Flying stars and flying constellations

Last Saturday was a calm, mild night, with no moon. Set up the 102SLT again and tried some targets in Aquila and Cygnus. The seeing was good but the sky was a bit hazy so the low magnification views were affected by bad light pollution. Observed several good doubles in Cygnus and Aquila; see the details below. The best by far was Piazzi's flying star, which has been mentioned on this forum in several previous posts. It was a decent session, but frustrating too - I'm still getting to know the new scope. However, I reached a significant milestone - 1000 double stars now observed.

ID: WDS18465-0058
Type: Multpl; RA Dec: 184629-0057; Constellation: Aql
Name: 5 Aql AB; Mag1: 5.9; Mag2: 7; Sep: 12.5"
Eyepiece: 20mm Plossl; Magnification: 33x.
Observations: Unequal white stars, very close at 33x. Nice bright pair.

ID: WDS18508+1059
Type: Dbl; RA Dec: 185046+1058; Constellation: Aql
Name: STF2404 AB; Mag1: 6.9; Mag2: 7.8; Sep: 3.5"
Eyepiece: 10mm Plossl; Magnification: 66x.
Observations: Bright, yellow stars, mildly unequal and nice and close at 170x. It is barely, but distinctly, split at 66x and the two components appear deep orange - very nice.

ID: WDS19064+0709
Type: Dbl; RA Dec: 190623+0709; Constellation: Aql
Name: STF2449 AB; Mag1: 7.2; Mag2: 7.7; Sep: 7.9"
Eyepiece: 10mm Plossl; Magnification: 66x.
Observations: Yellow stars, slightly unequal, barely resolved at 33x, nice and close at 66x. STTF2446 (below) shares the fov of the Plossl eyepiece.

ID: WDS19058+0633
Type: Multpl; RA Dec: 190548+0632; Constellation: Aql
Name: STF2446 AB; Mag1: 6.97; Mag2: 8.88; Sep: 9.4"
Name: STF2446 AC; Mag1: 6.97; Mag2: 11.23; Sep: 35.6"
Eyepiece: 10mm Plossl; Magnification: 66x.
Observations: This unequal pair of golden stars is just split at 33x, though the fainter secondary is difficult at that magnification. It is well resolved at 66x, and is still in the same field as STF2449. I could not find the C component using the 102mm scope.

ID: WDS19418+5032
Type: Dbl; RA Dec: 194149+5031; Constellation: Cyg
Name: 16 Cyg AB; Mag1: 6; Mag2: 6.23; Sep: 39.7"
Eyepiece: 40mm Plossl; Magnification: 16x.
Observations: Perfectly matched yellow stars, bright, and well separated at 16x. I think this was the first double star in which an extrasolar planet was detected; it orbits 16 Cygni-B, the fainter of the pair, and was detected in 1996 by the radial velocity method. Details can be found on Jim Kaler’s “Stars” website: stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/16cyg.html . NGC 6826, the “Blinking Planetary” is 28’ due East.

ID: WDS19428+3741
Type: Multpl; RA Dec: 194249+3741; Constellation: Cyg
Name: STTA188 AB; Mag1: 7.71; Mag2: 7.98; Sep: 60.5"
Name: STU11 AC; Mag1: 7.7; Mag2: 8.1; Sep: 146”
Eyepiece: 40mm Plossl; Magnification: 16x.
Observations: Slightly unequal golden stars, with the C component close by. They form a neat triple at 16x. The bright yellow-orange 15 Cygni dominates the field.

ID: WDS19457+3605
Type: Dbl; RA Dec: 194540+3605; Constellation: Cyg
Name: STF2578 AB; Mag1: 6.37; Mag2: 7.04; Sep: 15"
Eyepiece: 20mm Plossl; Magnification: 33x.
Observations: These bright white stars are slightly unequal, and are barely resolved at 16x and attractively close at 33x. They stand out clearly in a field sprinkled with faint stars.

ID: WDS21069+3845
Type: Dbl; RA Dec: 210654+3844; Constellation: Cyg
Name: 61 Cyg AB; Mag1: 5.2; Mag2: 6.05; Sep: 31.4"
Eyepiece: 40mm Plossl; Magnification: 16x.
Observations: Gorgeous pair of bright orange stars, mildly unequal, that are well separated at 16x. They stand out clearly even though the field is rich in fainter stars. This widely separated pair of orange dwarfs with an orbital period of ca 700 years is among the nearest stars (the 14th closest and 4th closest of the stars visible to the naked eye), and its rapid movement (approx 5" pa) was noted by Giuseppe Piazzi as early as 1792. It is sometimes called “Piazzi’s Flying Star”. The motion can be followed easily at the moment because the pair are passing a magnitude 10.7 field star (S&T Aug 2014). This system is famous for being the first to have its distance measured by the technique of parallax. The German astronomer Friedrich Bessel determined its distance to be 10.3 light years; modern measurements give a figure of 11.36. Again Jim Kaler has the details: stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/61cyg.html .