18 october 2023 short period pairs

Another pretty good night, drier with better transparency, but seeing was not quite as good as the night before.  I went after pairs in lower parts of the sky since I had already covered most of the higher elevations.  I observed to 11:30pm, being very tired from the night before and having fairly well tapped out the list.

BU  270 AB: 508; 635x: Hairline split with seeing, very tough, B very small and faint.  SOC grade 3 orbit, 106.78-year period, it is rapidly closing to periastron and will likely not be detectible after a couple more years through 2050.  It will be for a future generation to visually observe it again.

21h 13m 27.24s +07° 13' 04.9" P.A. 342.00 sep 0.366 mag 7.42,9.40 Sp A7V dist. 95.6 pc (311.85 l.y.)

STF2737 AB: 508; 1690x: Appears single through all powers.  SOC grade 2 orbit 104-year period, it will be at apastron in 2030 and not be visually observable again until the 2040s. 

20h 59m 04.54s +04° 17' 37.8" P.A. 125.00 sep 0.108" mag 5.96,6.31 Sp F6IV dist. 54.08 pc (176.41 l.y.)

A  617 AB: 508; 1690x: Very weak out of round olive through all powers, appears weakest in the SW.  SOC grade 2 orbit, a mere 6.03-year period, it will have apastron in 2025 at 0.174" (I might be able to see notching!) then close very rapidly.  I observed a weakness in the shape which might indicate the stars are not of equal magnitude (?).

21h 21m 21.56s +10° 19' 56.6" P.A. 45.00 sep 0.118: mag 7.50,7.50 Sp F7V dist. 47.89 pc (156.22 l.y.)

HU  767 AB: 508; 1690x: Can only see as single through all powers.  SOC grade 2 orbit, 34.33-year period, it will reach ~0.2" apastron by the mid-2030s. 

21h 13m 28.77s +15° 58' 56.8" P.A. 183.00 sep 0.11" mag 7.05,7.13 Sp A5V dist. 87.64 pc (285.88 l.y.)

COU 542 Aa-Ab: 508; 1690x: Component of POU5764, Seen as single all powers.  SOC grade 2 orbit, 30.95-year period, it will widen to ~0.2" apastron in 2032, and I hope to resolve the bugger then.

22h 57m 02.47s +24° 40' 55.9" P.A. 121.00 sep 0.18" mag 9.29,9.93 Sp K0 dist. 88.97 pc (290.22 l.y.)

HO  296 AB: 508; 1690x: Can only see as single all powers.  SOC grade 1 orbit, it is closing to 2025 periastron and will reach a resolvable ~0.3" apastron by 2035. 

22h 40m 52.71s +14° 32' 57.5" P.A. 26.00 sep 0.196" mag 6.14,7.22 Sp G4V dist. 33.8 pc (110.26 l.y.)

STF2912 AB: 508; 1690x:  37 Peg.  Can only see as single at all powers -- likely because of the >1 delta magnitude.  SOC grade 2 nearly edge on orbit, 123.53-year period, it will widen slightly to 0.38" by 2032 then close rapidly, resolvable again in the mid 2030s.  

22h 29m 57.93s +04° 25' 54.1" P.A. 298.00 sep 0.279 mag 5.75,7.26 Sp F2V+F2V dist. 51.87 pc (169.2 l.y.)

STT 536 AB: 508; 1270x: Snowman, slightly unequal light orange stars, PA to NNW.  SOC grade 2 orbit, nearly edge-on, 26-year period, it will widen to 0.279" in 2026 then close rapidly, resolvable again through the 2030s.  

22h 58m 35.08s +09° 21' 24.6" P.A. 347.00 sep 0.203" mag 7.00,7.30 Sp G2V+G4V dist. 32.56 pc (106.21 l.y.)

 

17 october 2023 short period pairs

Seeing last night was finally as predicted: good to excellent.  There was some haze and dew, and I had some atmospsheric dispersion -00 Dec, so I kept my targets a bit higher.  I was able to push to the limits of the scope and observed many interesting pairs.  I also had exellent views of Saturn and Jupiter, which looked very turbulent -- and for the first time noticed albedo on Callisto and Ganymede.  I saw Rhea, Dione, Titan, and Enceladus, Saturn's moons.  Because I was still having trouble with Gen3, I reverted back to my Gen2 servocat and argo navis, and it worked fine.   Better to have everything working as it should than waste time fiddling.  I observed from 9:30 to 1:30am.

A  1427 AB: 508; 850-1010x: Component of STF 2667, which is an easy, well separated (3.5") 2 delta magnitude pair, light orange A and blue B.  The Aitken appeared as a very slight bump with ESE PA, only at high power.  SOC grade 3 orbit, 82.61-year period, it is headed toward periastron and won't be detectable again until 2040.  Aitken discovered with the Lick 36-inch at apastron 0.3".

20h 20m 15.22s +39° 24' 11.8" P.A. 132.00 sep 0.146" mag 6.57,8.17 Sp A2V+A5V dist. 180.51 pc (588.82 l.y.)

STT 387 AB: 508; 635x: Very pretty light orange stars, 1 delta mag, split at 635x and suspected at lower powers, PA due east.  SOC grade 2 orbit, 165-year period, it will make nearly a quarter turn to and widen north by 2045.

19h 48m 43.81s +35° 18' 41.3" P.A. 94.00 sep 0.426" mag 7.12,7.90 Sp F6V dist. 63.69 pc (207.76 l.y.)

KUI  94 AB: 508; 1690x: In best seeing, which is maybe one instant in 30 seconds, I see two disks overlapping as a snowman, highly unequal, maybe 2 delta mag, PA ENE.  SOC grade 3 orbit which puts it over 0.4" -- I think this estimate is incorrect, if it was that far apart I would have split it with lower magnification.  I guess the current actual is closer to 0.2" based on my result.  I would not put much stock in my PA estimate, I am often not precise (visually estimated by drift method).  Last measure was in 2014, and this deserves an update.

19h 41m 57.63s +40° 15' 14.6" P.A. 158.00 sep 0.448" mag 6.50,7.80 Sp A6V dist. 81.57 pc (266.08 l.y.)

KUI 103 AB: 508; 635x: A is light red color, B is very faint B is noticed with averted vision then can hold, tough in the humid conditions, PA ENE.  SOC grade 3 orbit, 28.9-year period, it seems to be widening to the east, and should be an easier target for the next 10-15 years.

21h 00m 05.49s +40° 04' 12.3" P.A. 58.00 sep 1.0 mag 10.49,12.40 Sp M2V+M0.5V dist. 15.29 pc (49.88 l.y.)

BU  989 AB: 508; 1690x: Seen at all high powers as an elongated olive with PA ESE.  SOC grade 1 orbit, it will tighten to <0.1" periastron in 2026, then widen to ~0.25" apastron in 2033.

21h 44m 38.70s +25° 38' 42.0" P.A. 134.00 sep 0.237" mag 4.94,5.04 Sp F5V dist. 34.22 pc (111.63 l.y.)

STT 38 BC: 508; 635x: Component of STF 205 (Almach), to me this is the easily the most beautuful binary star in the sky.  Brilliant orange A, and a vivid blue B which becomes a 1 delta mag pair hairline split >600x, both stars blue.  Think of a more closely separated Alberio but where the companion is also a stunning pair.  STT 38 has a grade 2 SOC orbit, 62.63-year period, and is widening to 0.5" apastron in 2048.

02h 03m 53.92s +42° 19' 47.5" P.A. 120.00 sep 0.3 mag 5.30,6.50 Sp B8V+A0V dist. 120.48 pc (393.01 l.y.)

EGG 2 Aa-Ab: 508; 1690x: Component of STF 245 AB, I observed it as "feels elongated in the same N-S line as the STF pair."  Checking the data later, the PA for STF 245 is 293-degrees (WNW) and EGG 2 is 97 (ESE), so I'm fairly sure I have it.  SOC grade 3 orbit, 29.71-year period, it is to reach 0.246" apastron in 2028.  I felt it was more difficult than the current given 0.228" separation, so this is another one which needs to be measured (last measure was in 2014).

02h 18m 36.27s +40° 16' 43.7" P.A. 97.00 sep 0.228" mag 7.90,7.90 Sp F3V dist. 97.47 pc (317.95 l.y.)

A  2906 AB: 508; 1270x: "The primary has a bump, slightly off line of the main pair's PA, very tough."  The main pair is STF 314 which has PA 316-degrees.  A 2906 has a 2018 measure PA at 115-degrees, so I think I do have it (316-180=136, which is 21-degrees off the A 2906's line).  Given this is >1 delta magnitude, I don't think I could have resolved it any better than a "bump."

02h 52m 52.03s +52° 59' 50.6" P.A. 115.00 sep 0.237" mag 7.26,8.78 Sp B8III dist. 307.69 pc (1003.68 l.y.)

STT  53 AB: 508; 850x: Gorgeous light orange stars, good clean split at 850x, perfect airy disks, unequal by half a delta mag.  SOC grade 3 orbit, 114.3-years, it will rapidly close to periastron around 2040.

03h 17m 44.01s +38° 38' 21.1" P.A. 232.00 sep 0.518" mag 7.73,8.50 Sp G0 dist. 60.1 pc (196.05 l.y.)

A  1710 AB: 508; 500x: Lovely near equal light orange stars, well split.  SOC grade 3 orbit, 109.5-year period, it will close to a challenging 0.25" separation by 2045.

04h 06m 25.49s +43° 25' 05.4" P.A. 307.00 sep 0.584" mag 8.16,8.27 Sp G5 dist. 69.2 pc (225.73 l.y.)

STF 228 AB: 508; 850x: Perfect airy disks. light yellow-white unequal stars, split nicely.  SOG grade 2 orbit, nearly circular, 145.41-year period, it will make a quarter turn by 2045.

02h 14m 02.43s +47° 29' 03.3" P.A. 314.00 sep 0.497" mag 6.56,7.21 Sp F2V+F7V dist. 39.59 pc (129.14 l.y.)

A  655 AB: 508; 1690x: Very weak olive elongation at all high powers, PA seems to the north.   SOC grade 3 orbit, 153-year period, slightly oval orbit will make a quarter turn by 2045.

01h 11m 14.56s +41° 13' 17.3" P.A. 5.00 sep 0.231" mag 8.35,9.36 Sp G5 dist. 116.28 pc (379.31 l.y.)

STF3062 AB: 508; 150x: Super easy light yellow stars, more than 1 delta mag, PA to the north.  SOC grade 2 orbit, 106.7-year period, it will tighten to ~0.8" a quarter turn to the east by 2045.  

00h 06m 15.81s +58° 26' 12.5" P.A. 7.00 sep 1.5 mag 6.42,7.32 Sp G3V+G8V dist. 21.48 pc (70.07 l.y.)

10 september 2023

Good night with the 6-inch, average seeing but good enough for this scope.  Took far too long to do star alignment but once dialed in had easy finding.  Wasps were congregating in the pier support, so I sprayed them.  At the end of the night I noticed a very large wolf spider had somehow created a web from the telescope to a nearby bush -- I sprayed that too.  'Tis the season and I'll need to take a careful look for them as I handle the scope.

STF2851 AB: 152; 125x: Faint, 1 Dm pair, wide.  65% PRO, 1,031 AU WS, 1.0+0.9 Msol, and the RVD 0.2 < EV 1.8.  It is likely binary and needs an orbit.
22h 01m 41.08s -11° 59' 30.2" P.A. 121.00 sep 19.1 mag 8.74,9.07 Sp G7V+G9III

STF2855 AB: 152; 125x: Wide, 1 Dm, A is orange.  -87% PRO, it is not binary.
22h 05m 19.62s -01° 25' 27.1" P.A. 305.00 sep 25.3 mag 8.34,10.26 Sp F0 dist. 33.43 pc (109.05 l.y.)

STF2862 AB: 152; 200x: Closely split light orange stars, half delta, split with 125x but better seen with higher power.  Also split with seeing with the 60mm and 90x, though the stars were quite fainter.  -11% PRO, so in spite of the mere 187 AU WS and 1.4+1.2 Msol, it is not likely to be binary.
22h 07m 06.65s +00° 34' 13.0" P.A. 96.00 sep 2.5 mag 8.04,8.41 Sp G0 dist. 78.68 pc (256.65 l.y.)

STF2864 = STF2876: AB: 152; 125x: Wide, white, 1 Dm.  58% PRO, 720 AU WS, 1.2+0.8 Msol, and the RVD 1.5 < EV 2.2, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.
22h 11m 58.63s +37° 39' 04.2" P.A. 66.00 sep 11.8 mag 8.06,9.81 Sp F8 dist. 55.93 pc (182.44 l.y.)


STF2866 AB: 152; 125x: Faint, with averted vision, wide equal pair.  97% PRO, 2,832 AU WS, 1.9+1.3 Msol, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit.
22h 09m 17.16s +40° 39' 26.0" P.A. 55.00 sep 9.2 mag 9.61,12.10 Sp A5

STF2871 = BAL 629: 152; 125x: Faint pair, seen with averted vision, slight magnitude difference, wide.  -82% PRO, it is not binary.
22h 11m 31.43s -01° 14' 31.0" P.A. 82.00 sep 19.6 mag 11.61,11.83

STF2875 AB: 152; 200x: Very faint half delta wide pair, needed medium power to darken field.  -4% PRO, and the RVD 2.6 > EV 1.2, it is not binary.

22h 13m 43.71s -07° 48' 33.4" P.A. 42.00 sep 14.9 mag 9.35,12.20 Sp A5

STF2876 AB: 152: 200x: Half delta magnitude faint wide pair.  58% PRO, 720 AU WS, 1.2+0.8 Msol, and the RVD 1.5 < EV 2.2, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.
22h 11m 58.63s +37° 39' 04.2" P.A. 66.00 sep 11.8 mag 8.06,9.81 Sp F8 dist. 55.93 pc (182.44 l.y.)

STF2882 AB: 152; 125x: Very fine near equal pair, close split with low power.  -30% PRO, it is not binary.
22h 14m 15.52s +37° 44' 45.2" P.A. 148.00 sep 3.5 mag 9.60,9.72 Sp F8 dist. 348.43 pc (1136.58 l.y.)

STF2886 AB: 152; 125x: Wide, faint B, 1 Dm.  -96% PRO, it is not binary.
22h 14m 43.17s +49° 21' 15.4" P.A. 108.00 sep 20.8 mag 7.63,10.12 Sp F8 dist. 169.78 pc (553.82 l.y.)

STF2887 AB: 152; 125x: Faint stars, near equal, well separated.  78% PRO, 433 AU WS, 0.8+0.8 Msol, and the RVD 0.0 < EV 2.5, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.
22h 17m 20.81s -00° 42' 17.1" P.A. 30.00 sep 7.7 mag 9.85,9.93 Sp K0

STF2890 AB: 152; 125x: Near equal, fairly closely separated, white stars.  In a rich and beautiful Milky Way field of various magnitude stars.  Only 3% PRO, 8,449 AU WS, 3.4+3.1 Msol, it is probably not binary but should try an orbit anyway.
22h 15m 10.61s +49° 52' 31.1" P.A. 11.00 sep 9.4 mag 9.42,9.71 Sp B9V

STF2891 AB: 152; 125x: 1 Dm, wide, in a rich field.  58% PRO, 6,268 AU WS, 2.8+2.2 Msol, and the RVD 1.0 < EV 1.2, it is probably binary and needs an orbit.
22h 16m 27.38s +47° 58' 32.6" P.A. 308.00 sep 12.8 mag 8.83,9.79 Sp A0 dist. 371.75 pc (1212.65 l.y.)

STF2892 AB: 152; 125x: Light orange color A, wide, almost 2 Dm B. 19% PRO, 4,075 AU WS, 2.6+1.2 Msol, but the RVD 3.6 > EV 1.3, it is not binary.
22h 19m 17.70s -10° 47' 25.1" P.A. 56.00 sep 11.6 mag 8.83,11.31 Sp K2 dist. 135.5 pc (442 l.y.)

STF2894 AB: 152; 125x: 2 Dm, well split, seen in 60mm too.  -11% PRO, 1,136 AU WS, 2.0+1.1 Msol, RVD 2.3 > EV 2.2, it is not binary.
22h 18m 56.21s +37° 46' 09.4" P.A. 194.00 sep 15.8 mag 6.21,8.85 Sp A8III dist. 73.53 pc (239.85 l.y.)

STF2902 AB: 152; 125x: Near equal, slightly orange A and slightly blue B, well separated.  Seen in 60mm at 40x too.  42% PRO, 1,296 AU WS, 2.6+2.1 Msol, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.
22h 23m 34.02s +45° 20' 59.9" P.A. 88.00 sep 6.5 mag 7.62,8.22 Sp G5 dist. 203.25 pc (663 l.y.)

STF2904 AB: 152; 125x: Near equal, well separated.  -6% PRO, it is not binary.
22h 27m 10.15s -01° 46' 28.8" P.A. 311.00 sep 8.3 mag 9.63,10.14 Sp F0

STF2906 AB: 152; 125x: White and much fainter B, well separated and appears blue in both 152mm and 60mm.  -7% PRO, it is not binary.
22h 26m 45.56s +37° 26' 37.3" P.A. 1.00 sep 4.2 mag 6.46,9.64 Sp B2V dist. 458.72 pc (1496.34 l.y.)

STF2907 AB: 152; 125x: 1 Dm, wide.  -36% PRO, it is not binary.
22h 29m 02.65s -09° 56' 08.8" P.A. 157.00 sep 36.0 mag 8.67,9.55 Sp G0 dist. 99.01 pc (322.97 l.y.)

STF2909 AB: 152; 125x: Zeta 1 Aqr.  Lovely light yellow-orange near equal pair, tight split with 125x, wider spread with higher powers.  Appeared elongated with 60mm at 40x, hairline split at 90x.  Lacks Gaia parallax data.  SOC grade 3 orbit, nearly face-on, 426-year period.
22h 28m 49.81s -00° 01' 12.2" P.A. 157.00 sep 2.4 mag 4.34,4.49 Sp F3IV-V dist. 28.17 pc (91.89 l.y.)

STF2913 AB: 152; 125x: Slightly unequal, well separated.  3% PRO, 1,114 AU WS, 1.9+1.6 Msol, there is a small chance it is binary and an orbit should be tried.
22h 30m 32.80s -08° 06' 52.7" P.A. 328.00 sep 8.1 mag 7.78,8.60 Sp F0V dist. 203.67 pc (664.37 l.y.)

STF2914 AB: 152; 125x: B seen with averted vision only, faint & wide.  28% PRO, 12,160 AU WS, 4.3+1.3 Msol, but the RVD 6.1 > EV 0.9, it is not binary.

22h 32m 26.66s -10° 56' 26.5" P.A. 240.00 sep 20.6 mag 9.36,12.11 Sp K4III dist. 1369.86 pc (4468.48 l.y.)

STF2916 AB: 152; 125x: Very wide, 1 Dm.  -97% PRO, it is not binary.
22h 31m 20.20s +41° 13' 07.0" P.A. 337.00 sep 44.4 mag 8.17,10.04 Sp K2 dist. 242.13 pc (789.83 l.y.)

STF2917 AB: 152; 125x: Slightly unequal white stars, well separated.  Also seen in the 60mm, split at high power though needed averted vision.  42% PRO, 1,472 AU WS, 2.6+2.4 Msol, and the RVD 0.3 < EV 2.5, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.
22h 30m 35.57s +53° 31' 43.3" P.A. 69.00 sep 4.7 mag 8.28,8.56 Sp F0IV dist. 374.53 pc (1221.72 l.y.)

STF2918 AB: 152; 200x: Excellent pair, 1 Dm, very closely split.  41% PRO, 381 AU WS, 2.5+1.7 Msol, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.
22h 31m 15.02s +50° 52' 20.4" P.A. 238.00 sep 1.7 mag 7.99,9.43 Sp A1V dist. 230.95 pc (753.36 l.y.)

STF2921 AB: 152; 125x: Faint B seen with averted vision only, wide.  -77% PRO, it is not binary.
22h 36m 11.99s +00° 10' 07.1" P.A. 237.00 sep 30.0 mag 9.95,11.61 Sp G5

STF2922 AB: 152; 125x: Wide, 1 Dm, yellow-white.  -21% PRO, it is not binary.
22h 35m 52.28s +39° 38' 03.6" P.A. 186.00 sep 22.5 mag 5.66,6.29 Sp B2Ve+B5 dist. 662.25 pc (2160.26 l.y.)

STF2926 AB: 152; 125x: Near equal, wide, light orange A and blue B.  -91% PRO, it is not binary.
22h 37m 27.63s +38° 54' 42.3" P.A. 335.00 sep 21.5 mag 9.10,9.54 Sp A0IV dist. 142.25 pc (464.02 l.y.)

STF2942 AB: 152; 200x: Light orange A and much fainter blue B, close separation at 125x, easier at 200x.  17% PRO, 733 AU WS, 4.4+2.1 Msol, it is probably binary and needs an orbit.
22h 44m 05.21s +39° 27' 55.5" P.A. 277.00 sep 2.8 mag 6.18,8.94 Sp K5III dist. 212.31 pc (692.56 l.y.)

STF2946 AB: 152; 125x: White near equal, well split.  A close split in the 60mm at 40x.  -80% PRO, it is not binary.
22h 49m 41.44s +40° 30' 54.8" P.A. 262.00 sep 5.4 mag 8.12,8.25 Sp F8+F8 dist. 91.49 pc (298.44 l.y.)

STF2951 = HJ 3150: 152; 125x: Near equal, wide.  -87% PRO, it is not binary.
22h 51m 56.98s +53° 04' 08.9" P.A. 291.00 sep 20.3 mag 9.87,9.91 Sp G5

STF2960 AB: 152; 125x: Wide, faint, very large delta magnitude, B needs averted vision then can hold.  29% PRO, 12,536 AU WS, 5.7+1.6 Msol, there is a small chance it's binary and needs an orbit.  

22h 56m 23.63s +41° 36' 14.0" P.A. 345.00 sep 27.6 mag 5.56,11.40 Sp B2IV dist. 390.63 pc (1274.24 l.y.)

7 october 2023

Tried to get the 20-inch back up and running last night, having upgraded the ServoCAT from Gen 2 to Gen 3.  I have it mostly working, with goto functioning.  Tracking is still not good, and goto not very accurate.  And I could not get the laptop to wirelessly connect to the Nexus.  I'll give it some more tries to make everything work -- I can always revert to Gen 2 if needed.

Seeing was good and I tried a couple of "movement" list doubles, punching in the coordinates and pushing to them.  Saturn looked nice through the 20-inch but to be honest, it looked better through my 6-inch refractor, which I had also set-up as a backup.  The contrast gain was significant, it wasn't so washed out an it looked solid, like a 3D physical object.  On to the 8-inch refractor, I think.

BU 1129 AB: 508; 1060x: Light orange stars, slightly notched, PA seems to the NW but is difficult.  SOC grade 3 orbit, 121.7-year period, it will hang at this PA and separation into the 2040s.
19h 21m 36.09s +52° 22' 34.9" P.A. 344.00 sep 0.3 mag 7.69,7.84 Sp A8III dist. 205.34 pc (669.82 l.y.)

STT 406 AB: 508; 1270x: Out of round on a W-E line, my guess is secondary is east.  SOC grade 3 orbit, nearing periastron but will widen on the opposite side of it's orbit and be splitable in the early 2040s.

20h 19m 49.69s +45° 21' 49.7" P.A. 100.00 sep 0.13" mag 7.25,8.74 Sp F5IV dist. 92.51 pc (301.77 l.y.)

29 august 2023 Cepheus Struves

Another clear, if hazy, night, with average to good seeing.  I used the 6-inch on Cepheus Struves, and had a surprisingly good night.  I didn't cover the entire constellation, but did get a good chunk of it.  Viewed the moon and Saturn at the end of the night, but transparency was hurt by Oregon wildfire smoke which has blown down our way.

STF2712 = H 4 78 7.9/12 28.5": 152; 125x: Light yellow A and wide B, seen averted vision only.  -94% PRO, it is not binary.

20h 36m 36.96s +62° 25' 55.0" P.A. 128.00 sep 28.5 mag 7.90,12.00 Sp F0 dist. 246.31 pc (803.46 l.y.)

STF2740 AB: 152; 175x: 2 Dm, white A and dull white B, nice close split with 125x, better seen 175x.  8% PRO, 472 AU WS, 1.6+1.0 Msol, and the RVD 1.6 < EV 3.1, there is some possibility it is binary and needs an orbit. 

20h 56m 50.67s +61° 33' 38.9" P.A. 331.00 sep 4.1 mag 8.29,10.08 Sp F5 dist. 102.15 pc (333.21 l.y.)

STF2751 AB: 152; 250x: Beautiful near equal pair, close split with high power.  It appears as a strongly notched elongation with the 60mm 90x.  -1% PRO, 550 AU WS, 4.1+3.6 Msol, there is a chance it's binary and needs an orbit.

21h 02m 09.00s +56° 40' 11.1" P.A. 356.00 sep 1.6 mag 6.23,6.89 Sp B8III dist. 282.49 pc (921.48 l.y.)

STF2764 A-BC: 152; 125x: Near equal, well split.  Did not notice HU 765 BC, near equal at 0.8".  A-BC is not binary, -51% PRO, and neither is BC, -68% PRO.

21h 05m 32.42s +62° 09' 31.9" P.A. 298.00 sep 6.9 mag 8.32,9.31 Sp A0V dist. 235.29 pc (767.52 l.y.)

STF2766 AB: 152; 125x: Easy near equal, light-yellow stars at low power.  68% PRO, 481 AU WS, 1.3+1.3 Msol, and the RVD 0.3 < EV 3.1, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

21h 07m 00.38s +58° 59' 44.6" P.A. 247.00 sep 4.5 mag 8.79,9.11 Sp F5+F5

STF2771 AB: 152; 125x: Near equal, close split with low power 125x, better seen 200x.  12% PRO, 324 AU WS, 1.2+1.2 Msol, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit.

21h 04m 28.70s +70° 45' 49.9" P.A. 33.00 sep 2.7 mag 9.53,9.61 Sp K2

STF2780 AB: 152; 250x: Beautiful light-yellow stars, 1 Dm, hairline at 250x but just a snowman at lower powers.  No Gaia parallax data but an orbit should be tried all the same.

21h 11m 48.24s +59° 59' 11.8" P.A. 211.00 sep 1.0 mag 6.09,6.77 Sp B0II dist. 1315.79 pc (4292.11 l.y.)

STF2783 AB: 152; 250x: Very strongly notched elongation only even with highest powers and best seeing.  No Gaia data for the pair.  SOC grade 4 orbit, 1760-year period.

21h 14m 04.90s +58° 17' 49.8" P.A. 348.00 sep 0.7 mag 7.71,8.07 Sp A3V dist. 127.88 pc (417.14 l.y.)

STF2784 AB: 152; 125x: Wide, 2 Dm, B is faint and barely seen with direct vision.  -50% PRO, it is not binary.

21h 11m 09.19s +74° 03' 30.6" P.A. 345.00 sep 14.3 mag 9.09,10.84 Sp A1V dist. 170.65 pc (556.66 l.y.)

STF2788 AB: 152; 125x: 1 Dm, wide.  -24% PRO, it is not binary.

21h 15m 48.83s +67° 21' 14.1" P.A. 352.00 sep 8.1 mag 8.73,10.40 Sp K2III dist. 299.4 pc (976.64 l.y.)

STF2790 AB: 152; 150x: Bright light orange A, B is very much fainter, closely split at 125x, better seen 150x, with several other stars about.  -19% PRO, it is not binary.

21h 19m 15.69s +58° 37' 24.6" P.A. 45.00 sep 4.6 mag 5.85,9.27 Sp M1I+B2+B3 dist. 591.72 pc (1930.19 l.y.)

STF2794 AB: 152; 125x: Faint, very wide, 2 Dm.  -95% PRO, it is not binary.

20h 50m 42.69s +85° 52' 04.6" P.A. 90.00 sep 17.7 mag 8.54,10.88 Sp F0 dist. 240.96 pc (786.01 l.y.)

STF2795 AB: 152; 175x: Exquisitely fine near equal pair, split at 125x but better seen 175x.  95% PRO, 573 AU WS, 2.1+1.9 Msol, it is very likely binary and needs an orbit.

21h 21m 20.04s +60° 41' 57.8" P.A. 302.00 sep 1.8 mag 9.31,9.66 Sp A dist. 338.98 pc (1105.75 l.y.)

STF2796 AB: 152; 125x: White stars, wide, 1 Dm, also seen with 60mm at 40x.  -37% PRO, it is not binary.

21h 15m 35.69s +78° 35' 53.6" P.A. 42.00 sep 26.7 mag 7.43,9.56 Sp A3V dist. 278.55 pc (908.63 l.y.)

STF2798 AB: 152; 125x: 1 Dm, well separated.  Lacks Gaia data for the secondary.

21h 23m 35.73s +64° 55' 38.1" P.A. 143.00 sep 6.4 mag 8.36,9.93 Sp A1V dist. 280.9 pc (916.3 l.y.)

STF2801 AB: 152; 175x: Light orange stars, significantly unequal, split at 125x better seen 175x, close split.  38% PRO, 190 AU WS, 1.3+1.6 Msol, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit tried.

21h 18m 31.05s +80° 21' 12.5" P.A. 271.00 sep 2.1 mag 7.87,8.62 Sp F6V dist. 82.24 pc (268.27 l.y.)

STF2806 AB: 152; 125x: Bright yellow-white A and very much fainter B well split.  Best seen with the 60mm telescope, 40x, no flaring from the A star in the smaller aperture.  No Gaia parallax data for the primary.  

21h 28m 39.58s +70° 33' 38.5" P.A. 250.00 sep 13.6 mag 3.17,8.63 Sp B1IV dist. 210.08 pc (685.28 l.y.)

STF2807 AB: 152; 200x: Excellent near equal pair, faint, split with lower powers but better seen with 200x.  37% PRO, 151 AU WS, 1.2+1.2 Msol, it is likely binary.  SOC grade 5 orbit, 2818-year period.

21h 17m 33.47s +82° 31' 03.7" P.A. 310.00 sep 1.8 mag 8.65,8.77 Sp F8 dist. 75.02 pc (244.72 l.y.)

STF2810 AB: 152; 125x: Equal, wide, not much to look at, but there is 64% PRO, 1,787 AU WS, 1.5+1.3 Msol, and RVD 0.7 < EV 1.6, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

21h 34m 34.88s +59° 06' 23.8" P.A. 290.00 sep 16.8 mag 8.43,9.04 Sp F8 dist. 75.64 pc (246.74 l.y.)

STF2812 AB: 152; 125x: Very fine split with low power, white unequal stars. 2% PRO, 507 AU WS, 1.8+1.6 Msol, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit.

21h 34m 49.90s +59° 40' 51.0" P.A. 133.00 sep 2.4 mag 9.25,9.70 Sp G0

STF2813 AB: 152; 125x: Near equal, well split.  45% PRO, 2,342 AU WS, 1.8+1.6 Msol, and RVD 0.4 < EV 1.6, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

21h 36m 02.74s +57° 28' 14.0" P.A. 272.00 sep 10.2 mag 9.21,9.72 Sp F5

D25 AB: 152; 200x: Tough hairline split with seeing, very significant delta magnitude, high powers only.  AB-C = STF2815 is easy, wide, nearly 2 Dm.  AB is not binary, -45% PRO.  AB-C has 52% PRO, 6,743 AU WS, 4.0+2.7 Msol, and might turn out to be binary.

21h 37m 40.93s +57° 33' 37.5" P.A. 81.00 sep 7.5 mag 8.65,10.52 Sp A0 dist. 446.43 pc (1456.25 l.y.)

STF2816 AC: 152; 125x: Easy 2 Dm well split with low power. Very large Gaia parallax error of 16%, cannot be certain.

21h 38m 57.61s +57° 29' 20.5" P.A. 120.00 sep 11.8 mag 5.73,7.48 Sp O6V+B1.5V dist. 606.06 pc (1976.97 l.y.)

STF2837 AB: 152; 125x: Close split, white stars, unequal, pretty.  Lacks Gaia data for the secondary.

21h 36m 58.67s +82° 55' 16.5" P.A. 269.00 sep 3.2 mag 8.84,9.36 Sp G5

STF2843 AB: 152; 200x: Slightly unequal light-yellow and dull blue stars, very close split with 125x but better seen medium and high powers.  70% PRO, 122 AU WS, 1.8+1.7 Msol, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

21h 51m 37.25s +65° 45' 09.9" P.A. 150.00 sep 1.4 mag 7.01,7.28 Sp A1m dist. 87.57 pc (285.65 l.y.)

more obscure nebula

Reviewing the Finkbeiner layer in Aladin, I noticed two relatively small clouds located off the plane of the Milky Way. One is in Hercules near planetary nebula NGC 6120, and the other is near Alpha Aquarius. I've yet to figure out if there is a designation for these but decided to try for them the next opportunity I had.

I observed Friday night 9/8 on top of a ridge in the California Central Coastal Range. Transparency was off and a weather system churned over the Pacific; indeed, there were lightning flashes beyond the coastal hills, and some cloud bands streamed slowly from the southeast to the northwest. SQML was 21.09, and I tried to make the most of the night before the clouds came in.

I used both a NP-101 and a 60mm f/6 refractor for the observations. It turns out both of these were best seen with just the 60mm & Ha filter (3nm in this case). I printed star field finder charts and images from Aladin, adjusting the pixel scale to exaggerate the nebula brightness.

The Hercules nebula was very faint, but immediately seen when flipping from unfiltered to Ha filter in my filter wheel. It lay west of a distinctive "U" shaped asterism of 5 stars. The brightest section overlay an elongated triangle of near equal stars, and fainter grey-scale changes to the background sky extended down to a large trapezium asterism. It is around 1.8-degrees E-W and 1.4-degrees N-S.

The Alpha Aquarius nebula was considerably fainter, larger, and more tenuous. I called it very extremely faint, and I couldn't see it without flipping between filtered and unfiltered several times and panning the scope around to make sure it moved with the sky and not the scope. It is very diffuse, no visible edge, and feels mottled. It is around 4-degrees NW-SE by 2.5-degrees NE-SW. I only saw the main body of the nebula; the Finkbeiner image shows a parenthesis of nebula around this, but I did not see these.

I continued through the night observing various LBN objects in Aquila, with the NP-101, many of which rivaled these two nebula for faintness. Having mostly finished observing the Sharpless Catalog, I plan to make the LBN my next project.

Strottner-Drechsler-Sainty 1: 60mm, Ha+OIII dual band, OIII cloud near M31: This was surprisingly easy with the wide field!  Very faint, but obvious, elongated cloud around 2-degrees SE of the galaxy, running parallel to it and bordered on one side by a lazy "L" asterism, the brightest star of which is Upsilon Andromedae.  Discovery image attached, it is the blue-green elongated cloud. 

LBN 92: LBN 030.54+00.41 = Sh2-66: With the 4-inch and Ha, It was faint, irregularly round, diffuse edge, with several bright stars intermingled with one near the center.

LBN-94: LBN 030.66-00.65 = Sh2-67: In the same FOV, it is slightly larger and more oval shape, more diffuse, also with a centrally located star.

LBN 99: LBN 032.38+01.93 -- HII Region = Sh2-69: Faint, small in this field, with a small concentrated mass with a wing or comma shape coming off the northern end and swinging east.  

LBN 100: LBN 032.44-15.40 -- HII Region: 40'x12': Large, 3:1 oval shape, with many stars intermingled, moderately brighter in the middle.  This seems to be one part of a larger structure, which I did not see as I did not pan around.  

LBN 101: LBN 033.83-14.72 -- HII Region. 180'x90': Large, very faint mottled greyscale change filling the field, seems centered on a large loose cluster of faint stars.

LBN 103 = SH 2-71 -- Planetary Nebula: Small, round, hazy ball with soft edges, brightens with averted vision.  Not enough image scale to see the detail shown in photographs.  

LBN 104 LBN 036.57-01.81 -- HII Region = Sh2-72: In the same field, appears as a curved glow, diffuse and large.  The image here from stellarscenes.net shows LBN 103 as the bright red glow near center, and LBN 104 as the red diffuse glow just left of center.  

LBN 108: LBN 039.55-16.65 -- HII Region. 150'x50': Very large, fills the 4-degree field, very faint and vague but with noticeable, if diffuse, edges.  

LBN 110: LBN 040.46+02.46 -- HII Region: Sh2-76: Extremely weak oval glow, between two equal magnitude faint stars

LBN 111: LBN 041.37-18.83 -- Molecular Cloud.  Pretty large, extremely faint, irregular shape, in a box of stars.  

LBN 113: LBN 041.84-18.59 -- HII Region 70'x20': Faint but easily seen, large, area full of mottled nebula.  Can't find a good picture!

LBN 114: LBN 042.59-23.34 -- HII Region. 85'x30'.  Very faint, large, elongated through a field of bright stars.  Another I can't find a good image of.

LBN 115: LBN 042.75-21.54 -- HII Region:  35'x10', Fairly large, very faint, no clean edge.  No good image.

LBN 116: LBN 042.97-17.43 -- HII Region: 140'x80'.  2:1 elongated large cloud, faint, faintly mottled, soft edges.

LBN 119: LBN 043.64-21.66 -- HII Region: 140'x10'.  Long, thin faint stream of nebulosity, fills most of the field.

LBN 120: LBN 043.96-23.21 -- HII Region:  30'x35' Large, nearly round, with diffuse edges, in a large triangle of stars.  

LBN 122: LBN 044.95-20.39 -- HII Region: 42'x12': Large, diffuse, faint elongated nebula appears to be mingled with a large loose open cluster of faint stars.  

LBN 123: LBN 045.51-20.67 -- HII Region: In the same field, just above LBN 123, it is smaller, rounder, and a bit brighter.  

LBN 124: LBN 045.60-22.06 -- HII Region:  Fairly large, faint.  

LBN 125: LBN 046.20-21.45 -- HII Region:  Elongated faint nebula, fairly distinct edges.