28 april 2021

I can't remember a night when there was good enough seeing to push the limits of the 20-inch.... Last night was predicted to be good seeing, which is sometimes good enough to reach the limits, and I held out hope. The first pair seen was STF 1356, which was very nicely split with the 7-inch mask, so I thought just maybe I could go further. I vacillated between the 20-inch, apodising screen, and 7-inch mask. Some nice stars but I'm falling behind in my short period project and haven't nabbed one of those in months. High clouds started to build at 11pm so I ended there.

STF1356 AB: 178; 445x: Ome Leo. Elongated at 205x, but nice clear disks with diffraction rings at 445x, plenty of room in the split, <1", slight magnitude difference, white stars. Physical with a 117.97-year period, it is nearing apastron where it will sit for the next two decades. I should sketch it for posterity...
09h 28m 27.41s +09° 03' 24.4" P.A. 114.60 sep 0.9 mag 5.69,7.28 Sp F9IV dist. 33.17 pc (108.2 l.y.)



STF1372 AB: 508; 445-1334x: With apodising mask.  All I have is an elongation with PA WSE, which seems to be where B is.  A is canary yellow at low power, light yellow-orange with high power, and there is definite elongation.  Physical with a 371-year period, it is slowly coming off apastron.  My PA estimate was correct!  Current separation 0.321"
09h 37m 07.57s +16° 13' 33.3" P.A. 253.00 sep 0.4 mag 8.50,8.60 Sp F8 dist. 147.06 pc (479.71 l.y.)

HU 722 AB: 178; 445x: Notched elongation best I can get.  
09h 06m 39.07s +50° 37' 36.5" P.A. 244.00 sep 0.5 mag 9.16,9.10 Sp G5 dist. 126.42 pc (412.38 l.y.)

STFB 7 AB: 178; 205x: Light yellow-white A and very wide 4 delta mag B.  WDS is saying this is physical based on the proper motion.  Unfortunately there is no parallax data in Gaia, and I would highly doubt these two are gravitationally bound given their separation.

11h 47m 59.23s +20° 13' 08.2" P.A. 355.00 sep 74.9 mag 4.59,9.03 Sp A7V dist. 71.33 pc (232.68 l.y.)

STF1540 AB: 178; 205x: Light orange-yellow A and light blue B, >1 delta mag, very wide.  Physical with 32,000-year period.  Running this through the Plot Tool with EDR3 data, it confirms it is physical, only 18 parsecs / 58 light years away (which is why it has such a high proper motion) and 520 AU separation.  
11h 26m 45.32s +03° 00' 47.2" P.A. 146.00 sep 28.6 mag 6.55,7.50 Sp G7V dist. 17.75 pc (57.9 l.y.)

STF1547 AB: 178; 205x: Very light yellow and 2 delta, very wide B.  Physical, with a 3453-year period, it is also close-by at 23.33 pc.  I wonder if these were / are part of a cluster?
11h 31m 44.94s +14° 21' 52.2" P.A. 332.10 sep 15.3 mag 6.33,9.14 Sp G0V+G5 dist. 23.33 pc (76.1 l.y.)

STF1670 AB: 178; 205x:  Porrima.  Bright near equal, dull white, well split about 4".  Physical with a 169-year period, I missed my chance to witness the rapid periastron a few years ago :-(

12h 41m 39.60s -01° 26' 57.9" P.A. 357.50 sep 2.9 mag 3.48,3.53 Sp F0V+F0V dist. 11.68 pc (38.1 l.y.)

STF1560 AB: 178; 205x: Nice dull yellow-white and 3 delta mag, well separated bluish B around 5".  Physical (90% on the Harshaw scale).
11h 38m 24.07s -02° 26' 09.3" P.A. 279.00 sep 4.9 mag 6.42,9.43 Sp G9III dist. 116.69 pc (380.64 l.y.)

STF1568 AB: 178; 205x: White, very slight magnitude difference, wide.  Physical.  
11h 43m 16.61s +00° 45' 40.1" P.A. 43.00 sep 9.2 mag 10.36,10.48 Sp F5 dist. 231.48 pc (755.09 l.y.)

STF1593 AB: 178; 205x: Very finely split near equal white stars, quite a nice pair.  Very likely physical, 55% overlap and 250 AU separation
12h 03m 31.79s -02° 26' 49.0" P.A. 15.00 sep 1.2 mag 8.70,8.57 Sp F0 dist. 246.91 pc (805.42 l.y.)

STF1580 AB: 178; 205x: Near equal white, well split.  WDS says parallax indicates physical, but in the Plot Tool with the error included, there is -3% overlap -- again the max and min distance of the two stars are within fractions, so it does not give a parallax error.  So maybe physical, maybe not.
11h 55m 29.73s +03° 32' 36.0" P.A. 262.00 sep 8.7 mag 9.34,10.01 Sp A9V

STF1571 AB: 178; 205x: Faint pair, white, well separated.  Maybe physical; 28% parallax overlap, 2355 AU separation

11h 46m 22.32s +09° 04' 28.3" P.A. 298.00 sep 9.8 mag 9.94,11.50 Sp F8 dist. 195.31 pc (637.1 l.y.)

27 april 2021

 I set up my 6-inch f/5 and 80mm f/15 refractors last night, on a dual alt-az mount.  Seeing was predicted to be poor, but the sky transparent, so I thought some casual low power session was in order.  I was open to see what the sky would offer me, and did not probe it specifically.

Scanning about with the 6-inch, I found the faint scatter of stars that make M67.  Then while pointed at Ursa Major, a flight of silent Canada geese passed through, taking my heart with them.  

Satellites galore, including a swift small faint one being pursued by a just-as-fast large bright one.

The 80mm giving perfect, clean views of Alcor & Mizar, Cor Caroli, and Algieba.

Looking at the ruined moon, low in the sky, pink haze rippling from it.  Constant static around the edges.  Tiny silhouetted bats making their jerky flights across.  When a jet passes close, a frantic buzz, then a slow, long, sharp straight diffracting line sweeps across it, briefly splitting the sphere along the limbs, then merging at the other side, the moon whole again.

john herschel's list of red stars

 While reading JH's Observations from the Cape, I came across an appendix where he lists strikingly red stars he made note of over the years of his observing.  It covers both the northern and shorthorn hemispheres, and most of the stars were observed while he swept the skies with the 18-inch reflector.  

His descriptions make for exciting reading, so I thought to transcribe JH's descriptions into excel and convert the original 1830 coordinate dates into contemporary positions.  Steve helped me with that effort as well as providing the contemporary star names.  I added the visual magnitude, star type, and spectral class from SIMBAD.  

It makes for a good observing project.  I've observed a few of them so far, and I have to say many of them are more orange than red.  It makes me wonder how star colors were named, whether orange was considered red -- because I don't think there have been changes to the star's composition in 200 years.  There might be some explanation in the telescope used and conditions.

18 april 2021

I was hopeful last night for good seeing as was in the forecast, only to have my hopes dashed...  Stars still appeared bloated and flickering at full aperture, so I spent most of the time at 7-inches.  There were a couple nice Kruger pairs, ~10th magnitude near equal with good separation -- he seemed to find these pairs regularly.  And a few others.  Seeing is forecasted to be even worse this week.  I've pretty much tapped out my list of <15" pairs in Leo and other convenient constellations, I may make a new list of >15" pairs visible with the 7-inch and maybe have a more productive night, it at least with brighter and easier pairs.

KU 38 AB: 178; 205x: Faint pair, but wide split, near equal, blue-white stars.  Physical.
11h 27m 13.99s +19° 07' 41.3" P.A. 54.00 sep 6.3 mag 10.59,10.67 Sp F6+F9

HO 535 AB: 178; 205x: Very faint B is seen with averted vision only, well separated ~3".  Physical.
12h 02m 29.07s +21° 44' 48.5" P.A. 147.00 sep 2.9 mag 8.69,11.50 Sp F9 dist. 74.18 pc (241.98 l.y.)

STF1615 AB: 178B: 178; 205x: Very light orange A and very much fainter B which appears with averted vision and I can then just hold it direct, well separated.  Physical.
12h 20m 04.86s +13° 51' 18.2" P.A. 104.00 sep 3.6 mag 7.11,10.53 Sp G9III dist. 143.27 pc (467.35 l.y.)

BU 1324 AB: 508; 205x: Well split ~3", 1 delta, yellow-orange stars.  Physical.  Based on the designation number I assume it was discovered with the 40-inch.
12h 29m 30.02s +29° 30' 45.8" P.A. 224.00 sep 2.4 mag 9.78,10.64 Sp G5

STF1696 AB: 178; 205x: Fine pair if a little dim, blue-white stars, half delta, wide ~4"
12h 57m 24.25s +30° 22' 15.5" P.A. 204.00 sep 3.7 mag 9.38,9.51 Sp F4 dist. 197.24 pc (643.4 l.y.)

STF1700 AB: 178; 205x: White, wide, very faint B, ~7" and 2 delta.  Not physical.
12h 58m 43.08s +27° 07' 10.2" P.A. 84.00 sep 7.4 mag 8.94,10.47 Sp G5 dist. 222.72 pc (726.51 l.y.)

BGH 46 AB: 178; 205x: Super-wide pair even in the finder, and I am very surprised to see it is listed as physical, at least as proper motion is concerned.  The close pair HDS1862Aa-Ab I thought I saw but it is too fleeting, seeing not supporting higher magnification. ** When I input the Gaia DR3 data, which includes parallax, into Harshaw's Plot Tool, it confirms there is overlap in the weighted distance but the weighted separation of the pair is 19,121 AU, which means this is not a physical pair.  I may write a paper!
13h 16m 32.26s +19° 47' 07.0" P.A. 58.00 sep 202.9 mag 6.46,7.59 Sp A3+A2 dist. 85.4 pc (278.57 l.y.)
13h 16m 32.26s +19° 47' 07.0" P.A. 262.00 sep 0.4 mag 6.56,9.69 Sp F0V dist. 85.4 pc (278.57 l.y.)

BU 237 AB: 178; 205x: Excellent pair, B visible with seeing as a very fine point, well separated ~4" from A, ~3 delta, very fine.
13h 26m 53.35s +14° 22' 21.7" P.A. 213.00 sep 3.1 mag 8.50,10.62 Sp G5 dist. 81.5 pc (265.85 l.y.)

KR 41 AB: 178; 205x: Faint pair, well separated, 1 delta, B just visible direct and it brightens considerably with averted vision.  Not Physical
13h 02m 38.02s +56° 25' 11.1" P.A. 332.00 sep 3.6 mag 9.70,10.10 Sp G5

STF1732 AB: 178; 205x: Wide AB and I suspect BC with the 7-inch mask, and with 20-inch I have a stronger sense of it but it doesn't resolve to a point, it's more haze, ~2".  Physical.

KR 42 AB: 178; 205x: Faint near equal, nicely split ~4".  Physical.

13h 35m 24.70s +59° 54' 58.7" P.A. 217.00 sep 3.7 mag 10.38,10.55

15 april 2021

I was able to get out the last couple of nights for double star observing.  Seeing was variable so I was masking up and down.  Last night the two or three day old moon was high enough to be visible, so I observed some craters with unfamiliar lighting and the earth-shine illuminated dark area, and also watch the moon occult a few bright stars (in Taurus).  Some pretty good double seen, though marine haze continues to limit how faint I can go.

COU 287 AB: 508; 205x: Near equal, light orange, split about 1".  
10h 10m 58.48s +18° 33' 58.6" P.A. 95.00 sep 1.4 mag 10.52,10.77 Sp K0 dist. 103.09 pc (336.28 l.y.)

BU 1321 AB: 508; 205x: White A and very faint B which I can just hold with direct vision, ~3", it brightens with averted vision.
10h 22m 03.20s +12° 25' 42.0" P.A. 130.00 sep 1.8 mag 9.60,12.50 Sp G0

STF1435 AB: 508; 205x: Faint for a Struve, but easy white stars, wide, about half a delta mag.  Physical.
10h 27m 57.15s +19° 49' 44.7" P.A. 203.00 sep 8.5 mag 10.33,10.73 Sp G0

STF1518 BC: 508; 205x: A is light orange color, wide BC appears as a smear with the 7-inch mask but is a well split pair of near equal blue stars with 20-inches, ~3".  Nice pair
11h 14m 22.54s +05° 15' 25.4" P.A. 354.00 sep 3.5 mag 11.26,11.50

STF1522 AB: 508; 205x: Fine pair, blue-white A and ~3 delta mag faint B, ~3"
11h 16m 07.34s +01° 35' 12.1" P.A. 175.00 sep 2.5 mag 9.00,11.00 Sp F8

STF1529 AB: 508; 205x: Easy bright yellow ~1 delta wide
11h 19m 22.64s -01° 39' 17.6" P.A. 254.00 sep 9.3 mag 7.10,7.91 Sp F6IV+dG3 dist. 48.12 pc (156.97 l.y.)

BU 791 AB: 508; 205x: Very attractive dull white and light blue companion, ~2 delta and ~2".  Burnham discovered with 15-inch.
11h 19m 39.07s +06° 51' 49.3" P.A. 204.00 sep 2.0 mag 9.63,11.72 Sp G5

BU 340 AB: 178; 205x: Very nice, ~4", dull white and three delta blue B, just a tiny point.
11h 29m 58.80s +03° 12' 18.2" P.A. 11.00 sep 4.4 mag 8.38,11.02 Sp F8 dist. 86.51 pc (282.2 l.y.)

HO 51 AB: 178; 205x: Extremely faint B appears after foveal coaxing, ~4" from white A.  Physical
11h 31m 39.92s +07° 51' 48.8" P.A. 174.00 sep 3.1 mag 7.93,11.49 Sp K0 dist. 114.94 pc (374.93 l.y.)

STF1549 AB: 178; 205x: Faint for a Struve, but easy wide one delta.  Physical
11h 32m 37.03s +24° 19' 23.2" P.A. 113.00 sep 12.8 mag 9.49,11.16 Sp K0

BU 917 AB: 508; 205x: A has an intense light blue color, with very faint B ~4".  Very nice pair.  I can't see b with 7-inch mask.  Physical.  Burnham discovered with 18.5-inch.
11h 43m 35.12s +10° 41' 40.4" P.A. 176.00 sep 4.1 mag 8.70,11.59 Sp A5 dist. 136.8 pc (446.24 l.y.)

STF1500 AB: 178; 205x: Very fine white stars, ~1 delta, ~1.5".  Physical with a 680-year period.
11h 00m 02.02s -03° 28' 16.5" P.A. 298.90 sep 1.3 mag 7.91,8.27 Sp F8V dist. 53.59 pc (174.81 l.y.)

AG 173 AB: 178; 205x: Faint pair, rather difficult given the poor transparency, white, ~1 delta mag, ~2-3".
11h 00m 32.39s +02° 58' 09.2" P.A. 127.00 sep 2.2 mag 9.92,10.54 Sp G5 dist. 118.06 pc (385.11 l.y.)

KUI 54 AB: 178; 205x: Nice!  B is a tiny sharp point separated pretty well from bright A, outside of the bulge A makes.
11h 05m 01.02s +07° 20' 09.6" P.A. 268.00 sep 4.9 mag 4.66,11.00 Sp F2III-IVv dist. 28.99 pc (94.57 l.y.)

A 2378 AB: 508; 533x: Split with seeing, near equal, white.

11h 05m 20.40s +16° 35' 21.4" P.A. 140.00 sep 0.4 mag 9.91,9.80 Sp F5

12 april 2020

I noticed a two hour window in the forecast for last night where it would clear and seeing would be half decent.  So I opened up the shed in the late afternoon, coming back out after 9pm to find it was good enough to roll back the shed.  Seeing wasn't great so I masked to 7-inches, and observed some nice stars in Ursa Major.  Unfortunately that meant the scope was pointed in the landing path of jets on the way to Oakland airport, so seeing was disturbed for minutes at a time from their exhaust.  Almost exactly after 2 hours the window closed, seeing went to pot and haze started to build, so I closed up.  Still, it's always worth it to go out.

STF1491 AB: 178; 205x: A is a light yellow, B not seen with direct at first, but it flashes brightly with averted vision, and I then can hold it direct.  Very well split, three delta.  Physical.
10h 58m 50.42s +61° 42' 56.4" P.A. 33.00 sep 14.1 mag 8.39,11.33 Sp K0 dist. 1052.63 pc (3433.68 l.y.)

A 1590 AB: 178; 205x: Light orange A and blue-green B, >1" separation, half delta mag.  Physical with 163-year period, it's not at apastron and won't make significant change for several decades.
11h 03m 27.91s +54° 31' 33.0" P.A. 327.30 sep 1.5 mag 8.95,9.64 Sp K2V dist. 43.37 pc (141.47 l.y.)

HO 49 AB: 178; 205x: White A and faint B which appears consistently with averted vision, but I can't hold it direct even with foveal coaxing.  Well separated, 2 delta mag.  Physical.
11h 04m 46.60s +56° 59' 31.8" P.A. 356.00 sep 7.5 mag 8.38,11.56 Sp F8 dist. 104.28 pc (340.16 l.y.)

STF1505 AB: 178; 205x: Very light orange A, and faint B can just hold direct vision, brightens with averted vision, well split, 2 delta mag.  Physical.
11h 05m 41.23s +62° 37' 01.5" P.A. 312.00 sep 8.2 mag 8.95,10.55 Sp G5 dist. 185.53 pc (605.2 l.y.)

STF1512 AB: 178; 205x: Dual white stars, near equal, wide

11h 09m 13.09s +62° 29' 51.0" P.A. 51.00 sep 9.9 mag 9.29,9.52 Sp A2 dist. 448.43 pc (1462.78 l.y.)

MLB 408 AB: 178; 205x: Faint B seen with averted vision only, wide, 1 delta mag.
11h 10m 45.23s +64° 42' 44.5" P.A. 348.00 sep 8.0 mag 9.19,10.90 Sp F5

A 1355 AB: 178; 205x: White A, B is a haze which appears with averted vision on one side of A, a mass that appears rather than a point.  On the edge of detectability because of the poor transparency this night.

11h 28m 11.48s +55° 40' 05.4" P.A. 359.00 sep 1.3 mag 7.72,11.54 Sp A0 dist. 112.11 pc (365.7 l.y.)

STF1544 AB: 178; 205x: Bright and easy wide pair, 1 delta mag, A is light yellow and B slightly blue-white.  Physical.
11h 31m 18.57s +59° 42' 03.3" P.A. 91.00 sep 12.2 mag 7.33,8.02 Sp A3+Am dist. 588.24 pc (1918.84 l.y.)

PTT 22 AB: 178; 205x: Faint pair, brightens and sharpens with averted vision, near equal, wide.  E. Pettit.  Physical.
11h 31m 56.64s +62° 36' 41.9" P.A. 174.00 sep 5.1 mag 11.40,11.65 Sp F9+G0

STF1546 AB: 178; 205x: Light yellow A and wide 3 delta magnitude B.  Physical.
11h 32m 20.34s +56° 05' 43.3" P.A. 349.00 sep 11.4 mag 7.54,10.30 Sp F8 dist. 56.69 pc (184.92 l.y.)

KR 38 AB: 178; 205x: Very fine, near equal light orange pair, well split.  Not physical.
11h 32m 51.38s +60° 04' 01.8" P.A. 53.00 sep 2.8 mag 9.93,10.22

KR 39 AB: 178; 205x: 1 delta mag and wide, slightly blue pair.  Physical.
11h 33m 18.81s +57° 48' 21.6" P.A. 152.00 sep 10.4 mag 9.80,10.85 Sp G2V

STF1553 AB: 178; 205x: White, pretty wide, 1 delta mag, typical Struve.  Physical with a 1996-year period, slowly approaching apastron.
11h 36m 35.69s +56° 08' 07.3" P.A. 165.70 sep 6.2 mag 7.73,8.17 Sp G5+K7V dist. 46.99 pc (153.28 l.y.)

STF1559 AB: 178; 205x: Very striking colors, A is a strong blue-white, and 2 delta mag B is a reddish orange color, about 3" separation, a very great pair!
11h 38m 49.11s +64° 20' 49.4" P.A. 326.00 sep 2.0 mag 6.81,8.01 Sp A5IV dist. 210.97 pc (688.18 l.y.)

STF1563 AB: 178; 205x: Dull yellow A and blue B, very wide, 2 delta mag.  Physical.
11h 39m 23.55s +52° 11' 15.4" P.A. 157.00 sep 13.7 mag 8.58,10.64 Sp G0 dist. 83.47 pc (272.28 l.y.)

STF1567 AB: 178; 205x: Very fine faint pair, about 4" separation and 2 delta mag.  Not physical.
11h 42m 58.94s +64° 21' 19.4" P.A. 84.00 sep 3.6 mag 9.35,10.50 Sp F5

STT 243 AB: 178; 205x: Wow very good, excellent with seeing, 1 delta mag and 1" separation, more than hairline split
11h 59m 48.70s +53° 23' 52.1" P.A. 8.00 sep 1.2 mag 9.08,9.67 Sp F8 dist. 342.47 pc (1117.14 l.y.)

STF1600 AB: 178; 205x: Easy white-yellow Struve, half delta mag, wide.
12h 05m 34.42s +51° 55' 52.2" P.A. 92.00 sep 7.8 mag 7.63,8.28 Sp G8III dist. 369 pc (1203.68 l.y.)

STT 244 AB: 178; 205x: White A and 3 delta mag B, well split.  Physical.
12h 05m 35.22s +52° 52' 31.7" P.A. 324.00 sep 3.1 mag 8.07,10.56 Sp F5 dist. 122.25 pc (398.78 l.y.)

HU 1136 AB: 178; 205x: With seeing, when light yellow A settles to disk, a very faint small haze develops on the edge of A's diffraction, and with best seeing resolves to a very faint small blue round glow, 1" separation.  Physical.
12h 05m 39.70s +62° 55' 59.3" P.A. 212.00 sep 2.1 mag 6.27,10.24 Sp K1III-IV dist. 117.92 pc (384.66 l.y.)

STF1608 AB: 178; 205x: Yellow-white stars, near equal, wide.  Physical with a 2236-year period, it is nearing apastron now.  It's also variable star MZ UMa, which as best as I can find has a 0.02 magnitude change over a 7.96 day period. 
12h 11m 27.76s +53° 25' 17.5" P.A. 220.50 sep 13.6 mag 8.11,8.27 Sp K0 dist. 30.15 pc (98.35 l.y.)

STF1630 AB: 178; 205x: Faint pair, 1 delta, well split about 2" 
12h 18m 53.81s +56° 22' 06.0" P.A. 171.00 sep 2.5 mag 9.50,10.26 Sp G0 dist. 105.71 pc (344.83 l.y.)

STF1695 AB: 178; 205x: Light yellow-white A, and a deeper yellow B, 2 delta mag, well split, attractive pair.  Physical.
12h 56m 17.64s +54° 05' 58.1" P.A. 281.00 sep 3.8 mag 6.04,7.75 Sp A5m dist. 86.66 pc (282.68 l.y.)

STF1403 AB: 178; 205x: White stars, with seeing in poor conditions, well split, 2 delta mag
10h 02m 51.33s +07° 42' 20.2" P.A. 334.00 sep 3.1 mag 9.55,9.94 Sp F8

STF1438 AB: 178; 205x: Faint pair, B is wide and seen with averted vision only.  Not physical.
10h 29m 13.82s +13° 08' 59.5" P.A. 276.00 sep 2.5 mag 9.58,11.11 Sp F8

spring calstar 2021

I've been watching the weather all week to see whether there'd be a window to go to Lake San Antonio for the Spring CalStar.  Unfortunately there was always a mass of moisture running all through central California, so it didn't make sense to go.  I've been very busy at work anyhow.  Except last night, when a modest gap appeared to show itself in the satellite imagery, so I loaded up my 10-inch Springsonian and headed down.

There were far fewer attendees, likely due to the weather but also as a Spring event it's not as popular -- much colder.  It got very cold indeed, into the 30s quickly after nightfall, so chemical warmers in my boots and my down jacket saved me.  I set-up next to Marko whom I haven't seen in a couple years, and met Julian, Jamie, and Raymond.  There were wispy clouds during sunset and early dark, but from around 9pm to 1-2am the conditions were reasonably good -- 21.55 on the SQML.  It would have been much better on a drier night.

I spent my time seeking out brighter galaxies on my atlas with my 10-inch, some I had seen during Messier and H400 surveys, and others I had not seen since I had passed them by to follow observing lists.  I started out with the Leo Triplet then remembered a nearby galaxy I had seen before which really impressed me:

NGC 3521: This has a bright stellar nucleus and a bright, swirly core and a dim but large halo slowly diffusing into the background.  The galaxy appears on an angle the stellar nucleus appears to float on a the pillow of the core.  As good as any Messier.

NGC 3495: A lovely edge-on streak, with two faint stars on either side of the nucleus.  Nearby to a bright orange and a bright blue-white star.  

Lor 23 is a curious asterism, it appears as a compact line of five stars in the finderscope, and in the main scope some more stars are added so it forms a zig-zag of a dozen stars.  

NGC 3169, 3166, and  3165:  3169 had a distinct core but a lopsided, uneven halo, certainly disrupted, and a little larger and more diffuse than its more organized companion 3165.  3169 was a very faint small oval glow on the other side of a string of stars in the field.

NGC 2403 is very large, mostly a faint diffuse fat oval shape, but with time I distinctly noticed a spiral arm sprouting from one side away from an orange and blue-white pair stars, and then another from the opposite end.  Also the sky background through most of the FOV was lighter or foggier than the rest, indicating a very large diffuse halo.  It's a spiral seen at a moderately inclined angle.  Very striking.

NGC 4038, 4039, 4027: The first two are the famous Antennae galaxies, and for these I saw an smallish elongated smear with two brightened heads facing each other.  Forming an elongated triangle with a bright star, 4027 was a bright oval glow.  Nice to see the wider field of these.

Abell 35: The only planetary nebulae viewed.  Seen only with an OIII filter, it appeared as a diffuse round glow with only moderately defined edges, with central star seen.  There appeared some additional nebulosity running in line with an arc of four stars near the planetary.

I spent a good while revisiting the Coma & Virgo Clusters, galaxy hopping around and trying to follow along with the atlas.  It's too much to try to describe, but the views were really nice, there's so many galaxies to be seen, so many stars, so much life.

Toward the end of my night I took a tour of some nicknamed galaxies, all of them bright:

NGC 4565, The Needle: As described, a long, thin, bright edge-on galaxy.  Stellar nucleus floats in a bright core inner ring, and then the long, tapering halo which stretched for about 1 degree.

NGC 4559: Koi Fish: This was a large, truly fish as-seen-from-above shaped galaxy, with one large, rounded, brighter end and a slightly curving, mottled and dissipating tail.  

NGC 4656, 4657, 4637, and 4627:  In my 20-inch I had seen these only each in their field of view; in this scope I could get both groups comfortably in the same field.  The Hockey Stick is 4656 and 4657, the former being longer and brighter and the latter on one end and at an oblique angle so it looks like a hockey stick.  This pair is considerably smaller that 4631, the Whale, which is large and rounded on one end with a long, mottled, slightly cured halo.  A small and very faint diffuse oval glow is 4627, which looks like it's riding the whale's back like a calf.

NGC 4395 is a large, amorphously round diffuse glow, with a very slightly brighter round core.  It's a very interesting, highly mottled face on spiral.

NGC 4236: Very large, very faint edge on, some texture showing throughout.  It's a nearly edge on spiral, very striking.

Lots more seen, but no more notes taken.  Oh, I saw Omega Centauri twice, before it went behind a tree, and after.  And Centaurus A.  And M83.  And so much more.

I was the last observer on the field, for about an hour after the last person went to bed.  After seeing M81 and M82 I felt I had enough, so I went to a very fitful sleep.  I was warm, but did not sleep well.  I woke early, before the sun was up, to a fog-filled field.  Not being able to go back to sleep, I decided to finally pack everything and leave -- so I could get warm in the moving car.  I got something to eat and a coffee at the Lockwood Store, and went to the Elkhorn Slough on my way home for a beautiful walk and some birdwatching.  Then onward to home.