in Aladin has an insane number of orange squares, indicating specific objects.

STF 2675: Bright white and 3 delta mag light orange B, well split.  333x
20H 08M 53.32S +77° 42' 40.9" P.A. 120 SEP 7.2 MAG 4.39,8.34 SP B9III

HEI 7: Just glimpsed a speck in the diffraction ring when seeing stills; very tentative.  333x
20H 37M 21.54S +75° 36' 01.5" P.A. 271.4 SEP 0.58 MAG 7.68,10.48 SP K0V DIST. 27.59 PC (90 L.Y.)

ES 137: AaAb not round but really messy seeing, but at 2.26 delta mag is would be really tough at 0.3".  AB is an easy wide split.  BC is a faintest averted vision flash of a split.  [BC data here.]  333x
21H 19M 13.50S +61° 51' 43.0" P.A. 72 SEP 2.8 MAG 10.30,13.00 SP B8

ES 138: White-yellow and blue, 4 delta mag, wide.  667x
21H 20M 25.42S +60° 41' 14.2" P.A. 279 SEP 10 MAG 6.78,13.00 SP F6III

HU 964: Very close but split clean.  Bluish B in first diffraction, ~1", 5 delta mag.  667x
21H 29M 20.54S +67° 03' 03.6" P.A. 269 SEP 1.3 MAG 6.90,12.60 SP A0III

BU 690: Bright orange and very faint westerly B, wide split.  There are several other faint stars in the area more widely split (7 star system). 667x
21H 43M 30.45S +58° 46' 48.2" P.A. 259 SEP 19.3 MAG 4.27,12.30 SP M2IAE+K2I

HDS 3132 = 15 Cep = STT 461: AaAbI want to say this is out of round but it resolves to one point, not two, so very doubtful.  667x
22H 03M 53.86S +59° 48' 52.5" P.A. 144 SEP 0.5 MAG 6.82,9.87 SP B1V

BU 702 = Delta Cep: Slight brightening in the diffraction ring, westerly.  Another off to the bottom left. [10 star system, so the second pair likely part of this system.  Doubtful I saw AB, delta mag too extreme -- need a 36" refractor and 1200x]  667x
22H 29M 10.25S +58° 24' 54.7" P.A. 282 SEP 21.8 MAG 4.21,13.00 SP F5IAB

BU 1092: Notched! Near equal.  With seeing.  667x
22H 36M 08.65S +72° 52' 51.1" P.A. 220.5 SEP 0.37 MAG 8.30,8.30 SP F5 DIST. 84.46 PC (275.51 L.Y.)

STT 484: Not seen, just flares.  Near equal nearby, what is it? [I was perhaps just looking at the wrong star.  When I type the coordinates into Aladin it takes me to a near equal pair just as I described in my notes.  This star and its pair show multiple diffraction spikes which indicate multiplicity.  There are 6 stars in the system.  I need to try this one again.]
22H 56M 13.13S +72° 50' 14.5" P.A. 95.6 SEP 0.32 MAG 7.57,9.47 SP A2 DIST. 178.57 PC (582.5 L.Y.)

BU 180: Exceedingly fine split at best moments, hairline, 1 delta mag.
23H 07M 09.99S +60° 49' 57.1" P.A. 131.3 SEP 0.52 MAG 7.95,9.23 SP A5IV DIST. 255.75 PC (834.26 L.Y.)

BU 1148: Not see B; strange since I should be able to.  Maybe something wrong with magnitude measure.
23H 27M 17.22S +65° 37' 15.8" P.A. 76 SEP 2.1 MAG 6.84,12.60 SP K0

pleasant night

Had a nice night out with Big Blue last night.  Seeing was surprisingly good 6-7/10, and transparency remained iffy 3/5, but better than most recent nights.

My first task was to compare the views in two finderscope eyepieces, the 20mm SWA from Agena and a 35mm old tank eyepiece I acquired, to which I added crosshairs (using real hair -- worked surprisingly well though I was a little off-center).  I compared the same star fields and noted what I could see -- in the end the 20mm won because of better contrast, easier eye positioning, and having nearly the same field, despite some coma at the outer edges.  I dislike the double cross hair in the 20mm but decided I could live with it.  

I started in on some doubles following the CDSA:

Delta Her: Nice wide pair, good image quality, yellow and lighter yellow, 277x.  [AB seen.  A is a 0.1" pair need to give it a try in the 20-inch.]

17H 15M 01.92S +24° 50' 22.5" P.A. 288 SEP 12.7 MAG 3.12,8.30 SP A3IV DIST. 23.04 PC (75.16 L.Y.)

Shy 713: Nice wide finder split, near equal mag yellow stars.  277x

17H 11M 03.17S +24° 14' 15.4" P.A. 74 SEP 195.5 MAG 6.22,6.98 SP A8V+F2V DIST. 82.3 PC (268.46 L.Y.)

STF 2194: Pretty orange and blue, 2 delta mag, very wide.  83 Her nearby is a reddish-orange color.  277x  [AB seen, AC much wider.]

17H 41M 05.50S +24° 30' 47.2" P.A. 9 SEP 16.5 MAG 6.51,9.28 SP K1III DIST. 161.81 PC (527.82 L.Y.)

STF 2198: Orange star with very much fainter bluish B, seen at the edge of AV/DV, wide.  277x

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.)

STF 2220: Bright yellow with diffraction spikes and some haze around it (transparency).  4 delta mag small star on the edge of the haze, wide separation.  277x  [A,BC seen.  Several more pairings in this system, including AC 7 = BC 0.6" equal mags I should have been able to resolve, TRN 7 = Aa,Ab 1.6" 9.21 delta mag.  Need to give this another try.]

17H 46M 27.51S +27° 43' 14.3" P.A. 249 SEP 35.5 MAG 3.49,9.78 SP G5IV+M3.5 DIST. 8.31 PC (27.11 L.Y.)

STF 2232: Pretty blue-white pair, 3 delta mag, fairly wide.  277x

17H 50M 15.00S +25° 17' 27.6" P.A. 138 SEP 6.3 MAG 6.71,8.85 SP A1V DIST. 147.49 PC (481.11 L.Y.)

LDS 6413: Pretty orange star A.  B 13th mag 88" -- not likely seen though there are several very faint stars about.  277x

18H 00M 38.89S +29° 34' 18.9" P.A. 105 SEP 87.7 MAG 7.08,13.10 SP G2V+M DIST. 28.36 PC (92.51 L.Y.)

AC 15 = 99 Her: ! Bright yellow star, suspected double at 277x but needed 553x to resolve a 9th mag orange B when seeing stilled, resolved as a point just outside where the diffraction ring was.  CDSA: "Local, solar type binary, faint field.  AB system 1.8 solar mass, p=56 y orbit r = 17 AU, e = 0.77, apastron 2025" [7 star system, saw AB, rest are >10th mag and wide except for SCA 170 = Aa,Ab which is 0.2" but no magnitude given -- try with the 20-inch]

18H 07M 01.61S +30° 33' 42.7" P.A. 331.4 SEP 1.44 MAG 5.13,8.96 SP F7V DIST. 15.64 PC (51.02 L.Y.)

H V 93: Finder split, wide = white.  277x.

STF 2315: ! Hairline split @ 553x near equal mag.  Suspected elongation at 277x.  [I observed this before and reported overlapping disks.  5 stars in system faint and wide]

18H 24M 58.46S +27° 23' 41.3" P.A. 115.7 SEP 0.6 MAG 6.57,7.77 SP A0V+A4V DIST. 117.51 PC (383.32 L.Y.)

BU 1326: Extremely faint 5" and another faint farther out.  Physical?  553x.  [BU a triple there are 5 stars in the system; AB & AC seen]

18H 26M 40.93S +26° 26' 57.2" P.A. 104 SEP 4.7 MAG 6.48,12.10 SP B3V DIST. 321.54 PC (1048.86 L.Y.)

I ended the night on Mars, using binoviewers at 310x, the apodizing mask, and the planetary filter.  The pole was nice and there were some dark features (Mare Cimmerium) ringed around it in the temperate zone.  The rest seemed to have features which were obscured by clouds, and the southern rim (Utopia) had a blue-yellow fringe.

light observing

Had my first look at Mars this season 10:30pm 8/17, at least with some detail.  With binoviewers, 93x, planetary filter, it was a nice orange-red color (it was mostly yellow without the filter) but with all the dark surface features veiled by atmospheric dust.   The north pole was very visible, but the south pole was more yellowish fringe.  Also yellowish on the eastern horizon where maybe the dust storm rages?  I traced the darker features – Syrtis Major, Iapygia, Hellas as a round light patch, and Sinus Meridiani.

Also had looks at the moon and Saturn, and some sweeping.  Seeing was not particularly good, and there was a lot of mist in the air – I could see the beams from the headlights of commercial jets as they made their approach to the airport – neat to look at when they made their turns.

Sunday night the 18^th the seeing was better but still some transparency problems (though it had been forecast to be fully transparent).  Quarter moon.  I worked some doubles, starting with those around M13 (and made a sketch of their location relative to the great cluster of my finderscope view, complete with “detailed” close up views outside the frame), then moving on to Aquila which was at culmination.

STF 2101: Yellow and a deeper yellow.  There’s an anonymous pair just west of STF 2101, a faint orange pair, looks like a 2+1 system.  [AB seen.  AC & AD super wide and faint.]

16^H 45^M 48.14^S +35° 37' 50.5" P.A. 47 SEP 4.1 MAG 7.51,9.39 SP F6V DIST. 58.82 PC (191.87 L.Y.)

STF 2104: White and yellow
16H 48M 41.48S +35° 55' 19.3" P.A. 17 SEP 5.7 MAG 7.49,8.78 SP F2 DIST. 172.71 PC (563.38 L.Y.)

STF 2404: Both orange, very well split, around 7”
18H 50M 45.55S +10° 58' 35.2" P.A. 182 SEP 3.5 MAG 6.92,7.77 SP K5III+K3

BU 265: ~1.5”, faint, 2 delta mag
18H 50M 14.94S +11° 31' 21.5" P.A. 231 SEP 1.4 MAG 7.37,9.24 SP A1V+G:III

11 Aql = STF 2424: Yellow and very much fainter blue B, wide separation.  [AB seen, AC 13.4 mag]

18H 59M 05.73S +13° 37' 21.2" P.A. 302 SEP 21 MAG 5.32,9.30 SP F6IV

ENG 65: Bright star and very wide separated, very much fainter B.  There’s a few faint stars scattered about so likely is a system. [Indeed an AB & BC, both faint.  Not physical]

18H 59M 37.39S +15° 04' 06.5" P.A. 185 SEP 123.4 MAG 4.13,10.56 SP K1-III DIST. 47.51 PC (154.98 L.Y.)

STF 2428: 3 delta mag, wide yellow and blue.

18H 59M 56.53S +14° 54' 39.9" P.A. 287 SEP 6.7 MAG 8.22,10.31 SP F2

STF 2432:  White and 3-4 delta mag B, very wide separation.  Is B a pair?  Seems elongated; but could just be seeing, if stilled it resolves to point.

19H 01M 48.60S +12° 32' 27.5" P.A. 87 SEP 14.8 MAG 6.82,10.44 SP B8IV

STF 2471: Detected B with averted vision.  Wide and white; can hold B directly when I know where it is.

19H 10M 56.93S +08° 07' 17.6" P.A. 122 SEP 8.6 MAG 7.48,10.64 SP A9V

A98: Very faint but direct vision B is a point.  Very wide. [Need to look at this one again.  AB seen, A, BC, then BC is 11.0/11.1 1.1"]

19H 14M 15.99S -08° 43' 08.5" P.A. 130 SEP 23.5 MAG 6.65,11.00 SP K0IV DIST. 65.49 PC (213.63 L.Y.)

BU 140: Two stars could be B, about the same PA.  3 delta mag. [Correct about the 2 stars: AB listed; BC 10.4/11.65 7.8"]

19H 16M 52.12S -10° 58' 18.5" P.A. 312 SEP 47.7 MAG 6.92,11.65 SP G0V

HU 72: 553x & 738x could not resolve – need the 20-inch

19H 20M 24.68S -10° 33' 37.4" P.A. 66 SEP 1 MAG 7.10,11.10 SP M5III

KUI 91: Not resolved, need the 20-inch

19H 29M 21.36S -07° 02' 38.7" P.A. 225 SEP 1.6 MAG 6.37,11.70 SP F7-G1I-II

D20: A is part of a finder split, near equal pair?  B is very faint, 2 delta mag, very wide split.  A has a notched / trailing star in east PA – very close in and very much fainter.  With seeing.  Tough! [What I thought was B is not part of the system.  The A star has a close companion, 2 delta mag and 1.3", likely what I saw.]

19H 31M 15.78S -02° 06' 36.7" P.A. 65 SEP 1.3 MAG 7.22,9.58 SP B5V

BU 976: Cannot say I resolved it, in spite of perfect disk…

19H 32M 12.69S +09° 20' 03.5" P.A. 97 SEP 2.3 MAG 7.06,10.68 SP B9.5IV-V

BU 650: Very faint B, very wide separation.  Averted vision flashed another star very close to A, 2-3”, maybe just a reflection [not sure what the very close was, none listed.  Not a physical system though 6 stars in system.]

19H 32M 13.13S +06° 30' 11.3" P.A. 147 SEP 6.5 MAG 8.17,11.70 SP B9IVP

BU 249: Some brightening in diffraction, but cannot claim.

19H 38M 21.68S +00° 20' 43.6" P.A. 109 SEP 0.8 MAG 7.40,9.41 SP A7IV

STT 380: Diffraction a bit messy but seems olive shaped. [Maybe seen! Complicated system, many pairings.]

19H 42M 34.01S +11° 49' 35.8" P.A. 76 SEP 0.4 MAG 5.37,6.57 SP A3V+G0III

STF 2643: White, ~4”, 2 delta mag.

20H 12M 47.31S -02° 59' 45.4" P.A. 79 SEP 3.1 MAG 7.09,9.40 SP A0V

STF 2654: Wide, 1 delta mag

20H 15M 10.63S -03° 30' 12.9" P.A. 234 SEP 14.4 MAG 6.96,8.14 SP F2V+F4V

Rst 4659: White and 2-3 delta mag, 3” B.  A is elongated?  [Yes! A not elongated.  AC too wide and faint.]

20H 16M 50.26S -03° 29' 30.0" P.A. 7 SEP 1.8 MAG 7.16,9.19 SP F5

BU 56: Orange and blue.  Seeing not so steady anymore.  <1”, 1 delta mag.

20H 05M 07.26S -04° 18' 29.3" P.A. 187 SEP 1.3 MAG 8.01,9.10 SP F5

AC 12: Very nice light yellow-orange and blue-white stars, 1”, 1 delta mag.

19H 58M 22.77S -02° 13' 54.4" P.A. 298 SEP 1.6 MAG 7.54,8.32 SP F5

A170: Not seen, need the 20-inch

20H 32M 05.12S -05° 14' 32.5" P.A. 218 SEP 1.7 MAG 6.75,10.60 SP G8III

BU 672: Bright yellow with very faint, very wide pair. [Question if seen, since 12th mag is just on the other edge of my cutoff at home...]

20H 38M 20.27S -01° 06' 18.3" P.A. 285 SEP 35.8 MAG 4.41,12.00 SP G8III DIST. 103.41 PC (337.32 L.Y.)

I ended the night with Mars at 553x, around midnight with the planetary filter.  The view was slightly shifted from the night before, with more of Mare Tyrrhenum visible, but really could not see much more detail.  It is very low and I had lost the seeing, I think, marine layer would move in a short time later.

pinnacles saturday night

A change in our family plans for the weekend opened up an observing window.  High thin haze persisted in the sky all day, matching the satellite images but contrary to the forecast which was for clear skies, above average transparency, and good seeing.  I drove down to Pinnacles Chaparral Trailhead, willing to make the drive even if conditions were poor, just for a break in routine.  Jamie was there.  We had expected more people to come out, it being both a new moon and near the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, but there was no one at the west entrance, and only a couple of photographers down at the trailhead to take wide angle shots of the meteors.  Jamie and I showed some returning hikers Jupiter, Saturn, and as it grew darker the Double-Double, Ring Nebula, M22, and the Swan Nebula.  One of the photographers remarked he didn’t think it was possible to see nebulae visually – he supposes it can only be captured digitally.  It makes me think how people raised only on technology have an incomplete view of the universe; the only way they can see anything is through their electronic device.  And to boot, he and the other photographers had very poor light control – lights flashing every time they opened their cars, white flashlights, glowing camera screens – it was making me frustrated.  They don’t have a clue what dark adaptation is, or what visual astronomy is about.

Having lost hope of maintaining dark adaptation I started out with double stars.  The seeing was only half decent closer to zenith – too much local seeing disturbance from the heat being released by the land.  Eventually I did venture some deep sky work, though SQML didn’t get above 21.1.  I forgot to bring my Argo Navis and ServoCAT hand controller (I gave myself a big dope slap for that), so all was by star hopping and no tracking.  The Perseid meteor shower was out; I noticed quite a few, including four in the span of two seconds, and one bright long one which was tinged with blue and green color.

BU 287 AB: Extremely bright A and hazily resolved B, very faint, near a diffraction spike and in the round glare of A.  205x.  [9 delta mag!]
19H 05M 24.61S +13° 51' 49.4" P.A. 46 SEP 7.2 MAG 2.96,12.00 SP A0VN

18 AQL = HEI 568: Bright white A and orangish B, ~7-8” @ 205x.  A is elongated / smeared but 410x does not resolve, seeing not good enough.
 19H 06M 58.60S +11° 04' 16.7" P.A. 251.6 SEP 0.29 MAG 5.44,6.39 SP B8III DIST. 214.13 PC (698.49 L.Y.)

STF 2489: Wide orange and white; CHR 85 not seen.  [AB is the STF; AC is WAL 109 very wide separation; CHR 85 Aa,Ab spectroscopic…]
19H 16M 26.78S +14° 32' 40.6" P.A. 347 SEP 8.3 MAG 5.67,9.30 SP B9.5V

BU 653: Orange star and very wide separated B.  Other fainter stars nearby, not especially difficult or interesting… [Well, other than there are six stars in the system in various combinations…]
19H 34M 05.35S +07° 22' 44.2" P.A. 289 SEP 56.2 MAG 4.58,13.10 SP K3IIIB

AGC 10: White and off white wide separated pair, ~1 delta mag, wide.  A is also a pair; I can sense olive shape, very tough.  [STF 2570 AB,C is the first pair, 4.3” 7.62/9.81.  AGC 10 is AB, 0.2”]
19H 44M 56.78S +10° 46' 30.6" P.A. 140 SEP 0.2 MAG 8.43,8.42 SP B3IV-V

HO 275: Suddenly feel colder and seeing became poor—likely an in-rush of air down into the little bowl of the Chaparral parking lot.  A appeared as a fuzz ball, but could see a much fainter fuzz ball in A’s haze ~20” separated to east.
19H 50M 46.80S -10° 45' 48.9" P.A. 121 SEP 26.2 MAG 5.39,13.60 SP F0V

J 124: Much fainter B in haze from A.  [Not seen.  AB and AC are both 13.5 & 13.7, 20.5” and 21.5” separation from A: I wonder they are not paired as their own BC set?]
19H 51M 01.64S +10° 24' 56.6" P.A. 254 SEP 20.5 MAG 5.11,13.50 SP F8V+M3.5V

After a break to perhaps let the seeing settle down, I went back to deep sky,

NGC 6928 & 6930: Needed averted vision to detect 6928 but easily held direct.  It is long, 4:1 N-S, low even surface brightness, tapering tips.  There is a star on the very SW tip.  With longer viewing and more averted vision, the core brightens up like a long sliver in the halo.  [There is a tiny galaxy, LEDA 200365, at the N tip, which was not seen.]  NGC 6930 has a bright stellar nucleus which rides on a bright elongated core; halo 3:1 ESE-WNW.  There is a star directly north of the nucleus on the rim of the halo.  I did not notice small galaxy NGC 6927 which was in the same field to the east. 205x.

NGC 6934: Bright yellow star preceding the globular cluster, which is bright and pretty well resolved with stars across the core.  Somewhat concentrated center, but overall fairly loose.  Stars are cut off on west side; four brighter star chains extend to the east, making it look somewhat like a crown.  205x.

NGC 6944: Two galaxies stacked on top of each other.  6944 is pretty bright, moderately large, with a bright stellar nucleus, 3:2 NE-SW.  There’s a pair of equal magnitude stars to the north east, and a very bright star to the north.  205x.  Did not notice mag 15 6944A (MCG+01-52-016 16’ to the southwest)

NGC 6971: Very faint, very gradually brighter in the middle, diffuse halo.  Elongated slightly 3:2 NE-SW.  Sb. 205x

UGC 11639: Bright nucleus with round, very diffuse halo; small and moderately faint.  In a triangle of stars, one of which appears double.

NGC 7332 & 7339: 7339 has a diffuse long 6:1 E-W halo; stellar nucleus flashes with averted vision, along with a moderately brighter core which runs about half of the halo length along the major axis.  NGC 7332 is brighter, very white prominent core and bright nucleus, 3:1 NNW-SSE.  I had the strong sense of two very small non-stellar patches close to the west of 7332 and one larger and more diffuse to the east of it, but do not see these in images; may have been unresolved stars.

IC 5243 & IC 5242:   Two small, very faint, irregularly round patches at the end of a string of four stars, seem to be interacting; one has a faintly bright nucleus.  With averted vision I see another non-stellar patch, could be other galaxy, to the NE.  [The “two” patches I saw are the single IC 5243 which has a kind of hooked shaped halo.  IC 5242 was one of the faint, averted vision patches I saw.] 205x

NGC 7321: Patchy, irregularly oval, thickly mottled & distorted core, NE-SW.  Likely spiral but I don’t see any structure.  Averted vision reveals a very faint star at the NE tip of the halo.

I went in search of galaxy UGC 12163 which was plotted in Interstellarum as lying between two stars in Pegasus.  In my finderscope I selected what I thought were the correct stars, one a very pretty blue-white and the other a light orange, and began searching for the galaxy, using averted vision, since I didn't see any galaxy at first.  The stars formed a gentle arc of three stars with a moderately fainter one making the third, to the east.  As I flashed back and forth with averted vision, I noticed a very faint star appear close in to this third star.  I had the very strong impression it was a double star and wrote in my noted “AV only double!  Blue from faintness.  Separation ~15”, PA ~300-320°, 3-4 delta mag, 205x."

Checking Aladin at home, I find UGC 12163 was between another set of fainter stars 20’ to the NW of where I was looking (upper right in the below image).  I was looking at the string of three stars is to the SW (lower left) in this image (it's nice to note that both strings have nearly identical looking blue-white and orange stars -- a very pretty arrangement).  The star at the east end of the string is the “double” I saw, and is Tyc 2232-332-1.  The star I was seeing pop into view with averted vision measured 18.95” with Aladin.  The SIMBAD links on all these stars have no WDS listing so I couldn't confirm it was double.

Searching Sky Tools with Tyc 2232-332-1 gave the result that TYC 02232-0332 1 is a multiple, CHE 410AB: 10.78+13.5 mag, PA 302° Sep 18.80" (1906).  It's good to know what I found!

The puzzle is, in the close up image of Tyc 2232-332-1, there is another star, closer in (4.992” as measured on Aladin) at nearly the same PA; it looks like a bulge in the image of Tyc 2232-332-1.  However Sky Tools does not give a listing for the 5" separated star; I wonder if it is part of the system or just a chance alignment?  [This “close in” star is Gaia 22 44 23.09854 +29 37 07.4868 and 16th magnitude, a something to put on the challenge list for Cal Star.]

Close-up of Tyc 2232-332-1 showing 3 stars.  The one I saw is the 2nd brightest to the NW.  The close companion appears as a bulge in the NW “square” of Tyc 2232-332-1.

NGC 7303: Very low surface brightness, round to slightly squashed NW-SE, with diffuse edges; some brightening in the core with averted vision.  Very faint equal magnitude double star to the SW.

NGC 7292: Core is long and narrow, NW-SE, with the nucleus off-center to the SE [based on the image this could be two superimposed stars rather than a true nucleus].  Halo is diffuse and irregular: fan shaped to the east, less prominent to the west.  Core brightens with averted vision.  A spray of stars, like a poor open cluster, to the northeast.

NGC 7286: Small rather bright diffuse halo, 3:1 E-W, bright core and brighter nucleus, to the south of string of stars running E-W.

Arp 273: Small formless mass, maybe two galaxies? Averted vision only, no detail, extremely faint.  Northern part of the mass brighter than the other.  Just to west of pretty orange and blue stars.

NGC 7673 & 7677: Two galaxies. 7673 is brighter, irregularly round, even surface brightness, to the northeast of a pair of bright white stars.  7677 at the opposite end of the stars and is small, faint, irregular surface brightness, round.  The DSS image shows both have beautiful thin spiral arms stretched out from their bright cores.

NGC 7678 / Arp 28: Lies in the lower half of a kite asterism of four stars.  Overall bright, irregularly round, diffuse edges.  Stellar nucleus appears with averted vision; the core is bright but heavily mottled, and has a small bar E-W. A heavy spiral arm spins counterclockwise out from the east then turns south then quickly west, with a thick fog of diffuse halo being shed from it to the south.  The northern half of the halo is round with diffuse edge; I had the strong sense some of the halo encroached the upper part of the kite asterism.

variety...

Had a short night last night with Big Blue, after my brother in law Michael paid us a nice visit.  Seeing was still poor, 5-6/10, but transparency better 4/5 since the wind blew much of the wildfire smoke out of the way (today it is the reverse, we have a thick blanket of smoke overhead today, only a couple hundred feet above the ground...)

Jupiter at 277x, could not clearly resolve even the bands.  One of the moons was ready to occult behind the planet.  There was a star aligned with the planets and perhaps Jupiter will occult it in a day or two.

Tried some doubles at higher elevation:

STF 2079: Wide separation, half delta mag; A is yellowish and B slight red tint
16H 39M 36.33S +23° 00' 06.1" P.A. 92 SEP 16.8 MAG 7.56,8.13 SP F0 DIST. 414.94 PC (1353.53 L.Y.)

NGC 6210, Planetary.  Surprised I could see it.  Irregularly round with hazy edges, and some extensions / darker area eating into the middle.  It grows thicker/larger/brighter with averted vision.

STF 2094: Yellow and much fainter blue wide separation. [AC seen; AB near equal and 1.2" should have been able to see elongation; if seeing supported 553x I would have seen it, or at least I should have tried but I'm too lazy to change magnifications]
16H 44M 10.57S +23° 31' 02.8" P.A. 310 SEP 24.7 MAG 7.48,11.70 SP F5III DIST. 156.49 PC (510.47 L.Y.)

STF 2109: Orange-yellow and much fainter B, wide separation; seeing makes it fuzzy.
16H 53M 45.78S +21° 10' 22.6" P.A. 313 SEP 5.7 MAG 7.52,10.30 SP K0 DIST. 188.68 PC (615.47 L.Y.)

Delta Her: Bright white and yellowish, very much fainter B, very wide separation. [A star is 0.1" pair... for the 20"!]
17H 15M 01.92S +24° 50' 22.5" P.A. 288 SEP 12.7 MAG 3.12,8.30 SP A3IV DIST. 23.04 PC (75.16 L.Y.)

Shy 713: Finder split; within half magnitude of each other, yellow-orange, color more apparent at 277x.
17H 11M 03.17S +24° 14' 15.4" P.A. 74 SEP 195.5 MAG 6.22,6.98 SP A8V+F2V DIST. 82.3 PC (268.46 L.Y.)

ISS Pass: 5:17 UT, I was feeling tired and thinking to pack it in and just looking at the sky when I noticed a bright satellite rising from the west.  It passed just north of Arcturus then started to fade out and was extinguished when it reached the southwest area of Ophiuchus.  [Checked Heaven's Above to confirm, and it seems to be correct, though the time is not correct and the path went to Jupiter...]

Saturn looked mushy in the scope.  It had ear like extensions in the finderscope, low power, so I can understand why it was drawn that way by Galileo. 

catching up from a couple nights...

Friday night the seeing was so poor I couldn’t see any bands on Jupiter!  So low power views only.  I noticed Jupiter was approaching (or maybe had just passed) a star that was not much brighter than the moons, and I wondered if it would occult soon.  There should be plenty of opportunities for Saturn occultations since it’s passing through the heart of the Milky Way now.  Saturn looked ok once it cleared the meridian tree; there was a shadow of the planet just showing on the rings.

Mars and Venus were on opposite horizons, about as high up.  Both flickered.  Venus was brighter but Mars was very bright indeed!  I haven’t observed it yet this opposition…

Using 71x I panned up from northern Scorpius and saw some nice groups of stars and a few doubles, including a striking 2+1.  A lot of red-orange stars in the area; but I wonder if that was because of the wildfire smoke haze.

Later I swung over to M3.  It was a hazy star in the finder, barely resolved at 71x in the scope, but 170x showing resolution but no sparkle.  Sky hampered by the smoke.

Sunday night the seeing was somewhat better, about 6/10, with a little better transparency 3/5.  I observed a few doubles, trying to point the scope up into the dark hole in the western sky I have from my yard:

Mu Boo / STFA 28 / STF1938: Tight 3 delta mag fainter yellow pair with a bright white A – which I remember is also a close pair but not splittable.  I tried it with the Challenger a couple months ago.  A surprise to see it since I forgot it was a 2+1 pair. [STFA 28 is the wide pair, SFT 1938 is the close pair; CHR 181 is the spectroscopic binary for the A star.]  277x
15H 24M 29.54S +37° 22' 37.1" P.A. 171 SEP 109 MAG 4.33,7.09 SP F2IVA+G0V DIST. 34.69 PC (113.16 L.Y.)

STF 1965: Bright white, well separated, ~1 delta mag. 277x
15H 39M 22.68S +36° 38' 09.0" P.A. 307 SEP 6.2 MAG 4.96,5.91 SP B7V+B9V DIST. 145.14 PC (473.45 L.Y.)

STF 1964: Well split ~2 delta mag but B I suspect is pair as it is an elongated orange smear at 277x.  At 553x it is split, light orange.  I’ve observed this before; B is a BU pair… [Actually just STF CD]
15H 38M 14.14S +36° 14' 49.7" P.A. 19.7 SEP 1.51 MAG 8.06,9.02 SP F5 DIST. 27.59 PC (90 L.Y.)

Cou 610: Tried pretty hard at 553x with apodizing screen, but dances too much.  Used 6mm ortho with barlow, 738x, and the best I can say is it is olive shaped, but very tentative.  Seeing still 6/10 not good enough.  What kind of night did Cocteau have? [Separation at discovery was 0.5" so it should be easier now at 0.8"]
15H 32M 55.78S +31° 21' 32.9" P.A. 199 SEP 0.8 MAG 4.27,6.29 SP B6VNNE DIST. 115.07 PC (375.36 L.Y.)

STF 1937: Orange shimmering mess at 553x, needed to step down to 277x to see better, but still not sharp.  Close orange pair, equal mag, snowman shape since not well resolved to split. [No wonder.  Separation at discovery was 1.1”, it’s 0.5” now!]
15H 38M 14.14S +36° 14' 49.7" P.A. 19.7 SEP 1.51 MAG 8.06,9.02 SP F5 DIST. 27.59 PC (90 L.Y.)

STF 1950: !! Very fine orange pair 2 delta mag, ~1.5”.  Seeing poor enough to be difficult to fine focus, but once I can B appears fine and delicate.  277x.
15H 29M 58.46S +25° 30' 31.1" P.A. 92 SEP 3.3 MAG 8.07,9.23 SP K4III DIST. 485.44 PC (1583.51 L.Y.)

This last observation was kind of a high point, so I decided to pack it in a little early.  I did take out my 7x35 binoculars to try and find M31, but it was lost in sky glow.  I was able to pan about and see Ptolemy’s cluster, the small and great Sagittarius star clouds, and even the Lagoon – I think there was less smoke.  Nothing very bright or spectacular but a nice reminder it’s there…