11 May 2008

Observing Location	Home
Observational Period	0245-0305 EDT When I went to bed I had set the alarm for 0230 EDT to get up to see a bright Iridium flare. My neighbor was entertaining one of his very vocally appreciative girlfriends so I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep and wasn't all that interested in getting ou at 0230 but did anyway. It was still noisy when I got back so I documented the observation and was still disturbed when I tried to get back to sleep at 0400 EDT.
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 55°F Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 29.88" Hg Steady Feels Like Cool It seemed a little murky down around Jupiter. I could only find Nunki in the Teapot. Transparency Good Seeing II
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Jupiter Constellation Sgr Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080511.0245 EDT Comments I had checked Planetarium and knew that the satellite should appear between Jupiter and Altair. When I left the apartment there was a bright object low over the buildings across the street that could only be Jupiter so I just moved up the block a bit to find a place where I could see all the sky above the houses and below the trees that included both Jupiter and Altair. Jupiter looks a little golden. I was not able to see any moons in the small hand-held binodular. Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 118.6° Distance Light Time (from Earth) 4.64 AU 38m 36s Distance (from Sun) 5.20 AU Angular Size 42.4"x39.7" Magnitude -2.4 Central Meridian I/II 126°/210° Altitude 18.6° Moons Starry Night Starter graphic

Target Aquila Constellation Aql Category Constellation Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080511.0250 EDT Comments I could easily see Altair and Tarazed and then found the tip of the right wing, Deneb el Okab, and the heart, δ Aql.

Target Cygnus Constellation Cyg Category Constellation Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080511.0250 EDT Comments I saw three bright stars in a large right triangle (Deneb, Sadr and Glenah Cygni) and had to look in Planetarium to see what they might be. After I knew what constellation I was in I could locate the break of the right wing.

Target Lyra Constellation Lyr Category Constellation Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080511.1150 EDT Comments I saw and teo of the stars of the parallelogram, probably Sheliak and Sulafat.

Target Iridium 34 Flare Constellation Aql Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080511.0302 EDT Comments I was checking the location where the flare should occur in Planetarium and when I looked up it was already in progress moving from horizontally R to L above and to the left of Jupiter and as bright as Jupiter and already fading. I followed it for a good while as it faded a good distance below Altair.   Heavens Above CalSky Time 0302:22 EDT 0302:23 EDT Alt. 28° 28.1 Az. 132° 131.6° Mag. -4 -4.2 Surface   MMA0 front antenna

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Observing Location	PSC The trees are in full leaf and the number of benches where I can see the sun at this time of day is now greatly diminished.
Observational Period	1300-1315 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered to Broken Clouds Temperature 61°F Wind Gentle Breeze gusting to Moderate Breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 29.86" Hg Falling Feels Like Fair The gusts make it feel cool. The clouds are cirrus thickening and lowering to stratus in anticipation of rain tomorrow. Transparency Fair Seeing I
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Ari Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080511.1300 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.01 AU 8m 24s Angular Size 31' 42.9" Altitude 68.0° Heliographic Latitude (B0) -3.00° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 24.72° Parallactic Angle (P) -21.75° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2069 Nothing seen.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)