21 March 2008

Observing Location	Home
Observational Period	0515-0530 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 36°F Wind 17 MPH gusting to 28 MPH Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 29.96" Hg Rising Feels Like Wind Chill 26-23°F I am indoors again so the feel of the weather, especially the wind chill, are irrelevant Transparency Seeing Clear
Instruments	Naked-eye - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

0525 EDT	Astronomical Twilight begins

Target ISS/STS-123 Visible Pass Constellation Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080321.0522 EDT Comments Not Seen I can’t see high enough into the celestial sphere from my kitchen window. It looks like it must have popped out and faded quickly. I moved to the bedroom where I saw one star but didn’t pick up the satellite.     Starts Max. Alt. Ends H A e b a o v v e e n &nbst s   Time 0522:13 EDT 0522: 13 EDT 0525:01 EDT Alt. 84° 84° 10° Az. ESE ESE SE Mag -2.5 C a l S k y Time 0522:02 EDT 0522:08 EDT 0526:59 EDT Alt. 83.1° 88.6° horizon Az. 318.6° NW 36.6° NE 127.1° SE Mag -4.6 -4.6 0.5

0558 EDT	Astronomical Twilight ends Nautical Twilight begins
0630 EDT	Nautical Twilight ends Civil Twilight begins
0657 EDT	Civil Twilight ends Sunrise

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Observing Location	East Tremont Ave @ Unionport Rd, Bronx, NY Lat.: 40° 50 28.51 Long.: 73° 51 42.30
Observational Period	2305-2335 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered (Broken?) Clouds Temperature 40°F Wind 7 MPH gusting to 16 MPH Humidity Low Barometric Pressure 30.03" Hg Steady Feels Like Cool & Blustery I was leaning up against a street lamp pole but still could not stand steady in the gusty wind. Transparency Seeing Clear
Instruments	Golden Gate 7x35 binocular - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target ISS Occults Capella Constellation Aur Category Occultation Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080321.2321 EDT Comments Earlier in the week CalSky predicted that the ISS might occult Capella tonight at 2321:27.84 EDT. That prediction has since been removed from their listings of Sun and Moon Crossing Satellites but I went out just in case. I didn't see any occultation by anything but clouds.

Target Moon Constellation Vir Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080321.2335 EDT Comments Lunation 1054 Phase Full Full + 8h 50m Age 14d 10h 20m Distance Light Time (from earth) 392,585 km 1.31s Elongation 174.6° W % Illuminated 99.9% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 90.6° Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 270.6° Libration in Latitude 4° 44' Libration in Longitude 4° 11' Magnitude -12.6 Angular Size 30.44' Altitude 38° 36' Virtual Moon Atlas graphic With the hand held binocular I didn’t have a very steady view and was not able to detect any texture on the western limb near Mare Crisium. The moon was in haze or light cloud and had a ring around it.