18 July 2008

Observing Location	CDLD
Observational Period	0945-1000 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Very Hazy Temperature 82° F Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.04" Hg Falling Feels Like Hot Today will be an H3 day. There is a heat advisory in effect for today and tomorrow. The haze was visible over the sun in the binocular. Transparency Fair Seeing II
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Gem Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080718.0945 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.02 AU 8m 27s Angular Size 31' 31.7" Altitude 44.1° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 4.69° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 206.63° Parallactic Angle (P) 5.34° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2072 Nothing Seen   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

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For about a week I have been hearing isolated cicadas. There was a news story earlier in the summer saying that there should be a large hatching this year. It also said that they (I am assuming that is each one) can be as loud as a subway train (I am assuming that is an individual car but don’t know whether to assume that is from inside or outside of the car). Today I heard them through the insulated windows of my apartment while I usually don’t hear thunder until the storm is very close. It seems like there are more cicada out as the sound is nearly continuous and when I walk around outside the sound, which is hard to localize, seems to come from more directions.

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Observing Location
Observational Period	EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 92° F Wind Light breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 29.96" Hg Steady Feels Like Hot and Humid It feels much more humid than the 42% the NWS is advertising. There are some clouds visible and only Vega and Deneb. Initially I didn’t even see the moons of Jupiter. Transparency Poor Seeing II
Instruments	SAR: Coulter CT-100 Newtonian reflector - Charlie Celestron Omni 20mm (21x) Celestron Omni 2x Barlow
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Jupiter Constellation Sgr Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080718.2105 EDT Comments Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 169.4° E Distance Light Time (from Earth) 4.17 AU 34m 42s Distance (from Sun) 5.17 AU Angular Size 47.2" x 44.1" Magnitude -2.7 Central Meridian I/II 30°/309° Altitude 12° 24’ Moons Starry Night Starter graphic There was too much atmosphere to see the moons initially. At 2210 EDT the close moons on both sides of the planet were visible. At 2320 EDT, when clouds covered the Moon I swung the scope over to Jupiter and all of the moons ere visible although Calisto was hard to find.

Target Moon Constellation Cap Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080718.2215 EDT Comments I didn’t think I was going to find any terminator features since it was so close to the limb and everything in that area is foreshortened and hard to identify but I did find some craters and was surprised at how much I identified over the surface of the Moon in the high noon lighting. I was thinking that the Moon would be full at 0300 EDT tomorrow morning so was surprised when I looked at it in the scope and found that the NE limb was lumpy and the SW limb smooth – it was full this morning. Lunation 1058 Phase Waning Gibbous Age 15d 23h 55m Distance Light Time (from earth) 395,675 km 1.32s Elongation 171.3° W % Illuminated 99.4% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 102.8° Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 282.8° Libration in Latitude 2° 24' Libration in Longitude -3° 47' Magnitude -12.4 Angular Size 30.20' Altitude 10° 30' Virtual Moon Atlas graphic Terminator In Sunlight Feature Diameter/Length; Class In Shadow <<< Mare Humboldtianum 273   <<< Belkovich 214   <<< Hahn 84   <<< Berosus 74 >>>   Gauss 177 >>> <<< Neper 137 >>> <<< La Perouse 77   <<< Ansgarius 94   <<< Mare Smythii 373 >>> <<< Humboldt 189 >>> Grimaldi is very dark and Plato ~18% gray. Even the rays of Tycho are subdued tonight but they are much more prominent that those of Copernicus. I am not seeing any indication of Mare Orientale. There has been very little limb boiling but the scope required constant refocusing. Also identified: Mare Imbrium Montes Recti (90) Montes Teneriffe (182) Mons Pico (25) Mons Piton (25) Montes Archimedes (163) looks very large Montes Spitzenbergen (60) Mons Gruithuisen γ (20) Mons Gruithuisen δ (20) Guithuisen (15) Timocharis (33) Pytheas (20) Archimedes (82) Diophantus (17) Mare Serenitatis Posidonius (95) Hall (35) Kirchoff (24) Mare Tranquilitatis Maskelyne A Montes Secchi (50) Delambre (51) Sabine (30) Sinus Concordae (142) Cauchy (12) Mare Fecunditatis Montes Pyrenaeus (164) Gutenberg (74) Goclenius (72) Columbo (76)