OR: gobbling globulars / part 1 the exotic

My chance for new moon observing came last night, 1 July. Transparency was forecast to be good and seeing was above average, so I drove down to the central coast. I planned to arrive by 8:30pm, but due to some traffic arrived around 9:00pm. No matter, I had an easy set-up as I only brought a C8, an 80ED, and binoculars. It was windy in the dusk as I set-up and for the first hour after darkness, with the air from higher elevations rushing down slope. Seeing toward the horizon was poor, but not bad 20-degrees up. It remained warm all night, though I eventually put on a fleece and hat late at night. SQML 21.4, respectable.

I determined to observe globular clusters almost exclusively this night. Using Alvan Huey's observing guide, I tore through the list. From 10pm to 2am, when I finally stopped, I observed 77 objects! Good setting circles and using the night vision make it easy.

Haute Province 1 (Ophiuchus): 17 31 05.2 -29 58 54, Vmag 12.5, SB 12.9, size 1.2’:
I remember observing this first with my 20-inch at Willow Springs years ago. At the time I wrote: "According to one "Dennis" who posted his image of the object in IceInSpace: "Discovered by Dufay, Berthier and Morignat in 1954. Independently rediscovered by van den Bergh and Hagen in 1975. Globular Cluster HP 1 was discovered by Dufay et.al. (1954), and sometimes referred to as "HP" for the Haute-Provence Observatory where the discovery occurred (e.g., Sawyer Hogg 1959). This designation was mutated to HP 1 as more globular clusters were discovered at that observatory in the 1960s by Terzan. Until recently, it was thought that HP 1 is situated close to the Galactic Center, but recent estimates have put it as far as about 20,000 light years beyond, to a total distance of 46,000 light years from us." In my scope it appeared as a very faint, small irregular splotch at the western rim of a shallow upturned arc of 5 stars. The greyishness began to turn grainy with AV, hinting of some resolved stars."
With the C8+NV it was small, with a bright stellar core and a round grainy concentration of stars, easy direct vision. It was capped by a distinctive arc of three similar magnitude stars and lay in an extremely dense star field.

Palomar 7 (IC 1276) (Ophiuchus): 18 10 44.2 -07 12 27, Vmag 10.3, SB 14.8, size 8’
With the C8+NV, it was rather bright and large, loose, open cluster like, with mostly similar magnitude stars.  Discovered by American astronomer Lewis Swift on 10 April 1889 using the 16-inch Refractor at Warner Observatory, Rochester.  Distance from Sun 17,600 light years, from Galactic Center: 12,100 ly.

[PWM78] 2 (aka Pfleiderer 2) (Ophiuchus) 17 58 39.4 -05 04 21, Vmag -, SB -, size 2’.
This is a globular cluster candidate, identified as such in a 2009 paper using the 3.58 m Galileo telescope (TNG) at La Palma. It was very difficult.  After navigating my eye to the correct location using Huey's guide, I didn't see anything. Then I thought to play with the gain knob, turning it all the way up then dialing it down while I looked through the NV device. When I did this, I noticed a very small, out of ground grey non-stellar glow which remained the same size when turning the gain from high to medium -- I lost the view when the gain was less than medium. I'd call this a tentative observation but there was definitely something there.

Tonantzinlia 2 (Scorpius): 17 36 10.5 -38 33 12, Vmag 12.2, size 2.2'
This was rather easy. I picked it out in the field immediately as a small weak glow within a triangle of stars, one bright and the other two fainter (matching the guide).  Discovered by Paris Pismis from Tonantzintla Observatory in Mexico in 1959.

ESO 280-SC06 (Ara): 18 09 12.7 -46 25 26, Vmag 12.0, size 1.4’
A "definite maybe" observation. This took a while to observe (and find the correct location within the multitude of stars in the field).   I observed an extremely small non-stellar glow -- and by this I mean it looked softer than stars of similar magnitude in the view, which had a point-source hardness about them -- at the correct location. In this DSS photo I mark the GC with red hash marks, which was the apex of a triangle of two field stars marked in blue -- which is what I drew on my field sketch. The actual scale in the eyepiece was much, much smaller.  Wikipedia puts it at 69,800 light years, a sparsely populated with a compact core.

AL 3 (Sagittarius): 18 14 06.6 -28 38 06, Vmag 14.0, size 1.3’
I again used the gain knob trick, after first locating the distinctive string of three stars. Very, very small, and faint, but there was the round grey glow that did not look like a star at that location at high gain. NV view much smaller scale.  The discovery paper abstract says "AL 3 (BH 261), previously classified as a faint open cluster candidate, is shown to be a new globular cluster in the Milky Way, by means of B, V, and I color-magnitude diagrams. The main feature of AL 3 is a prominent blue extended horizontal branch. Its color-magnitude diagrams match those of the intermediate-metallicity cluster M5. The cluster is projected in a rich bulge field, also contaminated by the disk main sequence. The globular cluster is located in the Galactic bulge at a distance from the Sun dsolar=6.0+/-0.5 kpc (~20,000 light years). The reddening is E(B-V)=0.36+/-0.03, and the metallicity is estimated to be [Fe/H]~-1.3+/-0.25. AL 3 is probably one of the least massive globular clusters of the Galaxy."

ESO 456-SC38 (Sagittarius): 18 01 49.1 -27 49 33, Vmag 9.9, SB 14.9, size 9.9’ =Djorgovski 2
This one was easier than the last, it was larger and "brighter" haha. Flat grey irregularly round glow, in a square asterism of four stars. From a 2019 paper: "The object ESO456-SC38 (Djorgovski 2) is one of the globular clusters that is closest to the Galactic center. It is on the blue horizontal branch and has a moderate metallicity of [Fe/H]∼-1.0. It is thus similar to the very old inner bulge globular clusters NGC 6522, NGC 6558, and HP 1, and therefore appears to be part of the primeval formation stages of the Milky Way."  They estimate it at 28,500 light years from us.

29 june 2024

Seeing was predicted to be "above average" last night, so I opened up the 20-inch.  I knew not to expect too much.  Seeing was variable, as expected, worst in lower elevations of course.  I masked to 7-inches and sometimes went full aperture depending on the star, and spent a lot of time at lower elevations in Libra and Scorpio with CDSA pairs, since there are holes in my observing list in these constellations.  I'm contemplating bringing my C8 out to a dark sky and just observing doubles, just to make up for all that's missing.

SHJ 186 AB: 178; 150x: Zubenelgenubi.  White, super wide, 1 Dm, 150x.  No parallax data for the primary.

14h 50m 52.78s -16° 02' 29.8" P.A. 314.00 sep 231.1 mag 2.74,5.19 Sp A3IV+F4IV dist. 23.24 pc (75.81 l.y.)

BU  106 AB: 178; 200x: White stars, 1 Dm, close split with 150x, better seen 200x.  No Gaia parallax data for the primary.  SOC grade 4 orbit, 614-year period

14h 49m 19.09s -14° 08' 56.3" P.A. 7.00 sep 1.9 mag 5.61,6.62 Sp A1pSrCrEu dist. 72.94 pc (237.93 l.y.)

HLD  20 AB: 508; 280x: Light orange A star, B is very faint, fairly closely split, seen with foveal coaxing.  No parallax data for the secondary.  

14h 45m 57.78s -15° 27' 34.4" P.A. 250.00 sep 3.1 mag 6.48,10.10 Sp K1III dist. 444.44 pc (1449.76 l.y.)

BU 35 AB: 178; 390x: Very tough, can see a small brightening in the first diffraction ring.  71% PRO, 123 AU WS, 1.1+1.5 Msol, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

15h 42m 46.42s -16° 00' 48.9" P.A. 111.00 sep 1.6 mag 7.27,8.69 Sp F7IV dist. 64.14 pc (209.22 l.y.)

STF3091 AB: 508; 850x: Just split with seeing, N-S PA, 1 Dm, very tough.  No Gaia parallax data for either star.  SOC grade 2 orbit, 143.22-year period, it is currently SSW and closing to periastron in 2028, and barely detectible again in 2040.

15h 16m 01.56s -04° 53' 52.3" P.A. 226.00 sep 0.4 mag 7.74,8.48 Sp F7V dist. 62.54 pc (204.01 l.y.)

BU 119 AB: 178; 150x: Easy, clean white stars, well separated, 1 Dm.  93% PRO, 117 AU WS, 1.1+1.0 Msol, RVD 0.6 < EV 5.7, it is certainly binary.  SOC grade 4 orbit, 1348-year period.

15h 05m 31.91s -07° 00' 48.8" P.A. 274.00 sep 2.3 mag 8.09,8.76 Sp G0 dist. 47.6 pc (155.27 l.y.)

BVD 108 AB: 178; 150x: Slightly orange-red A, with very wide faint B.  -71% PRO, it is not binary.

14h 38m 04.28s -09° 44' 16.4" P.A. 279.00 sep 46.1 mag 7.68,10.06 Sp M1III dist. 1176.47 pc (3837.65 l.y.)

S 665 AB: AB: 178; 150x: Wide, 1 Dm.  32% PRO, 9,260 AU WS, 3.3+2.6 Msol, RVD 1.0 < EV 1.1, it might be binary and needs an orbit tried.

15h 04m 30.89s -17° 54' 13.0" P.A. 91.00 sep 25.1 mag 8.07,8.88 Sp K2IIICN dist. 515.46 pc (1681.43 l.y.)

SHJ 195 AB: 178; 150x: Wide, white, nearly 2 Dm. 83% PRO, 3,041 AU WS, 1.7+1.1 Msol, but RVD 1.8 > EV 1.3, it is not likely binary.

15h 14m 28.13s -18° 25' 42.7" P.A. 141.00 sep 47.5 mag 6.79,8.32 Sp F5V+F5 dist. 70.03 pc (228.44 l.y.)

BU 122 AB: 178; 150x: Lovely close white pair, near equal.  28% PRO, 120 AU WS, 1.4+1.4 Msol, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

15h 39m 54.55s -19° 46' 08.3" P.A. 228.00 sep 1.7 mag 7.65,7.67 Sp F5V dist. 57.21 pc (186.62 l.y.)

SHJ 213 AB: 178; 150x: Near equal white, wide.  97% PRO, 2,023 AU WS, 1.6+1.5 Msol, RVD 0.2 < EV 1.7, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

15h 59m 07.80s -19° 56' 19.5" P.A. 318.00 sep 17.8 mag 8.11,8.50 Sp A5/7V

SHJ 179 AB: 178; 150x: Wide, white stars, 1 Dm.  48% AU WS, 6,253 AU WS, 2.8+2.4 Msol, it might be binary and needs an orbit.

14h 25m 29.91s -19° 58' 11.8" P.A. 296.00 sep 35.0 mag 6.61,7.16 Sp A2V dist. 127.88 pc (417.14 l.y.)

BU 225 BC: 508; 250x: Component of SHJ 179.  With the larger aperture, can better resolve the 1 Dm very close 1 Dm pair which was only hinted at with 7-inch.  No parallax data for C, but it may possibly be binary and needs an orbit.

14h 25m 27.65s -19° 57' 56.9" P.A. 86.00 sep 1.3 mag 7.16,8.37 Sp A4V dist. 138.89 pc (453.06 l.y.)

S 672 AB: 178; 150x: Well split 2 Dm. 72% PRO, 979 AU WS, 2.1+1.2 Msol, RVD 2.2 < EV 2.4, it is probably binary and needs an orbit tried.

15h 31m 43.41s -20° 09' 53.7" P.A. 280.00 sep 11.2 mag 6.31,8.94 Sp A8V dist. 75.76 pc (247.13 l.y.)

H N  28 AB: 178; 150x: Light yellow-orange, wide, 1 Dm.  No Gaia data for the primary.  WDS notes reference research it is not binary.  Only 19 light years distant!  

14h 57m 28.00s -21° 24' 55.7" P.A. 307.00 sep 26.2 mag 5.88,8.18 Sp K5Ve+M2V dist. 5.84 pc (19.05 l.y.)

HJ 4769 AB: 178; 125x: Faint, unequal, wide.  64% PRO, 1,733 AU WS, 2.3+1.5 Msol, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit.

15h 25m 22.58s -21° 55' 45.3" P.A. 192.00 sep 9.7 mag 7.86,9.69 Sp K0III dist. 209.64 pc (683.85 l.y.)

BU  348 AB: 508; 850x: Light orange stars, > 1 Dm, snowman to hairline split at in best moments.  No Gaia data for the secondary.  Burnham noticed little change since his discovery to his General Catalog, and notes "There can be no doubt of the physical relation of these stars, but the period will certainly be long."

15h 01m 48.92s -00° 08' 24.9" P.A. 108.00 sep 0.5 mag 6.13,7.49 Sp M0.5IIb dist. 704.23 pc (2297.2 l.y.)

BU 349 AB: 178; 200x: Very fine pair, white B, faint B seen direct, well separated.  50% PRO, 291 AU WS, 1.6+0.8 Msol, RVD 2.8 < EV 3.8, it is certainly binary and needs an orbit.

15h 08m 57.33s +01° 41' 21.4" P.A. 38.00 sep 3.4 mag 7.59,10.94 Sp F1V dist. 88.65 pc (289.18 l.y.)

BU 943 AB: 178; 150x: Nice pale yellow A, 3 Dm B, well separated.  81% PRO, 521 AU WS, 3.1+1.1 Msol, it is very likely binary and needs an orbit.

15h 18m 22.64s +00° 56' 21.9" P.A. 92.00 sep 3.0 mag 6.66,10.88 Sp K1III dist. 178.25 pc (581.45 l.y.)

BU 32 AB: 178; 150x: Quite bright A, 3 Dm B, well separated.  -32% PRO, it is not binary.  Burnham thought it was physical based on CPM, but time has proven otherwise.

15h 21m 02.00s +00° 42' 55.2" P.A. 23.00 sep 3.4 mag 5.53,8.78 Sp K2III dist. 73.37 pc (239.33 l.y.)

BU 36 AB: 178; 200x: Difficult in poor seeing, using medium power to reduce diffraction.  B resolves from a brightening to a point just outside A's diffraction, very faint.  -24% PRO, it is not binary.  Burnham felt it was physical based on CPM, but time has proven otherwise.

15h 53m 36.72s -25° 19' 37.7" P.A. 273.00 sep 2.0 mag 4.69,6.98 Sp B2.5Vn dist. 154.08 pc (502.61 l.y.)

STF2003 AB: 178; 150x: Faint, wide, 3 Dm.  74% PRO, 2,214 AU WS, 2.6+1.1 Msol, but the RVD 4.1 > EV 1.7, it is not binary.

16h 03m 39.61s +11° 26' 00.8" P.A. 171.00 sep 14.1 mag 7.27,10.47 Sp K3III dist. 132.8 pc (433.19 l.y.)

BU 39 AB: 178; 200x: Wow! Extraordinarily fine B due west of bright pure white A -- B is very faint, just a small white dot. 14% PRO, 413 AU WS, 2.9+1.2 Msol, it is very likely binary and needs an orbit.  Burnham noted the CPM, an asserted "It will be shown to be a physical system, but of long period."

16h 07m 36.42s -12° 44' 43.4" P.A. 259.00 sep 3.3 mag 5.77,9.77 Sp B9.5Vnn dist. 112.36 pc (366.52 l.y.)

BU 120 AB: 178; 280x: Amazing double-double system. White stars, the brighter pair is 1 Dm, good clean split.  The other is fainter, cleanly split around the same separation, near equal.  They are nearly 90-degrees different in PA.  It started as a Herschel pair, H 5 6 AC.  Mitchel discovered CD in 1846 at Cincinatti with the Merz and Mahler 11-inch refractor.  Burnham discovered AB with his 6-inch in 1874.  Burnham noted no change in the separation or PA of either pair in his General Catalog, but presumed it was a physical system due to CPM, and says "it is in the midst of a complex nebulous area discovered by Barnard" (Rho Ophiuchi, and specifically the area known today as the "Blue Horsehead."  What's missing from Burnham's analysis is parallax, and of course he'd have to wait for Gaia for that.  What Gaia DR3 shows is BU 120 AB shares only 4% of its parallax range (ie. A's parallax with +/- error range overlapping B's) -- which means they are probably too far from each other in line of sight to be gravitationally bound.  MTL 2 CD's parallax ranges don't overlap at all, -11%, and there is even less probability it can be gravitationally bound.  So, we have a CPM system -- wonderful all the same, and definitely worth the effort to see.

AB has 4% PRO but 3% error, 175 AU WS, 4.3+3.3 Msol, it might or might not be binary.  CD has -11% PRO with no error, 321 AU WS, and probably is not binary.

BU 120 AB: 16h 11m 59.74s -19° 27' 38.3" P.A. 1.00 sep 1.4 mag 4.35,5.31 Sp B2IV dist. 145.35 pc (474.13 l.y.)

MTL 2 CD: 16h 11m 58.60s -19° 27' 00.1" P.A. 55.00 sep 2.4 mag 6.60,7.23 Sp B8/9V

STF2031 AB: 178; 150x: Bright white and 2 Dm B, wide.  26% PRO, 921 AU WS, 1.3+0.6 Msol, but RVD 3.0 > EV 1.9, it is not likely binary

16h 11m 59.74s -19° 27' 38.3" P.A. 1.00 sep 1.4 mag 4.35,5.31 Sp B2IV dist. 145.35 pc (474.13 l.y.)

STF2041 AB: 178; 280x: Pretty, 3 Dm, closely separated.  -47% PRO, it is not binary.

16h 21m 47.96s +01° 12' 56.4" P.A. 1.00 sep 2.6 mag 7.51,10.54 Sp K0

STF2055 AB: 178; 280x: 1 Dm white stars, close split.  No Gaia parallax data for either star.  SOC grade 2 orbit, 129-year period, it will make a counterclockwise turn from NE to E by 2050, closing slightly.

16h 30m 54.84s +01° 59' 02.8" P.A. 44.00 sep 1.4 mag 4.15,5.15 Sp A0V+A0V dist. 53.08 pc (173.15 l.y.)

HO  407 AB: 178; 150x: Faint B around 4 Dm, wide. -34% PRO, it is not binary.

16h 32m 55.73s -10° 33' 45.1" P.A. 218.00 sep 14.6 mag 6.87,11.80 Sp A9V dist. 85.47 pc (278.8 l.y.)

STT 585 AB 178; 150x: Three stars forming a triangle, with one fainter inside of it...  -94% PRO for the AB pair, and none of the other stars overlap either.

16h 44m 59.98s +06° 05' 17.3" P.A. 191.00 sep 163.1 mag 6.66,10.40 Sp K0V+K3V dist. 45.87 pc (149.63 l.y.)

STF2114 AB: 178; 280x: Very fine unequal pair.  11% PRO, 149 AU WS, 2.2+1.8 Msol, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit.

17h 01m 58.97s +08° 27' 02.1" P.A. 196.00 sep 1.2 mag 6.72,7.61 Sp A4V dist. 121.21 pc (395.39 l.y.)

A 1145 AB: 508; 1016x: B hides in A's diffraction to the NNW, pretty well separated at 1000x.  850x it appears sharper as a white point but still in A's diffraction, significant delta magnitude.  No Gaia data for the secondary.  SOC grade 3 orbit, 206-year period, it will move very slightly to the NW by 2050.

17h 08m 13.65s -01° 04' 46.1" P.A. 340.00 sep 0.7 mag 6.32,7.75 Sp A1V+F3V dist. 89.53 pc (292.05 l.y.)

BU 1118 AB: 508; 1200x: Appears single at all powers, bright white.  No Gaia data for the secondary.  SOC grade 2 orbit, 87.58-year period, it is near periastron now, need to reobserve in the 2030s when it should be detectible ~0.3". 

17h 10m 22.66s -15° 43' 30.5" P.A. 225.00 sep 0.4 mag 3.05,3.27 Sp A1IV+A1IV dist. 27.09 pc (88.37 l.y.)

BU 1117 AB: 178; 280x: = HO 265.  Fine near equal white stars, closely split.  -71% PRO, it is not binary!  In spite of the SOC grade 4 orbit, 1096-year period.

16h 56m 48.01s -23° 09' 01.0" P.A. 304.00 sep 1.0 mag 6.25,6.32 Sp A0V dist. 93.11 pc (303.72 l.y.)

SHJ 240 AB: 178; 150x: Unequal, well split, white.  -56% PRO, it is not binary.

16h 57m 04.00s -19° 32' 23.5" P.A. 233.00 sep 4.4 mag 6.59,7.59 Sp B6V+B7V dist. 177.62 pc (579.4 l.y.)

STT 315 AB: 178; 420x: Hairline split, white A and B appears pale blue.  No Gaia data for the secondary.  SOC grade 4 orbit, 990-year period.  Time will tell.

16h 51m 24.94s +01° 12' 57.5" P.A. 309.00 sep 0.8 mag 5.78,7.26 Sp A2Vs dist. 116.14 pc (378.85 l.y.)

BU 125 AB: 178; 200x: With seeing, very fine B is very closely split.  -18% PRO, it is not binary.  Burnham admits "further measurements are necessary to show whether or not there is any relative motion."

17h 12m 10.97s -27° 02' 31.7" P.A. 66.00 sep 1.8 mag 6.92,9.65 Sp G8IV dist. 140.85 pc (459.45 l.y.)

A 2984 AB: 508; 850x: Mostly seen as single, but at best moments it appears very subtly out of round to the ENE, difficult, light orange stars.  No Gaia data for the secondary.  SOC grade 3 orbit, 140.76-year period, it will rush to periastron the next few years and not be resolvable again until the late 2030s.

17h 16m 36.69s -00° 26' 43.1" P.A. 27.00 sep 0.7 mag 4.92,7.51 Sp K1IV dist. 63.09 pc (205.8 l.y.)

BU  126 AB: 178; 150x: Very pleasing triple system, AB 1 Dm and closely separated, C is >100-degrees different in PA, and much fainter, nearly 5 Dm.  AB -29% PRO, nor does C overlap, it is not binary.  Burnham discovered the AB with the 6-inch, but didn't add C until he was at Dearborn with the 18-inch -- I doubt he missed C with the 6-inch, and likely measured it to gauge relative motions of AB.

17h 19m 53.35s -17° 45' 23.3" P.A. 265.00 sep 2.4 mag 6.34,7.56 Sp A2Vnn dist. 115.21 pc (375.82 l.y.)

RAG 9 AB & RAO 19 BC: 508; 850x: Bright light orange A.  BC is blue, and very wide from A.  With more magnification, BC appears hazy but elongated, with best attention and seeing have bipolar brightening, which does not quite resolve to points.   AB have 47% PRO, 951 AU WS, 1.0+0.3 Msol, and is likely binary.  BC has 86% PRO, only 18 (!) PRO, 0.3+0.3 Msol, and is also likely binary.  

RAG 9: 17h 22m 51.29s -02° 23' 17.4" P.A. 147.00 sep 48.9 mag 6.30,11.90 Sp G3V+M3V dist. 19.52 pc (63.67 l.y.)

RAO 19: 17h 22m 53.05s -02° 23' 58.2" P.A. 93.00 sep 0.7 mag 11.90,12.00 Sp M3V 

26 june 2024

A nice productive night with the 6-inch refractor, in spite of less than average seeing and a thin marine haze.  I covered most of the CDSA pairs in Draco.  There are a few with tighter separations than the 6-inch can resolve, I'll come back to those with the 20-inch on a better night.

BUP 211 AB: 152; 125x: Super wide, faint B.  84% PRO, 14,595 AU WS, 3.4+0.9 Msol, and the RVD 6.1 > EV 0.7.  It is not binary, rather a co-moving pair.    

20h 28m 14.45s +81° 25' 21.6" P.A. 11.00 sep 109.5 mag 5.48,11.34 Sp G9III dist. 139.66 pc (455.57 l.y.)

STH 7 AC: 152; 125x: Super wide near equal.  Components with BUP 211.  -83% PRO, it is not binary.

20h 28m 14.45s +81° 25' 21.6" P.A. 282.00 sep 196.6 mag 5.48,6.66 Sp G9III dist. 139.66 pc (455.57 l.y.)

H 1  41 AB: 125; 250x: Part of triangle of three stars, it is the barest of hairline split with high power and seeing only, slight magnitude difference.  -84% PRO, it is not binary.

17h 39m 43.81s +72° 55' 42.0" P.A. 335.00 sep 0.9 mag 8.10,8.52 Sp F2

UC 3571 AB: 152; 250x: Wide faint B seen by holding my eye in averted vision.  -6% PRO, 6,346 AU WS, 2.7+0.7 Msol, RVD 0.9 < EV 1.0, it is not likely binary given the distance and parallax.  

18h 24m 08.51s +79° 13' 21.7" P.A. 73.00 sep 46.1 mag 6.66,12.26 Sp K0 dist. 130.04 pc (424.19 l.y.)

LDS 5227 AB 152; 125x: LEP 84.  In a pretty arc of three stars of similar magnitude, one star is slightly orange and is not in this system, the other two are white.  Super wide, PA to west, nearly one delta mag.  70% PRO, 8,825 AU WS, 1.1+1.0 Msol, RVD 0.3 < EV 0.7, it is very likely binary and needs an orbit.  Proper motions are nearly the same.  Fascinating pair!

17h 29m 44.45s +63° 51' 09.5" P.A. 288.00 sep 193.5 mag 7.67,8.40 Sp F9V+G0 dist. 45.21 pc (147.48 l.y.)

STF1516 AB: 152; 125:  Wide near equal pair, -98% PRO, it is not binary.  Several others in this system, including STT 539.

11h 15m 11.91s +73° 28' 30.7" P.A. 103.00 sep 67.6 mag 7.77,8.23 Sp K5 dist. 14.65 pc (47.79 l.y.)

STT 539 AC: 152; 200x: C is very faint, seen with averted vision then can hold, well separated.  84% PRO, 95 AU WS, 0.7+0.3 Msol, it is likely binary.  SOC grade 5 orbit, 2774-year period.

11h 15m 11.91s +73° 28' 30.7" P.A. 329.00 sep 6.5 mag 7.77,11.34 Sp K5 dist. 14.65 pc (47.79 l.y.)

STF1860 AB: 152; 250x: Hairline split with seeing, light orange-yellow stars, significant magnitude difference. 93% PRO, 182 AU WS, 2.0+1.6 Msol, it is very likely binary and needs an orbit.

14h 33m 52.49s +55° 14' 09.6" P.A. 112.00 sep 1.0 mag 7.99,8.97 Sp A5 dist. 152.21 pc (496.51 l.y.)

STF1872 AB: 152; 125x: Well split, near equal.  -2% PRO, 424 AU WS, 1.4+1.1 Msol, it is not likely binary.  SOC grade 5 orbit with 2000-year orbit.

14h 41m 00.84s +57° 57' 28.1" P.A. 50.00 sep 7.4 mag 7.53,8.32 Sp K0 dist. 55.46 pc (180.91 l.y.)

STF1878 AB: 152; 125x: White and 2 Dm companion, closely separated.  35% PRO, 172 AU WS, 1.5+0.8 Msol, it is likely binary.  SOC grade 5 orbit 1555-year period.

14h 42m 03.25s +61° 15' 42.9" P.A. 314.00 sep 4.2 mag 6.33,9.16 Sp F4V dist. 40.67 pc (132.67 l.y.)

STF1882 AB: 152; 125x: Lovely white and 2 Dm, well split B.  Seen with 60mm low power.  -3% PRO, 1,135 AU WS, 2.0+1.1 Msol, and RVD 4.0 > EV 2.2, it is not binary.

14h 44m 03.55s +61° 05' 53.7" sep 11.3 mag 6.92,9.23 Sp F3V dist. 97.28 pc (317.33 l.y.)

STF2278 BC: 152; 125x: Bright white A forms a long triangle with other wide stars.  The BC pair is slightly unequal and closely separated. Can resolve it in the 60mm with high power 90x, but it is dim.  27% PRO, 1,253 AU WS, 2.1+1.9 Msol, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

18h 02m 54.92s +56° 26' 12.4" P.A. 146.00 sep 6.0 mag 8.14,8.53 Sp A0 dist. 187.62 pc (612.02 l.y.)

STF2284 AB: 152; 125x: Fine pair, faint 2 Dm B closely separated.  73% PRO, 608 AU WS, 2.1+1.4 Msol, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

18h 01m 23.28s +65° 56' 55.4" P.A. 192.00 sep 3.6 mag 8.01,9.45 Sp F7IV dist. 189.75 pc (618.96 l.y.)

STF2302 AB: 152; 125x: Excellent triple.  Bright white A and two faint stars in similar position angle, fainter AB pretty close and steadily seen with direct vision, C twice as far.  AB -8% PRO, it is not binary, however BC 39% PRO, 2,840 AU WS, 1.2+1.3 Msol, but RVD 1.9 > EV 1.2, it is not binary either.

18h 02m 50.94s +75° 47' 24.3" P.A. 248.00 sep 5.7 mag 7.03,9.97 Sp A0V dist. 141.04 pc (460.07 l.y.)

STF2308 AB: 60; 25x: Bright equal stars, wide, seen best 60mm low power.  -12% PRO, it is not binary.

18h 00m 09.07s +80° 00' 13.7" P.A. 232.00 sep 18.9 mag 5.70,6.00 Sp F7V+F7V dist. 63.53 pc (207.23 l.y.)

STF2323 AB: 152; 200x: A is a pale yellow-white color, with a 3 Dm closely separated B.  30% PRO, 220 AU WS, 2.3+1.2 Msol, it is likely binary.  SOC grade 4 orbit 2455-year period.

18h 23m 54.65s +58° 48' 02.1" P.A. 348.00 sep 3.6 mag 5.06,8.07 Sp A1V dist. 56.47 pc (184.21 l.y.)

STF2326 AB: 152; 125x: Near equal well separated.  -93% PRO, it is not binary.

18h 05m 19.75s +81° 29' 08.1" P.A. 194.00 sep 16.0 mag 7.98,8.95 Sp A8IV

STF2368 AB: 152; 200x: Tight equal white stars.  -31% PRO, it is not binary.

18h 38m 51.27s +52° 20' 38.2" P.A. 321.00 sep 1.9 mag 7.63,7.77 Sp A3 dist. 263.16 pc (858.43 l.y.)

STF2377 AB: 152; 125x: Bright light reddish A, B flashes into view with averted vision and can then hold, well separated.  -10% PRO, it is not binary.

18h 38m 24.22s +63° 31' 58.3" P.A. 338.00 sep 16.9 mag 6.97,9.83 Sp K2III dist. 602.41 pc (1965.06 l.y.)

STF2403 AB: 152; 200x: Difficult in average seeing, B appears as the tiniest point and brightening on a's diffraction ring at best moments.  No parallax data for C.

18h 44m 18.25s +61° 02' 53.3" P.A. 278.00 sep 1.1 mag 6.25,8.35 Sp G8III dist. 109.53 pc (357.29 l.y.)

STF2433 AB: 152; 125x: Faint B well separated, just barely seen with direct vision.  -23% PRO, it is not binary.

18h 56m 55.18s +56° 44' 57.4" P.A. 122.00 sep 7.4 mag 7.17,10.09 Sp F2V dist. 141.24 pc (460.72 l.y.)

STF2438 AB: 152; 250x: Hairline split with seeing, high power only, near equal.  -54% PRO, it is not binary.

18h 57m 28.47s +58° 13' 30.0" P.A. 356.00 sep 0.8 mag 7.01,7.44 Sp A2V dist. 125.16 pc (408.27 l.y.)

STF2440 AB: 152; 125x: 3 Dm, wide.  -64% PRO, it is not binary.

18h 57m 17.34s +62° 23' 48.7" P.A. 122.00 sep 17.4 mag 6.59,9.61 Sp G8III dist. 95.42 pc (311.26 l.y.)

STF2452 AB: 152; 125x: Near equal white stars, well separated low.  Forms a perfect equilateral triangle with two 2 Dm fainter wide stars.  -36% PRO, it is not binary.

18h 53m 33.24s +75° 47' 14.6" P.A. 217.00 sep 5.7 mag 6.73,7.35 Sp A1V dist. 246.31 pc (803.46 l.y.)

STF2509 AB: 152; 250x: Lovely close split, 1 Dm.  45% PRO, 141 AU WS, 1.6+1.3 Msol, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

19h 16m 53.09s +63° 12' 27.0" P.A. 328.00 sep 1.8 mag 7.44,8.17 Sp F6V dist. 78.25 pc (255.25 l.y.)

STF2550 AB: 152; 250x: Faint pair, close split, near equal.  -1% PRO, 338 AU WS, 1.9+1.8, it might be binary and an orbit should be tried.

19h 26m 59.48s +73° 21' 58.7" P.A. 251.00 sep 1.9 mag 8.50,8.43 Sp F2 dist. 145.56 pc (474.82 l.y.)

STF2571 AB: 152; 125x: Near equal, well separated.  -6% PRO, 1,369 AU WS, 1.8+1.6 Msol, RVD 3.6 > EV 2.1, it is not binary.

19h 29m 30.03s +78° 15' 55.8" P.A. 19.00 sep 11.4 mag 7.69,8.27 Sp F0IV dist. 202.43 pc (660.33 l.y.)

STF2603 AB: 152; 200x: Light yellow stars, very much brighter A, B is a bump at low power, resolved with 200x, closely split.  62% PRO, 149 AU WS, 2.9+1.3 Msol, it is likely binary.  SOC grade 5 obrit, 2753-year period. 

19h 48m 10.35s +70° 16' 04.5" P.A. 20.00 sep 3.5 mag 4.01,6.87 Sp G7IIIb dist. 45.37 pc (148 l.y.)

STF2604 AB: 152; 125x: 1 Dm, wide.  13% PRO, 5,604 AU WS, 3.1+1.7 Msol, but RVD 7.1 > EV 1.2, it is not binary.

19h 52m 47.68s +64° 10' 33.8" P.A. 182.00 sep 28.0 mag 6.89,9.02 Sp G5 dist. 149.48 pc (487.6 l.y.)

STFA 25 AB: 60; 25x: Easy, the group of stars form a triangle, C is 2Dm and closer (but PRO is -91%).  AB PRO 44%, 23,364 AU WS, 2.6+2.4 Msol, and RVD 0.3 < EV 0.6.  The WS is very much wider than known pairs, it is not likely to be a binary, likely a comoving pair.

13h 13m 28.26s +67° 17' 16.6" P.A. 298.00 sep 180.8 mag 6.64,7.08 Sp K2III dist. 122.25 pc (398.78 l.y.)

STFA 44 AB: 60; 25x: Wide, nearly 1 Dm.  85% PRO, 31,860 AU WS, 5.4+3.2 MSol, RVD 7.9 > EV 0.7, it is not binary.

19h 33m 10.07s +60° 09' 31.3" P.A. 287.00 sep 75.8 mag 6.47,8.19 Sp K4III dist. 309.6 pc (1009.92 l.y.)

STT 299 AB: 152; 200x: Closely separated B seen with averted vision only.  23% PRO, 547 AU WS, 2.3+1.3 Msol, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

15h 33m 51.06s +63° 54' 25.7" P.A. 24.00 sep 3.3 mag 7.50,9.89 Sp A6V+KIII dist. 138.7 pc (452.44 l.y.)

STT 593 AB: 152; 125x: Super wide, 3 Dm.  8% PRO, 13,719 AU WS, 2.1+1.1 Msol, RVD 0.1 < EV 0.6.  The WS is very much larger than known binaries, this is likely not binary, rather is comoving.

20h 29m 27.31s +81° 05' 26.7" P.A. 36.00 sep 214.4 mag 6.07,8.74 Sp K0III+F8V dist. 63.73 pc (207.89 l.y.)

18 june 2024

Seeing was rather poor but I still had a good short night with the 6-inch refractor.  After looking at the moon a while (it was low), I aligned the setting circles and started going through the likely binary list from the Cambridge Double Star Atlas.  Many of the list are within reach of the 6-inch, and only a few were too faint due to the light haze and bright moon.

BU  130 AB: 152; 250x: 90 Her.  Very extremely faint B consistently seen on A's faint diffraction ring.  A is light yellow-orange.  No Gaia data for 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.)

PRY 2 AB: 152; 152; 250x: Pure white A.  B resolves with seeing. very faint, a concentration then resolves as a tiny point.  26% PRO, 386 AU WS, 3.3+1.6 Msol, it is very likely binary and needs an orbit. 

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.)

STF2052 AB: 152; 200x: Near equal closely split pair, yellow-orange, very pretty.  38% PRO, 40 AU WS, 0.7+0.8 Msol, it has a SOC grade 2 orbit, 229.5-year period, and is currently at apastron.  

16h 28m 52.67s +18° 24' 50.6" P.A. 118.00 sep 2.5 mag 7.69,7.91 Sp K3V+K3V dist. 19.66 pc (64.13 l.y.)

STF2063 AB: 152; 125x: Classic Struve, white stars, wide, 2 Dm.  37% PRO, 1,156 AU WS, 2.2+1.1 Msol, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

16h 31m 47.23s +45° 35' 53.8" P.A. 195.00 sep 16.3 mag 5.69,8.70 Sp A2V dist. 69.3 pc (226.06 l.y.)

STF2094 AB: 152; 250x: Excellent near equal pair, clean split.  C is wide and faint.  -45% PRO, it is not binary.  Nor is C.

16h 44m 10.57s +23° 31' 02.8" P.A. 75.00 sep 1.1 mag 7.48,7.87 Sp F5III dist. 156.49 pc (510.47 l.y.)

STF2095 AB: 152; 125x: 46 Her. Attractive white and 1 Dm wide pair.  73% PRO, 993 AU WS, 2.5+1.6 Msol, and RVD 2.1 < EV 2.7, it is certainly binary and needs an orbit.

16h 45m 05.23s +28° 21' 28.9" P.A. 160.00 sep 5.4 mag 7.36,9.16 Sp F7III dist. 215.98 pc (704.53 l.y.)

STF2101 AB: 152; 125x: One of a triangle of equal magnitude white stars.  1 Dm companion well separated.  4% PRO, 243 AU WS, 1.4+0.9 Msol, RVD 1.7 < EV 4.0, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

16h 45m 48.14s +35° 37' 50.5" P.A. 47.00 sep 4.1 mag 7.51,9.39 Sp F6V dist. 58.82 pc (191.87 l.y.)

STF2104 AB: 152; 125x: Nice, light orange A and well split, 1 Dm B.  67% PRO, 1,114 AU WS, 2.5+1.7 Msol, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit. 

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.)

STF2140 AB: 152; 125x: Rasalgethi. Light orange A and light blue faint B, 4 Dm, nice looking split. No Gaia data for the primary (!?).  SOC grade 4 orbit, 3600-year period.

17h 14m 38.86s +14° 23' 24.9" P.A. 103.00 sep 4.7 mag 3.48,5.40 Sp M5Ib-II dist. 110.25 pc (359.64 l.y.)

STF2142 AB: 152; 200x: White A, very much fainter B is well separated.  Seen 125x better at 200x.  57% PRO, 467 AU WS, 2.3+1.0 Msol, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

17h 11m 40.26s +49° 44' 46.7" P.A. 110.00 sep 4.9 mag 6.18,9.35 Sp A5III dist. 94.88 pc (309.5 l.y.)

STF2232 AB: 152; 125x: White A and 1 Dm wide B.  -5% PRO, 1,046 AU WS, 2.7+1.6 Msol, it is not likely binary.

17h 50m 15.00s +25° 17' 27.6" P.A. 140.00 sep 6.1 mag 6.71,8.85 Sp A1V dist. 147.49 pc (481.11 l.y.)

STF2242 AB: 152; 125x: Near equal white pair, fairly closely split.  78% PRO, 481 AU WS, 1.8+1.8 Msol, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

17h 51m 10.32s +44° 54' 28.0" P.A. 325.00 sep 3.4 mag 8.14,8.28 Sp F0 dist. 118.06 pc (385.11 l.y.)

STFA 31 AB: 152; 125x: Superwide equal white stars.  5% PRO, 7,014 AU WS, 2.6+2.0 Msol, and RVD 1.0 < EV 1.1.  It is borderline to be binary, an orbit should be tried.

16h 40m 38.69s +04° 13' 11.3" P.A. 229.00 sep 69.3 mag 5.76,6.92 Sp A1V+A3IV dist. 90.01 pc (293.61 l.y.)

STFA 32 AC: 152; 125x: Attractive wide pair, equal magnitude, Faint BC well separated and seen with averted vision. Did not see A 1874 AB, 7.93/10.85 5", which is certainly binary.  AC 0% PRO, it is not binary.

16h 57m 53.18s +47° 22' 00.0" P.A. 262.00 sep 112.4 mag 7.93,8.05 Sp K0V+K3V dist. 18.3 pc (59.69 l.y.)

STFA 35 AB: 152; 125x: Nu2 Dra.  Pretty, wide white near equal pair.  11% PRO, 1,865 AU WS, 1.7+1.7 Msol, it might be binary and an orbit should be tried.

17h 32m 15.88s +55° 10' 22.1" P.A. 311.00 sep 62.3 mag 4.87,4.90 Sp A4m+A6V dist. 30.49 pc (99.46 l.y.)

STT 313 AB: 152; 250x: Very finely split equal pair, light blue stars.  -16% PRO, it is not binary.

16h 32m 33.19s +40° 06' 47.7" P.A. 128.00 sep 0.9 mag 7.97,8.31 Sp F9IV dist. 456.62 pc (1489.49 l.y.)

STT 318 AB: 152; 250x: Light orange, B appears >2 Dm and lies just beyond A's first diffraction ring.  13% PRO, 375 AU WS, 2.4+1.3 Msol, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

16h 56m 39.66s +14° 08' 24.9" P.A. 243.00 sep 2.9 mag 7.00,9.61 Sp G9III dist. 131.58 pc (429.21 l.y.)

STT 329 AB: 152; 125x: 2 Dm, wide.  12% PRO, 6,646 AU WS, 3.4+1.4 Msol, but RVD 4.1 > EV 1.1, it is not binary.

17h 24m 27.11s +36° 57' 06.9" P.A. 12.00 sep 33.0 mag 6.35,9.88 Sp G5III+F0V dist. 230.41 pc (751.6 l.y.)

WEB 6 AB: 152; 125x: Super-wide, near equal magnitude stars.  -16% PRO, 21,217 AU WS, it is not binary.

16h 35m 26.29s +17° 03' 26.4" P.A. 1.00 sep 155.3 mag 6.41,7.26 Sp A2V dist. 145.77 pc (475.5 l.y.)

11 june 2024

Disappointed by uneven seeing, but really a nice night out.  I masked the 20-inch down to 7-inches, and observed some Struves and likely phycical pairs according the the Cambridge Double Star Atlas.  Some really nice views, though I had to hunt around for the best seeing.  I had roof currents from my own and my backyard neighbor's house.  The best seeing seemed to be just west of the meridian tree -- just out of the roof currents.  It's dark late in summer, which reduces the time available to observe.

STF2011 AB: 178; 140x: Close pair, B barely seen even with averted vision, 2 Dm.  31% PRO, 600 AU WS, 2.4+1.5 Msol, RVD 1.6 < EV 3.4, it is very likely binary and needs an orbit.

16h 07m 38.27s +28° 59' 43.6" P.A. 67.00 sep 2.7 mag 7.93,10.23 Sp A8IV dist. 307.69 pc (1003.68 l.y.)

STF2079 AB 178; 140x: Wide, slight delta magnitude, light orange stars.

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.)

16396+2300 STF 2079

STF2085 AB: 178; 140x: 1 Dm, well split. 27% PRO, 1,029 AU WS, 2.3+1.5 Msol, it is possibly binary and needs an orbit.

16h 42m 26.09s +21° 35' 34.3" P.A. 310.00 sep 6.1 mag 7.38,9.17 Sp A0IV dist. 190.48 pc (621.35 l.y.)

STT 261 AB: 178; 140x: Lovely cream white, near equal pair, nicely split.  SOC grade 4 orbit, 772-year period.  69% PRO, 183 AU WS, 1.5+1.5 Msol, it is certainly binary.

13h 12m 02.02s +32° 05' 07.9" P.A. 337.00 sep 2.5 mag 7.40,7.64 Sp F6V dist. 72.52 pc (236.56 l.y.)

STF1769 AB: 178; 280x: Very fine, part of a wide equal pair, AB is a very closely split 3 Dm pair.  B sits on A's diffraction ring.  SOC grade 5 orbit, 2616-year period.  -39% PRO, it is not binary.

13h 38m 01.95s +39° 10' 41.0" P.A. 45.00 sep 1.6 mag 7.91,10.42 Sp G5 dist. 46 pc (150.05 l.y.)

STF1624 AB: 178: 140x: Nearly 2 Dm, well split.  13% PRO, 591 AU WS, 1.8+0.9 Msol, RVD 2.5 < EV 2.9, it might be binary, and an orbit should be tried.

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; 140x: Light orange A and wide, 2 Dm B. 11% PRO, 1,601 AU WS, 2.7+1.2 Msol, but RVD 3.9 > EV 2.1, it is not binary.

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.)

S   654  AB: 178; 140x: Super-wide, 2 Dm companion.  66% PRO, 6,545 AU WS, 2.8+1.2 Msol, but RVD 3.9 > EV 1.0, it is not binary.

13h 46m 59.77s +38° 32' 33.7" P.A. 239.00 sep 71.3 mag 5.62,8.91 Sp K0III+F8V dist. 97.18 pc (317 l.y.)

STTA123 AB: 178; 140x: Very wide, half delta magnitude pair, wide BC can be seen averted vision, then hold.  14% PRO, 4,762 AU WS, 1.8+1.6 Msol, RVD 0.4 < EV 1.1, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

13h 27m 04.70s +64° 44' 07.6" P.A. 148.00 sep 69.7 mag 6.65,7.03 Sp F0+F0 dist. 71.58 pc (233.49 l.y.)

STF1864 AB: 178; 140x: Sharp white-yellow stars, half delta magnitude, wide. 18% PRO, 539 AU WS, 3.1+2.5 Msol, RVD 0.6 < EV 4.3, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

14h 40m 43.56s +16° 25' 05.9" P.A. 114.00 sep 5.4 mag 4.88,5.79 Sp B9pMnHg dist. 93.72 pc (305.71 l.y.)

STT 288 AB: 178; 280x: Split with seeing, 1 Dm.  SOC grade 4 orbit, 313-year period.  No Gaia data for the secondary.

14h 53m 23.35s +15° 42' 18.3" P.A. 154.00 sep 1.0 mag 6.89,7.55 Sp F9V dist. 47.64 pc (155.4 l.y.)

HO  547 AB: 178; 200x: B appears with averted vision only, well split.  32% PRO, 256 AU WS, 1.2+0.5 Msol, RVD 2.8 < EV 3.8, it is likely binary and needs an orbit.

15h 16m 25.62s +16° 47' 39.4" P.A. 290.00 sep 5.5 mag 7.75,11.45 Sp G0 dist. 41.91 pc (136.71 l.y.)

SHJ 202 AB: 178; 140x: Super-wide, half delta magnitude.  No Gaia data for the primary.

15h 28m 09.61s -09° 20' 53.1" P.A. 132.00 sep 52.0 mag 6.95,7.61 Sp K1V+K2 dist. 20.58 pc (67.13 l.y.)

EIS 1 AB: 178; 140x: Light orange A, faint wide B seen with averted vision only.  WDS notes: V382 Ser = GJ 3917. Eisenbeiss et al. (2007) use archival data from POSS-I (1950) and UK Schmidt red and IR (1981, 1992), plus 2MASS, as well as follow-up H-band observation with the Omega-Cass IR camera at the 3.5m Calar Alto telescope; derive pm of secondary similar to that of primary. The orbital period is estimated at 7000y. Low-resolution optical spectroscopy yields spectral type M2.5-3.5V for the secondary; the derived distance is 24.4 +/- 4.2 pc."  -36% PRO, it's not binary!

15h 48m 09.46s +01° 34' 18.2" P.A. 352.00 sep 17.7 mag 7.53,11.90 Sp G8V dist. 21.29 pc (69.45 l.y.)

SKF 1311 AB: 178; 140x: Omega Ser.  Light yellow orange A, wide faint B.  -18% PRO, it is not binary.

15h 50m 17.55s +02° 11' 47.5" P.A. 300.00 sep 74.8 mag 5.33,10.34 Sp G8III+K0 dist. 83.82 pc (273.42 l.y.)

STT 303 AB: 178; 200x: Gorgeous white pair, slight delta magnitude, split 140x, better seen 200x, very pretty.  SOC grade 4 orbit, 1114-year period.  66% PRO, 128 AU WS, 1.6+1.4 Msol, it is binary.

16h 00m 54.16s +13° 16' 18.2" P.A. 175.00 sep 1.6 mag 7.69,8.06 Sp F7V dist. 97.28 pc (317.33 l.y.)

flat galaxies from home

Busy work and family life (and now a bad cold) are conspiring to keep me home this new moon.  It's not dark until 10pm now, so time is limited.  I decided to use my night vision with by 20-inch dob to go after flat galaxies.  Having created a list (based on Huey's observing guide), I proceeded to collect as many observations as I would have had I traveled to a dark sky.  Using the night vision makes my 20-inch perform as if it was in a dark sky, easily a 3-point gain on the SQML.  It still has a small image scale, so the smaller flat galaxies were more difficult.  I used a 642nm long pass filter, and should have used a 685nm to more strongly push the light pollution back.  I sometimes adjusted the gain up to make the object brighter, if losing contrast in the graininess -- but could dial the gain back down to make the view more pleasing.  I observed over two nights, 5/30-31, until almost 1am each night.  Transparency was generally ok, getting hazier in the later hours.  Seeing was poor to start because of the temperature change between day and night, but improved as the night wore on.  In the notes below, the magnitude and the size follow the designation.  The images, from Huey's guide (DSS), are larger in scale than what was seen in the eyepiece.  

NGC 4517: 11.1b 11.2 x 1.5': Gorgeous, very long >10', very thin too around 5:1, ENE-WSW, a bright star touches the edge of the halo on the north side just west of center.  Mottled brighter central region, showing dark lanes, its tips fade very slowly out. 

IC 3322:  13.6b 3.8 x 0.5': Faint, very narrow, very slightly brighter in central region, 8:1 NW-SE.  

NGC 4356: 14.0p 2.8 x 0.5': Small, fairly bright spike 5:1 NE-SW, with a star just hovering SE of the central region. 

NGC 4330: 13.1b 4.4 x 0.8': Fairly faint, but quickly picked out in the center of a lopsided trapezium asterism, somewhat brighter in the middle and mottled.  5:1 NE-SW, small. 

IC 3311: 14.9p 2.9 x 0.3': Small but not too faint, obvious round bright core, pointed tips.  Small round NGC 4388 24' to the NW, showed a bright nucleus.

NGC 4565: 10.4b 15.9 x 1.8': Magnificent, huge, very bright. Nucleus is large and round and hazy, a long dark lane accentuates the halo which stretches 8:1 NW-SE, pointed tips.

NGC 4700: 12.6p 3.0 x 0.5'. A little small but bright, 6:1 NE-SW, in a triangle asterism.  The NW arm is cut off or truncated, so the core appears lopsided.  The bright center highlighted with a superimposed star.

NGC 4703: 14.5 4.0 x 0.7': Faint, small, but picked out easily enough to the NE of a bright star.  4:1 NW-SE, bright stellar core and a lopsided halo with maybe broken spiral arm.

NGC 4222: 13.9b 4.0 x 0.6'.  Small, long, thin, with a bright stellar core and long tapering tips, 8:1 ENE-WSW.  Another galaxy, inclined by not flat, NGC 4216, in the same field.

NGC 4157: 12.2 7.7 x 1.3': Beautiful, large and bright.  Long with a bright nucleus and core, and long mottled halo with a brighter section SW about midway out on that arm.  Tapering tips, in a rich filed of stars.

NGC 4244: 10.3v 17.7 x 1.9': Silver Needle. Faint and ghostlike, very large, nearly fills the field, the nucleus is a little brighter than the halo, and the halo fades slowly and imperceptibly. 8:1 NE-SW.

NGC 4183: 12.9b 6.3 x 0.8': Barely there, very faint, diffuse halo, needs averted vision to detect at first.  Fairly large, very nice!  The tips are extremely fine.  6:1 NNW-SSE.

NGC 5023: 12.9b 6.7 x 0.7': Brighter nucleus, faint halo, the NE end is quite faint.  Large, long, 6:1 NE-SW.

NGC 5229 14.3p 3.8 x 0.5': Very faint, need averted vision to detect it, but can hold from then.  Slightly brighter and elongated nucleus, the halos are short and very faint and appear to twist slightly?  8:1 nearly N-S.  Close to M51.  

NGC 4173: 13.6b 5.0 x 0.7': One of the four galaxies in "The Box" group of galaxies, all of which can be seen but at a disappointingly small image scale with night vision.  NGC 4173 itself is very faint, very long 5:1 NW-SE, with a brighter part of the halo lopsided to the NW.  NGC 4174 is a small smudge, NGC 4175 has a bright nucleus and short elongated arms, and NGC 4169 is a bright elliptical.

NGC 4738: 14.2b 2.3 x 0.4': Small, faint, 4:1 NE-SW, the halo appears twisted halo. 

IC 3247: 15.3p 2.3 x 0.4': Small, fairly faint but easily picked up, brighter elongated nucleus and diffuse tips, 4:1 N-S. [Incorrectly listed as NGC 4338.]

NGC 5466: Very loose Class IX globular, like a large open cluster, dominated by a couple dozen bright stars but with a haze of fainter stars in the center.

NGC 5634: Next to a bright orange star, stellar core is intensely packed with stars with sprays flung out in all directions fairly well concentrated bright,

NGC 4197: 13.4b 3.4 x 0.5': Easily picked up, moderate size, brighter elongated nucleus with diffuse tapering tips, below a star and a box asterism 

NGC 4268: 12.8; 1.6'x0.6' Easy, small, with a bright core, elongated 2:1 NE-SW.  There are six other faint galaxies in the field, notibly NGC 4273 which is a bright face-on spiral with a stellar nucleus, oval mottled halo. 

NGC 4289: 14.6b 3.8 x 0.3'. Faint, small, a bright nucleus and very, very thin halo N-S.  A bright (8.4 mag) star is close to its east.  

NGC 4761 13.8;  Size 0.4'x0.3': Hickson 62c: Very small scale, but I can see components A, B, and C of Hickson 62 easily.  I did not notice D.  This particular galaxy is elongated 3:1 N-S, with a bright stellar nucleus.

NGC 5496: 12.7p 4.7 x 0.8': Very weak glow, just barely picked up with averted vision and can hold it direct, uniform surface brightness, 5:1 N-S.

NGC 5907: 11.1b 12.9 x 1.3'.  Splinter Galaxy.  Huge bright stellar core, diffuse dusty halo which looks like a spinning coin just before it settles on the table.  Extremely long, 10:1, NNW-SSE.

NGC 5965:  12.6b 5.2 x 0.7': Small bright core, 5:1 diffuse halo with pointed tips NE-SW.  NGC 5963 in view to the SW, large and bright oval elliptical with a bright core.

NGC 5529: 12.8b 6.2 x 0.8' : Pretty field starry, in a loose boxy asterism.  Long, fairly bright, sharp tapering tips, stellar nucleus, 6:1 WNW-ESE.  I need to re-observe this as the halo bends lens-like, and there are several other faint galaxies in the field.

NGC 3432: 11.7b 6.8 x 1.4': Very pretty, bright, intermingled with stars, 5:1 NE-SW.  Elongated core is heavily mottled and lopsided to the SW, slightly bent halo, the NE halo is longer and much fainter, might be a tail.

NGC 3245A: 14.9p 4.2 x 0.4': Very bright stellar core and pointy elongated tips, very subtly twisted!  Small and faint, 6:1 NW-SE.  Quite a beautiful galaxy.