8 july 2021

Finally, a clear night with better than good seeing!  I was able to push the resolution limits of the 20-inch scope, and it justifies keeping it set up in the back (as I am feeling aperture-starved with only a 10-inch to bring to dark sky sites).

Seeing started out good and got better as the night progressed.  And the other nice thing about observing from home is when I feel a little hungry at midnight I can go inside for a slice of homemade cherry pie and a glass of milk.  And for a little break a 1am I can lay on the hammock for a while and enjoy looking at the summer triangle.  Thin clouds started to thicken around 2am, so that's when I turned in, otherwise I would have stayed out with the seeing.

COU 97 AB: 508; 889x: Notched elongation, near equal light orange stars.  Spectral class K0, so the color fits.  WDS is uncertain as to binarity, and unfortunately Gaia lacks any data on the companion star.
14h 30m 31.59s +20° 55' 15.5" P.A. 244.00 sep 0.3 mag 9.10,9.80 Sp K0

COU 407 AB: 508; 533x: Excellent hairline split at 445x and very steady wide at 533x, equal magnitude stars, very light yellow.  Spectral class F8, yellow-white.  WDS uncertain of binarity, however it most likely is gravitationally bound: 74% parallax range overlap, only 79 AU separation, 210 parsecs distant from us.  No radial velocity data so can't compare it to the escape velocity.
14h 41m 38.29s +27° 47' 19.9" P.A. 113.00 sep 0.4 mag 10.00,10.27 Sp F8

COU 607 AB: 508; 533x: B is quite faint, needed foveal coaxing to bring it forth, and seen only when A forms a steady disk.  WDS uncertain of binarity; unfortunately Gaia data shows there is no overlap of the parallax ranges, so it's not a binary.  

14h 44m 07.70s +31° 37' 59.1" P.A. 315.00 sep 0.7 mag 10.19,10.86 Sp G5

 

COU 608 AB: 508; 205x: Very fine, bright white A and grey B are nicely separated, using lower power helped control A's diffraction.  WDS uncertain of binarity, however Gaia data shows there is no overlap in the parallax ranges, so this is not physical.  
14h 49m 55.05s +31° 59' 41.4" P.A. 202.00 sep 1.7 mag 9.22,11.80 Sp F8

STF1891 AB: 508; 205x: Ice blue white A and slightly orange B, two delta mag, wide.  WDS calls this physical on the strength of the proper motion data, however Gaia shows there is no overlap in the parallax range, so it is not gravitationally bound.  Also the escape velocity far exceeds the radial velocity delta, so another strike against it.
14h 54m 30.04s +34° 05' 14.7" P.A. 246.00 sep 3.5 mag 8.69,10.07 Sp G0 dist. 90.99 pc (296.81 l.y.)

A 1627 AB: 508; 889x: Elongated at 533x, notched at 889x, stronger notch at 1334x.  Light orange A, light blue B, equal magnitude.  Currently 0.237", it has a 101.25-year period, seen nearly face in, and is at apastron to the SW and will make a quarter turn toward the W and tighten to <0.15" by 2041.  Interestingly Gaia lacks data for these stars, so the orbit must be derived from historical measures only.  
14h 55m 46.57s +39° 38' 54.3" P.A. 203.10 sep 0.2 mag 8.80,8.80 Sp F0 dist. 104.82 pc (341.92 l.y.)

STF1895 AB: 508; 205x: Wide white stars, half delta mag, one tip of triangle of slightly fainter stars.  WDS says this is physical on the strength of the proper motion data, but Gaia shows there is no overlap in the parallax range, so it is not gravitationally bound.
14h 57m 27.87s +40° 09' 42.2" P.A. 42.00 sep 12.7 mag 8.27,8.88 Sp A9IV dist. 125.63 pc (409.81 l.y.)

BU 612 AB: 508; 1334x: Elongated / bean shape at all powers, my sense of PA is is NE [orbital data show just south of east, so I'm a bit off].  0.09" currently, it has a 22.46-year period and is coming off periastron, reaching apastron in 2032 at a gettable 0.25".  Burnham discovered with the Dearborn 18.5-inch at an easy 0.3" and writes: "It was very soon apparent from the measures that this was a binary system in rapid motion.  In the twenty years covered by the measures, the companion has passed over an arc of 175-degrees.  Glasenapp…has computed an orbit from which he finds a period of 30.00 years....This represents the observations as well as could be desired, but evidently the arc was too short for any very accurate determination, and even now widely differing apparent orbits will satisfy the observed positions equally.  It is probably that the measures of the next ten years will furnish sufficient data for an orbit which shall substantially correct."  
13h 39m 34.68s +10° 44' 46.7" P.A. 49.20 sep 0.1 mag 6.35,6.47 Sp F1V dist. 59.99 pc (195.69 l.y.)

MLR 532 AB: 508; 533x: Beautifully split with 533x, very clear, slight delta mag, light orange stars.  It's a little challenging at this magnification with the small scale; the stars were elongated at 205x.  WDS uncertain of physicality; Gaia shows no parallax overlap, so sadly this is not.
14h 57m 34.23s +20° 40' 31.0" P.A. 230.00 sep 0.6 mag 11.13,11.09

A 1628 AB: 508; 205x: Attractive pair, easy, wide, white A and 2 delta mag B, light yellow stars.  Spectral class F5, yellow-white.  WDS uncertain, however there is no overlap in the parallax ranges, not physical.

14h 58m 19.14s +41° 05' 34.5" P.A. 97.00 sep 5.1 mag 8.56,11.63 Sp F5 dist. 74.79 pc (243.96 l.y.)

HU 907 AB: 508; 889x: Very subtly notched olive, very tough.  WDS says physical but Gaia lacks data on the stars.

15h 00m 10.00s +21° 28' 48.8" P.A. 302.90 sep 0.2 mag 10.19,10.20 Sp G0 dist. 158.73 pc (517.78 l.y.)

STF1744 D? 508; 889x: Elongation only all powers, PA seems to be NW.  I'm not sure what pair I'm looking at, WDS does not show a "D" which SkyTools shows as a close uneven pair.  

BU 355 AB: 508; 1334x: Subtle notch / peanut shape only at all powers, PA on EW line though difficult to tell which is the primary, light orange stars (spectral class K0, yellow-orange).  Burnham discovered with his 6-inch at 0.3" in 1876.  WDS uncertain of binarity, and unfortunately Gaia only has data for the primary.
16h 07m 59.39s +45° 22' 49.1" P.A. 287.00 sep 0.2 mag 7.45,8.82 Sp K0 dist. 234.74 pc (765.72 l.y.)

BU 130 AB: 178; 445x: 90 Her.  Light orange color and bright A, very minute greyish B lies just outside the first diffraction ring.  Burnham discovered with his 6-inch and writes: "…a beautiful pair, even with small aperture.  The components have a striking difference in color -- golden and blue….[due to common proper motion] there is little doubt of its being a physical system."  WDS uncertain after 49 measures; Gaia lacks data on the secondary.
17h 53m 18.03s +40° 00' 28.6" P.A. 110.00 sep 1.6 mag 5.28,8.76 Sp K3III dist. 108.46 pc (353.8 l.y.)

BU 1298 AB: 508; 445x: Nicely split, white stars, about 1 delta mag.  WDS uncertain, and frustratingly Gaia lacks data on primary.  Burnham discovered with the Yerkes 40-inch in 1901 at 0.3" and called it "a close and difficult double."
16h 59m 29.54s +09° 42' 12.3" P.A. 132.00 sep 0.4 mag 8.25,9.56 Sp F0 dist. 281.69 pc (918.87 l.y.)

COU 809 AB: 508; 205x: Excellent fine near equal pair, nicely separated, nice contrast with rich field of brighter stars.  WDS uncertain of binarity, but Gaia shows there is no overlap in the parallax ranges.  The proper motions are similar so these are comoving but not gravitationally bound.
18h 00m 30.13s +17° 33' 52.7" P.A. 26.00 sep 2.1 mag 11.43,11.62

A 1374 AB: 508; 205x: Very tough, the extraordinarily fine point of the B star appears with seeing. around 3 delta mag from light yellow A.  Spectral class G0, yellow.  Worth waiting for the seeing on this one.  Physical with a 139.53-year period, it is slowly widening and will take another 30 years to reach apastron.
18h 00m 17.93s +21° 53' 47.5" P.A. 29.50 sep 0.5 mag 8.90,10.90 Sp G0

COU 115 AB: 508; 889x:  Very fine hairline split, light yellow-orange near equal stars, really nice pair.  WDS uncertain, and unfortunately no Gaia data for the primary.
17h 59m 59.33s +24° 48' 39.0" P.A. 113.00 sep 0.3 mag 8.80,8.80 Sp G5

BU 640 AB: 178; 533x: Very much fainter B seen with averted vision and foveal coaxing only, can only hold it briefly. Physical with a 951.7127-year period (to be exact), it is now making a very fast turn around apastron -- though I think the orbital solution is predicting an incorrect position (too close to apastron at this moment) -- unfortunately I did not record the PA so I can't tell if it's on the west or east side of apastron.  Will need to re-observe this, since I don't think I'd see 0.2" at 533x (likely around >0.5" given the delta mag).
18h 20m 49.23s +27° 31' 48.3" P.A. 261.00 sep 0.2 mag 7.00,12.00 Sp G1V dist. 28.55 pc (93.13 l.y.)

HO 83 AB: 178; 445x: Pretty difficult, B appears with averted vision only and fades with direct.  Much fainter, about 1".  Physical with a 1699.9512-year period, it will soon make a turn toward periastron and tighten over the next few decades.  Discovered in 1883 at 0.3".
18h 23m 20.34s +27° 31' 24.1" P.A. 114.70 sep 0.8 mag 10.12,10.38 Sp F8

A 244 AB: 508; 533x: Extremely fine, half delta mag white stars, good clean spilt.  WDS says they are near equal but Gaia has 9.92/10.77.  No Gaia data on the secondary.

18h 24m 09.99s +28° 18' 21.4" P.A. 268.00 sep 0.6 mag 10.47,10.48 Sp G0

STF2339 AB,CD 178; 205x: Very pretty close >1 delta mag pair.   I need to re-observe!  AB is 7.74/8.91 0.2", and CD is 9.3/9.56 0.5", a double-double!
18h 33m 45.62s +17° 43' 55.9" P.A. 92.50 sep 0.2 mag 7.74,8.91 Sp F6V dist. 183.49 pc (598.54 l.y.)

COU 808 AB: 508; 445x: Very faint B <1", 2 delta mag but fainter since it's so close to A.  WDS uncertain, but no parallax range overlap.
17h 58m 51.90s +26° 19' 38.9" P.A. 155.00 sep 1.0 mag 9.30,11.40 Sp F8

GCB 30 AB: 508; 205x: A little more than 1 delta mag, well separated white stars.  No parallax range overlap.
18h 04m 01.86s +16° 12' 15.0" P.A. 155.00 sep 0.9 mag 12.00,12.50

A 2093 AB: 508; 533x: White stars, nicely split, >1 delta mag.  No parallax range overlap.
18h 05m 25.74s +16° 23' 42.3" P.A. 231.00 sep 0.6 mag 9.09,9.85 Sp A0 dist. 313.48 pc (1022.57 l.y.)

COU 417 AB: 508; 205x: Very finely split pair at this magnification and small scale, slight mag difference, small faint pair vs other brighter stars in the field.  WDS uncertain, but Gaia data show 25% parallax range overlap and only 543 AU separation, so it's likely this is gravitationally bound.
18h 06m 47.23s +23° 25' 52.2" P.A. 91.00 sep 1.5 mag 11.27,11.41 Sp G0

COU 504 AB: 508; 205x: Very near equal pair, well split, a fine close pair in a bright star field.  Good parallax range overlap, only 713 AU separation, so very likely gravitationally bound.
18h 08m 51.57s +24° 32' 48.8" P.A. 76.00 sep 2.1 mag 11.17,11.69

HU 316 AB: 508; 205x: Nice 1 delta, well split, white and dull white stars.  WDS is uncertain but the Gaia data show good parallax range overlap, a very close 336 AU separation, BUT the escape velocity exceeds the radial velocity delta, so it is not (or will not be for long) gravitationally bound.
18h 10m 19.94s +18° 16' 33.4" P.A. 157.00 sep 1.8 mag 10.03,11.02 Sp K0

A 238 AB: 508; 667x: Extraordinary pair.  With critical focus it pops into view with clear airy disks, nicely split light yellow orange A and blue B.  Seeing is steady for around 7 seconds before fuzzing out for longer stretches.  WDS uncertain, and Gaia lacks data for the secondary.

18h 11m 20.99s +25° 19' 18.6" P.A. 68.00 sep 0.6 mag 8.59,9.55 Sp G0IV dist. 534.76 pc (1744.39 l.y.)

COU1006 AB: 508; 667x: B is very much fainter and can only be seen when A is perfectly still and round, with seeing.  My PA is off, I have NNE and it's WNW.  Fairly well separated about 0.5", can tell PA with drift.  Physical with 119.2-year period, it is coming off periastron and slowly widening.
18h 12m 58.00s +33° 17' 53.9" P.A. 269.50 sep 0.4 mag 9.23,11.29 Sp G0 dist. 69.44 pc (226.51 l.y.)

HU 927 AB: 508; 667x: White stars, slight mag difference, hairline with 533x, nice good split with 667x.  WDS uncertain, and Gaia lacks data for the primary
18h 15m 04.79s +32° 49' 26.8" P.A. 101.00 sep 0.4 mag 10.20,10.20 Sp F2

A 241 AB: 508; 533x: Very fine pair, significant delta mag, well split but close with 533x.  WDS uncertain, however there is no overlap in parallax ranges.

18h 17m 10.10s +26° 40' 33.3" P.A. 288.00 sep 0.7 mag 10.56,10.70 Sp F2

pinnacles

Very late in the day yesterday I decided to head down to Pinnacles for some observing.  The marine layer has covered the sky each night for many nights, cutting off any chance to observe.  Also it's fire season, so future opportunities could be cut off from fire and smoke.  I decided to go at 4pm and headed out the door at 5pm, arriving at 7:30pm, to find three others acquaintances already there setting up.

It being summer, astronomical twilight dragged on and on.  I wanted to observe two supernovae in Virgo, which is setting fast.  Fortunately I was able to get these in first.  I used my 10-inch Springsonian:

Supernova SN 2021qvv in NGC 4442 galaxy: 10-inch at 84x:  The galaxy was faint, with a very small lozenge shaped core and very much fainter lenticular halo, 2:1 WSE-ENE.  The supernova is a type 1a and is a binary star system where a white dwarf pulls material away from its companion until it's mass reaches the point it collapses and explodes.  It was discovered on 22 June 2021 and is a week past maximum at 14.1 magnitude.  It appeared just west of the core, a little bright point consistently seen with direct vision next to this brightest portion of the galaxy -- the point itself was brighter than the core and the galaxy.  NGC 4442 is ~100 million light years away, so the explosion happened ~100 million years + a couple weeks to travel here.   Two other galaxies were seen in the same field, another small elongated NGC 4424, and a larger diffuse and oval NGC 4417 with a bright nucleus.

   

Supernova SN 2021pfs in NGC 5427 galaxy:  This one was much tougher since the galaxies are fainter.  The two galaxies are NGC 5427 which is a face-on spiral with a bright core, and NGC 5426, also a spiral but seen at a more inclined angle.  In Peter's 20-inch scope he was able to separate the two galaxies using his more light-gathering power and higher magnification, and to see spiral structure with averted vision.  He could easily detect the ~14th magnitude star in between the galaxies, which is a similar magnitude to the supernova.  In my scope the image scale is smaller and the halos of the galaxies appeared merged, with brightening in the grey halos to show the core.  With averted vision the specks of the star and the supernova appeared, but I could not hold them direct.  The galaxy / supernova are ~120 million light years distant.  It is also a 1a.

The rest of my time was spent sweeping and poking about rather aimlessly.  It's a very bad habit I've developed in the wake of not having large aperture to bring to dark sky sites.  Before I might observe everything on an atlas page; now I only observe what seems brightest or is maybe a challenge.  There were some nuggets found, and the time is worth it -- but I need to get back into some regular program to provide some structure to my observing.

Nearby to NGC 4442 I found NGC 4526, aka the "Lost" galaxy.  I've no idea why it has this nickname.  It is bright, elongated, fairly small in my small scale, with a stellar nucleus and a noticeably mottled halo.  It lies between two of three similar magnitude stars forming a nearly equatorial triangle.  In the same field was NGC 4535, which was a very large unevenly round glow, with small stars scattered through it.   It turns out this is a stunning bright barred spiral.  I wish I had the aperture!

I took a spin through the Virgo cluster, stopping especially at M86 and Markarian's chain.  The galaxies did not appear as bright as I recall.  My SQML read 21.3 max, while Peter's read 21.5.  Not quite as dark as the sky could get, likely due to some moisture in the air.  It was chilly, though I was warm enough with a fleece and a jacket.  The newly paved parking lot at Pinnacles held the daytime heat well into the night and kept my feet warm.  

I took in other highlight, especially Ptolomy's cluster, which is a favorite, and all the dark nebula and curtains and waves of stars forming the central part of the Milky Way.  M16, where I think I saw the "Lady of the Night" figure, or at least a darkening where the Pillars of Creation are.  Lagoon, Swan, Trifid nebulas.  Many random globular clusters.  Barnard's Galaxy, which appeared much weaker than what I saw at Willow Springs with Steve.  The North American nebula, and the Cocoon.  Gamma Cyngi area with a UHC, which showed the Crescent Nebula well.

The only other objects I took notes on was LBN 266, which was plotted in the atlas as a very weak, extended nebula in Cygnus not far from the Veil Nebula, and best viewed with an OIII filter.  I observed very weak small wisps of nebulosity, barely there in fact, spread over two eyepiece fields, with a comparatively brighter wise around one of the brighter stars.

The other was the Egg Nebula, CRL 2688, which is a bipolar protoplanetary nebula.  Its star is shining through a shell of dust and is polarized to create the strange shape.  I "think" I saw this, but am tentative.  I took several passes at star-hopping to the location just to make sure.  I attached a polarizing filter to my eyepiece then spun it around in the focuser while watching -- one patch of unevenly round small greyness consistently came into view then disappeared.  I've read this can be seen well in a 14-inch, but this seemed a very marginal observation.

At around 2am I found myself nodding off as I took breaks in my chair.  I had a look at Saturn and Jupiter (which were very far apart!  it was only a few months ago they were in conjunction), which looked nice in their respective star fields, but this is not the right telescope to make observations of them.  When the others decided to pack up I did the same.  I slept fitfully in my car until 5am when I drove off -- that helped as I beat some of the rush hour traffic back into the Bay Area.

29 june 2021

Over the last several weeks I've been able to finally mount my 6-inch f/15 refractor. I've been able to use it several times for solar viewing, white light with a Herschel wedge, and prominences with a Quark (both of which are really great). Last night was the first dark sky time with the new mounting. Seeing started off poor but did improve, and there was a high thin haze. Very good session overall. I'm still learning how to drive the telescope and learn its quirks. There is some shakiness in it still, which surprises me, so I need to figure out if it's the mount, tripod, or just the long focal length tube.

STF 2084 AB: 156; 285x: Zeta Her. A lot of diffraction but there is a persistent bulge, brightening to a split, at the first diffraction ring. Suspected at 175x. I would not call this a successful split, it was too messy.
16h 41m 17.16s +31° 36' 09.8" P.A. 105.20 sep 1.4 mag 2.95,5.40 Sp G1IV dist. 10.72 pc (34.97 l.y.)

STF 2101 AB: 156; 175x: Fine white pair, 1 delta mag, well separated B
16h 45m 48.14s +35° 37' 50.5" P.A. 48.00 sep 4.1 mag 7.51,9.39 Sp F6V dist. 58.82 pc (191.87 l.y.)

STF 2104 AB: 156; 175x: White pair, 1 delta mag, wide 

16h 48m 41.48s +35° 55' 19.3" P.A. 18.00 sep 5.7 mag 7.49,8.78 Sp F2 dist. 172.71 pc (563.38 l.y.)

STF 2161 AB: 156; 175x: Rho Her.  Lovely cream-white stars, half delta mag, nice split 

17h 23m 40.97s +37° 08' 45.3" P.A. 321.00 sep 4.1 mag 4.50,5.40 Sp B9.5III dist. 120.63 pc (393.5 l.y.)

STT 329 AB: 156; 175x: Wide white and orange stars, 1.5 delta

17h 24m 27.11s +36° 57' 06.9" P.A. 12.00 sep 33.5 mag 6.35,9.88 Sp G5III+F0V dist. 230.41 pc (751.6 l.y.)

STF 2107 AB: 156; 175x: ! Extremely fine hairline split with seeing, 1.5 delta mag white stars.  Obvious split with 285x.  Physical with a 274 year orbit, now at apastron.  1.1" at discovery in 1828.

16h 51m 50.10s +28° 39' 58.7" P.A. 106.40 sep 1.4 mag 6.90,8.50 Sp F5IV dist. 58.41 pc (190.53 l.y.)

STF 2095 AB: 156; 175x: Rather wide, 1 delta mag stars, yellow color A.

16h 45m 05.23s +28° 21' 28.9" P.A. 160.00 sep 5.3 mag 7.36,9.16 Sp F7III dist. 215.98 pc (704.53 l.y.)

NGC 6210: Oval shape with a slight bulge on one side, light green-grey color, thicker around the outer edge though edge itself is slightly diffuse, brightens when blinking it, 

STF 2094 AB: 156; 285x: Snowman at 175x, hairline split at 285x.  Noticed wide faint C (11.70 mag) at 285x.   

16h 44m 10.57s +23° 31' 02.8" P.A. 76.00 sep 1.0 mag 7.48,7.87 Sp F5III dist. 156.49 pc (510.47 l.y.)

STF 2079 AB: 156; 175x: Wide, white, near equal.

16h 39m 36.33s +23° 00' 06.1" P.A. 91.00 sep 16.7 mag 7.56,8.13 Sp F0 dist. 414.94 pc (1353.53 l.y.)

STF 2085 AB: 156; 175x: 2 delta mag, pretty wide.

16h 42m 26.09s +21° 35' 34.3" P.A. 310.00 sep 6.0 mag 7.38,9.17 Sp A0IV dist. 190.48 pc (621.35 l.y.)

STF 2109 AB: 156; 175x: Wide, faint, near orange star.

16h 53m 45.78s +21° 10' 22.6" P.A. 312.00 sep 5.9 mag 7.52,10.30 Sp K0 dist. 188.68 pc (615.47 l.y.)

PRY 2 AB: 156; 175x: ! Wow!  3 delta mag B star just outside blue-green A's diffraction ring.  Seen at both 175x and 285x.  J.J.M. Perry.  Uncertain in WDS, but from the Gaia EDR3 data I find a 23% parallax overlap, 2030 AU weighted distance, with the primary star 3.31 primary star solar mass vs 1.61 for the secondary -- so it should bind at 2030 AU -- so it is likely gravitationally bound.  Gaia lacks the radial velocity otherwise I could confirm it.

17h 04m 41.34s +19° 35' 56.7" P.A. 227.00 sep 1.8 mag 6.19,9.29 Sp A0IV dist. 176.68 pc (576.33 l.y.)

BU 130 AB: 156; 285x: 90 Her.  Orange star with one part of the airy disk persistently brighter but which does not resolve to a disk.  Tried up to 380x.  The slightly brighter primary made this more difficult than PRY 2.  This was one I wanted to try since Burnham discovered it with his 6-inch.  He writes: 90 Her.  "…a beautiful pair, even with small aperture.  The components have a striking difference in color -- golden and blue….[due to common proper motion] there is little doubt of its being a physical system."  WDS uncertain after 49 measures.  Unfortunately Gaia lacks the parallax measurements for the B star.

17h 53m 18.03s +40° 00' 28.6" P.A. 110.00 sep 1.6 mag 5.28,8.76 Sp K3III dist. 108.46 pc (353.8 l.y.)

STF 2282 AB: 156; 175x: White stars, 1 delta mag, good separation

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.)

BU 1127 AB: 156; 175x: Notched elongation at all powers. 

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.)

STF 2129 AB: 156; 175x: Wide and 2 delta mag B.  Not physical.

17h 08m 51.86s +69° 25' 10.4" P.A. 206.00 sep 9.8 mag 9.99,10.61 Sp G5

OP Her: Nice light orange

mons pico flash

 The night of the 18th seeing was ok but there was a bit of a veil of marine haze.  I had a look at the moon at 205x, checking out the terminator, when I noticed three areas with very bright reflections.  One small and bight point was so intense I was able to perform a star test!  The other two were larger, one with three progressively smaller disks in a small arc, and the other with two shards of light like broken glass.

These were all reflections of mountain tops during the lunar dawn.  They were very dramatic because they were so intensely bright.  The three disks were Mons Pico Beta, the shards Mons Pico itself, and as best as I can tell, the little point of light was a peak near crater Mouchez.  I tried to capture it with a celphone snap.

15 june 2021

Finally, after a couple weeks of skies ruined by marine layer or wind, I had the chance to observe last night.  Seeing was good enough to use full aperture, but not perfect, so I used an apodising mask throughout.  I couldn't go down to the limits of the scope, but I was able to see come compelling pairs.  Transparency was softened by some marine haze.

Planes on approach to Oakland really wreck havoc on my seeing.  Just like a disturbance in a pool, it takes several minutes for their wake to settle out of the air.  I remember watching a line of plane wake slide over the face of the moon, with creases on either end diffract as they moved along either edge until they rejoined on the other side.  So I try to point away from the main flight path, but there's still disturbance.  Unfortunately the flight path is near zenith and the best part of the sky for viewing.  One just needs patience.  When one is coming I do my best to concentrate on the star; when it arrives I take a slight break, or maybe change eyepieces.

I would have observed longer, but the seeing seemed to deteriorate.  There should be some more good weather coming.

A 2065 AB: 508; 205x: Very fine pair, white A, 2 delta, very close but nice split.  WDS lists as uncertain but the EDR3 data show there is no parallax overlap (by a lot), so these are a comoving but not gravitationally bound pair.
14h 08m 19.11s +16° 43' 32.9" P.A. 342.00 sep 1.6 mag 9.52,11.13 Sp F5 dist. 152.21 pc (496.51 l.y.)

A 1098 AB: 508; 205x: Very light yellow-orange A, 2 delta, well separated B.  Not physical (no parallax overlap and proper motions are divergent).
14h 09m 49.14s +08° 22' 04.9" P.A. 282.00 sep 3.8 mag 9.20,11.20 Sp K0

HDS1989 Aa-Ab: 508; 1067x: Light orange, not round at all powers, it is misshapen with a small lump on one side, disks will not resolve.  EDR3 does not show any such close companion!  Maybe my "not round" is confirmation bias?
14h 10m 55.76s +15° 12' 55.7" P.A. 335.00 sep 0.4 mag 8.53,10.86 Sp G0 dist. 60.46 pc (197.22 l.y.)

A 1100 AB: 508; 533x: Subtle notched elongation.  EDR3 does not show any close companion.
14h 13m 50.60s +08° 58' 51.1" P.A. 173.00 sep 0.2 mag 8.40,9.30 Sp A5

HEI 530 AB: 508; 533x: Very brief split of unequal white stars, with seeing only.  EDR3 does not show any close companion
14h 14m 07.87s +10° 55' 46.7" P.A. 353.00 sep 0.5 mag 9.68,10.23 Sp G5

COU 482 AB: 508; 445x: ! Excellent white pair, brief splits with seeing at 205x, easy steady split with six, slightly unequal.  Uncertain in WDS, and no parallax data in EDR3
14h 21m 20.69s +30° 50' 07.1" P.A. 121.00 sep 0.6 mag 9.92,9.98 Sp G0

AGC 6 AB: 508; 445x: Small scale split with 205x, easy split with 445x.   Near Arcturus, so in wide field it looks like debris from the bright star.  No parallax data for the A star in EDR3
14h 33m 55.72s +29° 49' 19.1" P.A. 133.00 sep 0.8 mag 9.81,10.30 Sp G0III

A 347 AB: 508; 445x: Near equal white stars, suspected double at 205x, easy split at 445x.  Binary with 236.4-year period.
14h 36m 56.24s +48° 13' 17.9" P.A. 232.80 sep 0.6 mag 8.68,8.37 Sp F2 dist. 106.04 pc (345.9 l.y.)

STT 283 A-BC: 508; 205x: Faint and slightly reddish B, maybe due to faintness, bright white A, well separated.  HU 57 BC not tried for, 12.62/11.77 1.2".  WDS says A-BC is physical, however there is no parallax overlap -- it's not binary. 
14h 32m 30.86s +49° 11' 02.6" P.A. 130.00 sep 5.9 mag 8.08,12.62 Sp F5 dist. 87.41 pc (285.13 l.y.)

COU1586 AB: 508; 205x: Well seen at 205x, very bright white A and faint B hanging close to it, separated.  WDS says physical and I'd agree, it's s strong possibility of binarity.

14h 33m 44.62s +43° 00' 28.1" P.A. 143.00 sep 1.8 mag 6.82,10.27 Sp A2 dist. 79.62 pc (259.72 l.y.)

 

COU1587 AB: 508; 533x: Elongation at 205x since its faint, more magnification lengthens the elongation but it becomes more of a smear, transparency seems to be hindering resolution.  Uncertain in WDS, unfortunately no parallax data in EDR3.
14h 34m 02.12s +45° 00' 12.2" P.A. 27.00 sep 0.8 mag 11.44,11.68 Sp G0

A 1622 AB: 508; 205x: White A and dull-to-reddish B, well separated around 2" and 2 delta mag.  Uncertain in WDS, and the EDR3 data back that up with good parallax overlap and only 226 AU separation.
14h 40m 30.40s +46° 32' 32.8" P.A. 254.00 sep 1.9 mag 8.86,10.57 Sp G0 dist. 103.41 pc (337.32 l.y.)

HO 59 AB: 508; 205x: Well separated faint B to bright white A.  Not physical
14h 41m 33.22s +44° 22' 40.7" P.A. 9.00 sep 6.8 mag 8.33,11.82 Sp G0 dist. 89.45 pc (291.79 l.y.)

STF1875 AB: 508; 205x: Near equal, well separated white stars.  Uncertain in WDS, and while the proper motions are similar there is no parallax overlap, so these are comoving not binary.
14h 43m 38.57s +37° 44' 58.4" P.A. 128.00 sep 3.1 mag 10.22,10.24 Sp F8 dist. 151.29 pc (493.51 l.y.)

KU 49 AB: 508; 445x: A bit hazy, but suspected elongated at 205x, split with 445x. Faint white stars, near equal, more than 1".  Uncertain in WDS but pretty good parallax overlap
14h 44m 25.17s +41° 24' 11.3" P.A. 206.00 sep 1.6 mag 10.57,11.03

STT 285 AB: 508: 445x: Nicely split white stars, 1 delta mag, noted the PA with drift.  Short period, 88.993-year period, it is at apastron and will hang there for the next decade.
14h 45m 29.74s +42° 22' 56.4" P.A. 74.70 sep 0.5 mag 7.75,8.66 Sp F6V dist. 83.82 pc (273.42 l.y.)

STT 287 AB: 508; 533x: An elongated smear at 205x, split with seeing at 445x, stead split at 533x.  <1", near equal white stars.  Binary with 340-year period, currently tightening to periastron around 2044.
14h 51m 27.53s +44° 55' 42.6" P.A. 4.20 sep 0.7 mag 8.40,8.62 Sp G0 dist. 59.14 pc (192.91 l.y.)

STF1896 AB: 508; 205x: White stars, 1 delta mag, wide.  Stelle Doppie gives AB as physical with a 4.23-year period, and an orbital plot -- but with separations of 0.02-0.04".  Checking the WDS notes, I find: "AB: Radial velocity variations, based on 10 years of monitoring, indicate the presence of a giant planet orbiting the B component, with P = 1544 +/- 34d, a = 2.62 +/- 0.04 au. M sin i = 1.49 +/- 0.09 Mjup.  The primary is an SB in an eccentric orbit with period 25-30 y; mass of Ab 0.5-0.6 Msun. No companions were detected by AO imaging."  So it seems SD is giving the orbit of the giant planet!  Full paper here.

14h 58m 21.57s +44° 02' 35.9" P.A. 276.00 sep 4.1 mag 8.97,9.47 Sp F8 dist. 96.06 pc (313.35 l.y.)

3 june 2021

Once again, the seeing was optimistically forecast, but in reality was poor, even with the 7-inch mask. I changed my observing list to easier, wider pairs and made many observations. But most were wide, likely not physical, and uninteresting, and my descriptions reflected that.  I suppose early observers could be forgiven thinking some of these might be binary, and even 100 years ago with some proper motion data to think so.  But now we have more information and these are just not interesting to observe as binaries, and there's no point to continue to study them.  The WDS needs a major clean-up to establish which are true binaries and dump the rest.  

Summer twilight is in full effect, it seemed it never got dark even when I closed up at 11pm.  Observations not in time order: 

STF1773 AB: 178; 205x: Wide near equal, part of a triple system forming a triangle of near equal stars which are not physical

13h 41m 38.19s +07° 36' 21.3" P.A. 209.00 sep 30.6 mag 9.95,10.00 Sp F7V

STF1791 AB: 178; 205x: Faint, wide, 1 delta.  Not physical
13h 56m 49.22s +14° 25' 58.6" P.A. 159.00 sep 21.0 mag 9.39,10.73 Sp F7V+G1IV

STF1873 AB: 178; 205x: Pretty light orange and blue stars, wide, 1 delta.  Physical in WDS but my calculator shows there is no overlap in the stars' parallax
14h 44m 48.13s +07° 42' 04.0" P.A. 94.00 sep 6.9 mag 7.96,8.35 Sp G5III dist. 232.56 pc (758.61 l.y.)

ENG 51 AB: 178; 205x: Super wide faint companion, not physical.

14h 19m 16.28s +13° 00' 15.5" P.A. 219.00 sep 164.0 mag 5.44,10.84 Sp F5IV dist. 26.1 pc (85.14 l.y.)

STF1782 AB: 178; 205x: Wide 1 delta.  Physical in WDS and my calculator agrees.
13h 45m 06.87s +18° 22' 04.3" P.A. 185.00 sep 30.4 mag 7.98,9.81 Sp F5

S 656 AB: 178; 205x: Wide, white, half delta.  WDS says it's physical but I calculate no parallax overlap and the two are too far apart to be gravitationally bound.
13h 50m 23.51s +21° 16' 35.8" P.A. 209.00 sep 86.2 mag 6.93,7.37 Sp G0 dist. 105.71 pc (344.83 l.y.)

SHJ 169 AB: 178; 205x: Muphrid.  Very wide faint B to bright white A.  Not physical
13h 54m 41.07s +18° 23' 51.8" P.A. 85.00 sep 114.0 mag 2.72,9.99 Sp G0IV dist. 11.4 pc (37.19 l.y.)

BU 1442 AB: 178; 205x: 5 stars in the system, but only 3 are bright enough for me to see with 7-inch, they form an arc (like a jumping dolphin) of near equal stars. WDS says AB are physical and my calculator agrees, which is a surprise given the very wide separation -- they are relatively close stars so appear wide.
14h 25m 43.56s +23° 36' 59.9" P.A. 74.00 sep 45.2 mag 9.87,10.21 Sp M1+M1.5 dist. 16.36 pc (53.37 l.y.)

BGH 50 AB: 178; 205x: Very wide 1 delta mag.  WDS claims physical.  My calculator shows there is no parallax overlap by fractions of parsecs -- with should be enough to exclude them from being physical, but it's close.  This should be listed as uncertain.
14h 04m 45.95s +25° 49' 03.9" P.A. 32.00 sep 97.0 mag 7.00,8.90 Sp F5+K0 dist. 44.01 pc (143.56 l.y.)

STF1850 AB: 178; 205x: Near equal white wide.  WDS claims physical, and their parallax do overlap, however they are separated by 7168 AU, too far than the known 5000 AU limit of known orbital pairs.
14h 28m 33.29s +28° 17' 25.9" P.A. 263.00 sep 25.2 mag 7.11,7.56 Sp A1V+A1V dist. 349.65 pc (1140.56 l.y.)

STF1653 AB: 178; 205x: Wide one delta white pair.  WDS claims physical but there is no parallax overlap.
12h 33m 22.34s +32° 02' 23.4" P.A. 343.00 sep 8.0 mag 9.66,9.67 Sp F3V+F3V dist. 121.8 pc (397.31 l.y.)

STF1646 AB: 178; 205x: Faint, B seen averted vision only, fairly close.  WDS claims physical but there is no parallax overlap, with a 2 parsec gap -- too far to be gravitationally bound.
12h 28m 09.12s +36° 41' 02.1" P.A. 260.00 sep 5.6 mag 10.30,12.90 Sp F5

STF1727 AB: 178; 205x: B is faint but not too hard to pick out, well separated.  Physical, and I agree
13h 09m 52.02s +31° 22' 00.3" P.A. 333.00 sep 7.5 mag 9.81,10.99 Sp G dist. 138.5 pc (451.79 l.y.)

STF1672 AB: 178; 205x: B is quite faint but can see direct, well separated white.  Not physical
12h 42m 39.65s +33° 48' 51.3" P.A. 312.00 sep 4.3 mag 8.92,10.22 Sp F5V dist. 177.62 pc (579.4 l.y.)

STF1739 AB: 178; 205x: Very faint but surprisingly can see B direct, well separated one delta.  WDS lists as uncertain but there is no parallax overlap by a wide margin, so it can be listed as not physical.
13h 22m 33.24s +30° 30' 55.8" P.A. 126.00 sep 14.9 mag 11.05,11.80" P.A. 126.00 sep 14.9 mag 11.05,11.80

STF1854 AB: 178; 205x: White and wide faint B, 3 delta.  WDS claims physical but there is no overlap in their parallax range, with a gap of a fraction of a parsec, still enough to keep them from being gravitationally bound.
14h 29m 49.66s +31° 47' 28.2" P.A. 256.00 sep 26.1 mag 6.05,10.62 Sp A0Vs dist. 110.13 pc (359.24 l.y.)

STT 289 AB: 178; 205x: B seen averted vision only, well separated.  WDS is uncertain but there is a good parallax overlap and they are separated by 503 AU, so it's very likely these are gravitationally bound.

14h 55m 58.63s +32° 18' 00.3" P.A. 109.00 sep 4.8 mag 6.20,11.10 Sp A2V dist. 95.79 pc (312.47 l.y.)

 

STF1624 AB: 178; 205x: 3 delta white and bluish stars, well separated.  WDS uncertain, but no parallax overlap so not likely physical.
12h 16m 42.19s +39° 35' 34.5" P.A. 153.00 sep 5.9 mag 7.28,10.17 Sp A2.5V dist. 108.81 pc (354.94 l.y.)

STF1632 AB: 178; 205x: Light yellow and 3 delta B, wide.  WDS lists physical and I agree.
12h 20m 13.50s +37° 54' 07.7" P.A. 192.00 sep 10.1 mag 6.83,9.98 Sp K0III+F9V dist. 165.29 pc (539.18 l.y.)

STF1638 AB: 178; 205x: Faint pair, considerable delta, wide.  Not physical.
12h 24m 13.24s +43° 03' 37.1" P.A. 282.00 sep 8.3 mag 10.29,10.70 Sp F5

STF1645 AB: 178; 205x: Slight delta, wide, pretty light yellow-white stars.  WDS lists as physical, and I agree
12h 28m 04.45s +44° 47' 39.5" P.A. 156.00 sep 9.8 mag 7.49,8.08 Sp F9V+KV dist. 43.61 pc (142.26 l.y.)

STF1642 AB: 178; 205x: Closely separated 1 delta light yellow stars.  WDS uncertain, and I find there is no overlap in the parallax ranges, with 1 parsec separating the ranges, so these are not physical.
12h 25m 45.00s +44° 44' 04.4" P.A. 180.00 sep 2.5 mag 8.80,9.40 Sp F5 dist. 244.5 pc (797.56 l.y.)

STF1688 AB: 178; 205x: White B and B is very faint, wide, can just hold it direct vision.  Not physical.

12h 53m 35.26s +37° 58' 20.9" P.A. 344.00 sep 14.4 mag 9.24,11.06 Sp G0 dist. 318.47 pc (1038.85 l.y.)

STT 257 AB: 178; 205x: Easy wide one delta.  WDS claims physical but there is no parallax overlap, so these are not gravitationally bound.
12h 56m 44.77s +45° 36' 45.1" P.A. 353.00 sep 12.9 mag 8.53,9.56 Sp F2Vp+F6V dist. 2702.7 pc (8816.21 l.y.)

STF1747 AB: 178; 205x: Wide one delta.  WDS claims physical but there is no parallax overlap
13h 27m 45.73s +47° 45' 32.2" P.A. 345.00 sep 14.9 mag 9.31,10.22 Sp K0 dist. 222.72 pc (726.51 l.y.)

STF1679 AB: 178; 205x: White 1 delta, wide.  WDS is uncertain but there is good parallax overlap and 1183 AU separation, so likely physical.
12h 46m 00.83s +49° 49' 23.0" P.A. 208.00 sep 5.9 mag 9.62,10.01 Sp F6IV dist. 113.64 pc (370.69 l.y.)

STF1758 AB: 178; 205x: 1 delta, well separated.  WDS uncertain but there is definitely no parallax overlap, so these are not physical.
13h 32m 51.51s +49° 08' 24.3" P.A. 290.00 sep 3.4 mag 8.70,8.95 Sp G0 dist. 77.04 pc (251.3 l.y.)

1 june 2021

Transparency was hurt by thin clouds, and seeing was not good enough for full aperture, so spent some time masked to 7-inches. Since twilight lasts so long I observed for a little more than an hour. Hoping for better weather the rest of this week.

STF1680 AB; 178; 205x: B seen with averted vision at first then I could hold it with direct, well separated, faint pair.
12h 49m 12.97s +21° 46' 30.0" P.A. 335.00 sep 2.9 mag 9.40,11.60 Sp G0

STF1707 AB: 178; 205x: B is wide and faint, seen with averted vision at first and held direct after foveal coaxing
13h 01m 14.16s +15° 51' 45.2" P.A. 41.00 sep 8.3 mag 9.70,11.50 Sp G0

STF1759 AB: 178; 205x: Faint and wide B.  Physical per WDS but my calculator shows there's no parallax overlap, 1 AU too far apart. 
13h 33m 44.39s +27° 27' 00.5" P.A. 155.00 sep 10.4 mag 9.87,11.22 Sp G5 dist. 74.4 pc (242.69 l.y.)

RX Boo 178; 205x: One of John Herschel's red stars, which he described as "Vivid red, almost a bright ruby colour, fine."  It appears noticeably orange-red, easily picked out in the field. 

STF1816 AB: 178; 533x: Notched elongation, unequal pair, seeing won't support higher magnification.  Physical with 1340-year period, it is near periastron now and will remain there the rest of my lifetime.
14h 13m 54.63s +29° 06' 19.5" P.A. 101.00 sep 0.3 mag 7.43,7.75 Sp F0+A2 dist. 113.38 pc (369.85 l.y.)

STF1931 AB: 178; 205x: Widely separated white stars.  WDS has as physical and my calculator agrees, though there is no orbit as yet.

15h 18m 41.98s +10° 25' 39.7" P.A. 166.00 sep 13.4 mag 7.20,8.07 Sp F7V+G3V dist. 49.98 pc (163.03 l.y.)

POU3145 AB: 178; 205x: Near equal wide white stars.  WDS lists as physical, and I agree.
13h 37m 02.85s +23° 18' 31.8" P.A. 200.00 sep 5.7 mag 10.06,10.11 Sp F8