30 September 2008

It looks like it will be an early Fall this year. I am seeing a lot of colored leaves on the ground and have seen several trees that have mostly changed color already.

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The ISS garbage high-tech truck has completed its mission.

The ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle, Jules Verne, was packed with ISS garbage and undocked from ISS back on 5Sep08. Last night it was ditched in the South Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand.

ESA is so happy with the performance of this, the first ATV, that they want to investigate upgrades to the system to allow it to return cargo to earth and possible even using it to transoprt astronauts to and from ISS. With the problems we are having relative to the end of the Shuttle program before a replacement craft is available and our inability to contract for more Soyuz flights from the Russians this makes sense and is something I have been anticipating.

With the approach of the end of the Shuttle program and the impossibility of replacing major components of ISS I have been wondering how it will be ditched. At the end of the BBC story there is an indication that that will be a likely mission for the last ATV. It sounds like they will do it all at once rather than detaching large pieces and sending them into the pacific one at a time.

BBC story

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Sunspots Observed

This chart is getting monotonous. The last time I saw a spot was on 30Mar08, seven months ago. Space Weather indicates two areas of the sun where sunspots are trying to form. The area in the SW quadrant is a Cycle 23 event while the one in the NE quadrant belongs to Cycle 24. They are not spots yet and probably will be small when they first form so it is unlikely that I will see them both with my optics.

Observing Hours for the Year 2008

	Day			Night			Total
	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg
Jan	2.25	9	0.25	2.75	5	0.55	5.00	13	0.38
Feb	3.25	9	0.36	8.25	7	1.18	11.25	12	0.94
Mar	5.25	10	0.53	8.50	12	0.71	13.75	16	0.86
Apr	6.25	19	0.33	5.75	7	0.82	12.00	19	0.63
May	6.50	18	0.36	2.25	5	0.45	8.75	18	0.49
Jun	5.25	20	0.26	12.00	8	1.50	17.25	21	0.82
Jul	5.05	15	0.37	15.25	10	1.53	20.75	17	1.22
Aug	5.00	18	0.31	2.00	3	0.67	7.50	18	0.42
Sep	5.00	18	0.31	2.00	3	0.67	7.50	18	0.42
TOTAL	39.75	118	0.34	56.75	57	1.00	96.50	135	0.71

Climate Summary for June 2008

Temperature

It has been warmer than normal for most of the month.

	High	Mean	Low
Above Normal	15 days	18 days	19 days
Normal	1 day	1 day	0 days
Below Normal	14 days	11 days	11 days

Precipitation

I need to take another look at the formulas used to calculate the month to date and year to date graphs. They don't look right to me.
There was a new record for the date of 2.34 inches of rain set on 26Sep08.

Days with measurable precipitation	8

Heating Degree Days

Half of the days this month had fewer than the normal number of heating degree days.

Above Normal	5 days
Normal	10 days
Below Normal	15 days

Cooling Degree Days

There is a problem with the monthly cooling degree days to date for 10Sept08 that I have not been able to locate. The line should not go up on that date.
There were slightly more days with fewer than normal cooling degree days than greater than normal cooling degree days. At the end of the month the difference between the observed total and normal total were not that great for either the month or the year.

Above Normal	13 days
Normal	1 day
Below Normal	16 days

29 September 2008

Hubble trouble will delay the HST Servicing Mission until January or February of 2009.

The radio that relays collected data to earth failed on Saturday. There is a backup radio on board HST but it hasn't been powered up since launch so it isn't known if it will work. It will take most of the week to get it powered up and all of the other components reconfigured to work with it. If it does work they can start doing science again immediately, but will be without a backup should that radio fail.

NASA doesn't want to launch a mission to service HST and leave it without a backup for a critical system so they are looking into sending up the spare that they use on Earth to diagnose problems with the similar onboard component. But that system hasn't been powered up in over 25 years either and will need to be refurbushed and upgraded before it could be installed on HST. And they will need to look at the payload to see if they need to bump something already scheduled to be flown and installed in order to make room for the replacement radio package. The current thinking is that they will have to fly STS-126 on schedule on November to keep ISS construction on track. That means that Discovery, which is scheduled for a February ISS construction flight, will have to be readied as the on demand rescue vehicle for STS-125.

Spaceflight Now article

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I have finished the data collection for the Carolinas Low and the passage of Tropical Storm Kyle. The wind shift isn't as dramatic as we usually get when a system goes past and the barometric pressure has yet to rebound. But at least it didn't rain today and the relative humidity has broken, at least temporarily. We are supposed to get more rain tomorrow and Wednesday.

This chart has become more trouble than it is worth. The Excel worksheet on mt flash drive became corrupted again last night and only the data could be recovered so I had to recreate the chart from an old working copy of the file on my hard drive.

I had wanted to use and area chart for cloud cover but the resolution wasn't great enough to see the shirt-lived clearings so had to use a line chart like most of the other parameters.

It appears that the NOAA rain gauge at Central Park has been dropping offline a lot lately so I am not sure how good the rainfall data is.

Date	Maximum Sustained Wind	Maximum Wind Gust	Precipitation
25Sep08	24 mph	35 mph	0.15 in
26Sep08	22 mph	36 mph	2.34 in
27Sep08	14 mph	20 mph	0.01 in
28Sep08	8 mph	12 mph	0.17 in
29Sep08	14 mph	18 mph	0.01 in

27 September 2008

Weather conditions have improved since yesterday. We are only under two watches/warnings/advisories today.

• High Surf Advisory

  surf height of 5-8 feet

• Flood Watch

  We had 1-4" of rain over the forecast area yesterday and they are forecasting a similar amount for today.

The Carolinas low has completely dissipated but Kyle, still a Tropical Storm but still predicted to intensify to Hurricane strength today or tonight, is moving into the picture.

NOAA graphic
NOAA graphic

It still doesn't look like there will be any observing any time soon.

Clear Skies Clock graphic

	Daytime High Temp PoP	Nighttime Low Temp PoP
Sat	72° 100%	65° 70%
Sun	78° 60%	65° 40%
Mon	75° %	58° %
Tue	72° %	52° 30%
Wed	68° 50%	55° 30%
Thu	65° %	52° 30%
Fri	62° 30%
Legend
Cloudy
Partly Sunny Mostly Cloudy
Mostly Sunny Partly Cloudy
Clear

26 September 2008

There are so many advisories, watches and warnings posted for our forecast area (northern NJ, SE NY, western CT, and the coastal and offshore waters of the NY Bight) that they are having trouble fitting in the normal forecast elements. The warnings I cataloged this morning were

• Flood Watch
• Urban Flood Advisory
• High Surf Advisory
• Coastal Flood Advisory
• Gale Warning

The Low has moved onshore in SC and appears to be dissipating. There is still a deep Low up over Hudson Bay. It has been raining heavily this morning. The peak gust yesterday was 36 MPH and so far today 30 MPH. The winds should be decreasing through sunset tonight.

NOAA graphic

The clouds associated with the Low down south are huge, extending all the way up here. They are saying we will get 3-5" of rain by Sunday morning as a result of the passage of Tropical Storm Kyle, which is supposed to be a hurricane by tomorrow afternoon, but in another part of the forecast they are saying we have already had up to 2" and will have up to another 2" of rain by 1200 EDT today. Kyle is the red blotch in the lower right corner of the IR satellite image.

NOAA graphic

According to Clear Skies Clock there isn't going to be any observing for a while.

Clear Skies Clock graphic

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I checked out a couple of episodes of Planet Earth on The Discovery Channel web site. The concept of the episodes I have viewed is that we can use geoengineering to reduct our generation of greenhouse gases and reduce the human contribution to global warming. One called Orbital Power Plant demonstrates that it is possible to transmit power over at least 60 miles. Another called Space Shield proposes putting millions of lenses in space that will deflect a small percentage of the sun's light past Earth and lower global temperatures to pre-industrial revolution levels. It looks to me like both of these proposals use the same Lagrange point. Can they coexist?

25 September 2008

On 21Sep08 Peter posted in his blog (Top of the Lawn) an image from one of his devices showing that the terminator on earth was vertical looking like bookends. Today is another bookend day. Sunrise this morning was at 0647 EDT and sunset tonight will be at 1847 EDT, exactly 12 hours later (desregarding any seconds).

We aren't going to see sunset today. There is a deep low pressure system with a steep pressure gradient off the Carolinas that is working its way up the east coast. The winds have already begin to pick up and gusts are supposed to reach 45 MPH before it is over. It will be rainy until Monday.

NOAA graphic

I am going to try to graph this system as it passes through Monday. I am having trouble with Excel though. I am trying to fit 10# in a 5# bag and Excel doesn't like it. The display and formatting are getting erratic.

24 September 2008

Observing Location	BLC
Observational Period	1045-1100 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 63° F Wind Light Breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.46" Hg Falling Feels Like Cool It is comfortable in the sun but slightly cool in the shade. Transparency Excellent Seeing I
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Vir Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080924.1045 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.00 AU 8m 20s Angular Size 31' 56.6" Altitude 40.6° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 6.97° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 27.47° Parallactic Angle (P) 25.44° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2074 Nothing Seen I did see a news article on Universe Today posted on Monday, saying that more Cycle 24 spots have been detected, but not by me.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

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NASA announced today that ne new target date for the launch of the HST Servicing Mission is 14Oct08, a delay of four days from the last launch date modification. The delay is due damage caused by Hurricane Ike. The damage was to Cape infrastructure that has postponed crew training and not damage to either Atlantis or Endeavour. This date hasn’t been engraved in stone yet. That won’t happen until managers higher up the tree review the date on 2-3Oct08.

The launch date for STS-126 to the ISS has slipped to 16Nov08. This date is also subject to further changes and no indication is given as to why it has to be changed.

22 September 2008

The Summer Knows The summer smiles, the summer knows And unashamed, she sheds her clothes The summer smoothes the restless sky And lovingly she warms the sand on which you lie The summer knows, the summer's wise She sees the doubts within your eyes And so she takes her summer time Tells the moon to wait and the sun to linger Twists the world 'round her summer finger Lets you see the wonder of her arms And if you've learned your lessons well There's little more for her to tell One last caress, it's time to dress for fall And if you've learned your lesson well There's little more for her to tell One last caress, it's time to dress for fall Marilyn and Alan Bergman

Today is the first full day of Fall

Observing Location	VP
Observational Period	0900-0915 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 62° F Wind Gentle Breeze Humidity High Barometric Pressure 30.37" Hg Rising Feels Like Mild Transparency Excellent Seeing I
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Vir Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080922.0900 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.00 AU 8m 21s Angular Size 31' 55.6" Altitude 24.6° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 7.03° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 54.83° Parallactic Angle (P) 25.20° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2074 Nothing Seen   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

21 September 2008

Observing Location	PKR
Observational Period	1145-1200 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Light Haze Temperature 72° F Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.23" Hg Steady Feels Like Mild Although the sky is cloud free it isn’t as blue as it would be if there wasn’t some kind of moisture about. Transparency Excellent Seeing I
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Vir Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080921.1145 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.00 AU 8m 21s Angular Size 31' 55.1" Altitude 47.8° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 7.06° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 66.52° Parallactic Angle (P) 25.09° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2074 Nothing Seen   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

20 September 2008

Observing Location	VP
Observational Period	0915-0930 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Isolated Clouds Temperature 57° F Wind Calm gusting to Light Breeze Humidity High Barometric Pressure 30.34" Hg Steady Feels Like Cool Fair weather cumulus clouds. There appears to be some light haze around. Transparency Good Seeing I
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Vir Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080920.0915 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.00 AU 8m 21s Angular Size 31' 54.5" Altitude 27.5° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 7.09° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 81.10° Parallactic Angle (P) 24.95° Carrington rotation number (CR) 1074 Nothing Seen The sun is completely clear on Space Weather. Active Region Explorer is showing the pore that used to be Group 1001 just rotating onto the Sun’s backward facing disk.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

19 September 2008

Observing Location	VP
Observational Period	0945-1000 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 57° F Wind Gentle Breeze gusting to Moderate Breeze Humidity High Barometric Pressure 30.48" Hg Steady Feels Like Cool Fair weather cumulus are around Transparency Good Seeing I
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Vir Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080919.0945 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.00 AU 8m 21s Angular Size 31' 54.0" Altitude 33.0° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 7.11° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 94.02° Parallactic Angle (P) 24.81° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2074 Nothing Seen   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

Target Moon Constellation Ari Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080919.0945 EDT Comments Lunation 1060 Phase Waning Gibbous Age 19d 17m 46s Distance Light Time (from earth) 366,883 km 1.22s Elongation 124.9° % Illuminated 78.9% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 145.8° Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 325.8° Libration in Latitude -6° 22' Libration in Longitude -1° 53' Magnitude -11.4 Angular Size 32.56' Altitude 18° 55' Virtual Moon Atlas graphic The contrast is very low this late in the day and it is hard to make out details. I did identify Mare Imbrium and Oceanus Procelarum

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The launch of STS-125 is listed in press releases as still bing on for 10Oct08, but it has been removed from the Mission Calendar. I suspect that that is an indication of an upcoming launch delay.

[20Sep08: A Universe Today article posted yesterday says that the shuttle launch will be delayed by at least a day due to a problem with the HST payload but that NASA isn't going to change the launch date until it has determined how long it will take to make the repair.]

Endeavour rolled out to Pat 39B early this morning.

Universe Today grapbic

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Observing Location	Parkchester, Bronx, NY I moved around A LOT trying to find the Moon but it was too low for a good observation
Observational Period	2110-2150 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 58° F Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.41" Hg Steady Feels Like Mild There ae low fair weather cumulus clouds to the N and E. Transparency Good Seeing I
Instruments	Golden Gate 7x35 binocular - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Pleiades Occultation Constellation Tau Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080919.2110 EDT Comments Moon Data Lunation 1060 Phase Waning Gibbous Age 20d 5h 11m Distance Light Time (from earth) 365,849 km 1.23s Elongation 118.6° % Illuminated 73.9% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 151.6° Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 321.6° Libration in Latitude -5° 12' Libration in Longitude 1° 13' Magnitude -11.2 Angular Size 32' 27" Altitude -0.8° Virtual Moon Atlas graphic Peter alerted me to the fact that the Moon would be occulting part of The Pleiades when it rose tonight. I don’t know why this wasn’t on my targets list unless I had looked at it and left it off because the Moon woule only be 20° above the horizon when the last of the occultations ends. I fell asleep while reading after dinner and woke up just as the Moon was scheduled to break the horizon so put some shoes on, brabbed my binocular and headed down toMcDonalds where I expected to see the Moon rise over the Cross Bronx Expressway. After standing there for a time there was still no moon. I did see Jupiter and the tail of Aql out to the S. I moved up to the pedestrian overpass over the Cross Bronx Expressway at Olmstead Ave where I could see lower on the horizon and farther to the N but still no Moon. I pretty much gave up on the event and started walking up Olmstead and finally spotted the Moon from in front of the oriental grocery at Olmstead Ave and Benedict Ave. It was just rising over the roof or the funeral home across Unionport Road and into a parch of clouds. It was strongly salmon colored from the atmosphere. I could not see any stars on the dark limb and there wasn’t enough sky between the bright limb and the roof to see stars there. This wasn’t a good enough apparition to invest any more time in it so I headed north on Unionport Rd into Parkchester still looking for the Moon but never seeing it again. The Moon rose much farther to the North of East than I had anticipated. Cas was standing out that way high above looking like a big P. Look at how much the point of maximum libration has moved in the past 12 hours. Virtual Moon Atlas graphic

18 September 2008

Observing Location	CT
Observational Period	0945-1000 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 67° F Wind Light Breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.17" Hg Rising Feels Like Mild There is a very light haze visible in the binocular. Transparency Good Seeing I
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Vir Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080918.0945 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.00 AU 8m 21s Angular Size 31' 53.5" Altitude 33.2° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 7.14° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 107.22° Parallactic Angle (P) 24.67° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2074 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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Although NASA said on Monday that damage sustained to buildings at the Cape, like the mission control building, might delay the launch of the HST Servicing Mission as of today it is still listed on the NASA web site for launch on 10Oct08. The actual launch date will not be determined until the Flight Readiness Review meeting on 2-3Oct08.

There will be an IMAX movie made of the HST Servicing Mission.

The rollout of Endeavour to Pat 39B to serve as the On Demand Launch Vehicle for a rescue mission to Atlantis has been delayed until midnight tonight because of thunderstorms in the area of the Cape.

15 September 2008

Observing Location	CDLD
Observational Period	0915-0930 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Temperature 73° F Wind Gentle Breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 29.73" Hg Rising Feels Like Warm and Breezy The clouds appear mainly on the southern horizon. There is some haze visible in the binocular. Transparency Good Seeing I
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Leo Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080915,0915 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.01 AU 8m 22s Angular Size 31' 52.0" Altitude 28.7° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 7.19° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 147.09° Parallactic Angle (P) 24.19° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2074 Nothing Seen There is nothing showing on Space Weather but Active Region Explorer is still indicating the pore of Group 1001.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

14 September 2008

Observing Location	PKR
Observational Period	1200-1215 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Overcast Temperature 83° F Wind Light Breeze Humidity High Barometric Pressure 29.79" Hg Falling Feels Like Mild It is, photographically, cloudy-bright out. There are distinct shadows and the Sun is uncomfortable to look at. There is no movement of the clouds in front of the Sun today. Transparency Poor Seeing II
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Leo Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080914.1200 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.01 AU 8m 22s Angular Size 31' 50.9" Altitude 34.3° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 7.22° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 173.23° Parallactic Angle (P) 23.85° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2074 Nothing Seen There is noting appearing on Spaceweather today. Active Region Explorer is showing Group 1001 as a pore west of the meridian.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

13 September 2008

Observing Location	PKR
Observational Period	0945-1000 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 69° F Wind Calm Humidity High Barometric Pressure 29.94" Hg Steady Feels Like Mild The sky is about 50% covered. The sun is visible through the clouds but I can see the texture of the clouds passing over it. Transparency Poor Seeing III
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Leo Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080913.0945 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.01 AU 8m 22s Angular Size 31' 50.9" Altitude 34.3° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 7.22° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 173.23° Parallactic Angle (P) 23.85° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2074 Nothing Seen I noticed a sunspot numbered on Spaceweather but don’t see anything there now.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

11 September 2008

Shuttle Endeavour was taken to the VAB this morning and is being mated to the ET and SRBs. The completed stack is scheduled to be rolled out to Pad 39B a week from today.

NASA graphic via Spaceflight Now Endeavor looks like it could use a coat of paint.

9 September 2008

I have been wanting to validate the NOAA long range (seven-day) temperature and precipitation forecasts and this is one of my attempts to do that.

	Thu		Fri		Sat		Sun		Mon
	Day High	Night Low	Day High	Night Low	Day High	Night Low	Day High	Night Low	Day High	Night Low
Thu 4Sep08	90°	72°	88°	62°	75°	65°	82°	68°	78°	65°	Temp
	--	--	20%	70%	70%	70%	60%	--	--	--	PoP
Fri 5Sep08			85°	62°	78°	65°	82°	68°	82°	62°	Temp
			--	70%	80%	80%	20%	--	--	--	PoP
Sat 6Sep08					78°	68°	85°	62°	82°	68°	Temp
					90%	90%	20%	--	--	30%	PoP
Sun 6Sep08							82°	62°	82°	65°	Temp
							--	--	--	--	PoP
Mon 7Sep08									82°	68°	Temp
									--	--	PoP
Observed	90°	70°	86°	72°	81°	70°	80°	67°	81°	64°	Temp
	0.00"		0.28"		3.26"		0.00"		0.00"		Precip

I am not sure the predicted nighttime lows relate to the observed low for the dates shown. The predictions are for the overnight low which assumedly would occur between sunset and sunrise on the day stated and the next day while the daily low usually occurs about an hour after sunrise unless a cold front moves through during the day.

I based this chart on one I previously did that worked so this one should also. But after three weeks playing with it I still can't get it to display the time properly along the X axis. The time notations are supposed to denote 6 hours so should start at 12:00 am, then go to 6:00 am, 12:00 pm, 6:00 pm, 12:00 am . . . Excel can't manage that and no matter what format I tell it to use to display that axis all of the times are the same. I think I added a few new parameters to this iteration and suspect that I am asking Excel to do more than it is able to do.

8 September 2008

Observing Location	CT
Observational Period	945-1000 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 69° F Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.19" Hg Rising Feels Like Warm Transparency Excellent Seeing I
Instruments	Golden Gate 7x35 binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Leo Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080907.1145 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.01 AU 8m 23s Angular Size 31' 48.4" Altitude 35.4° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 7.25° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 239.25° Parallactic Angle (P) 22.89° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2074 Nothing Seen   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

7 September 2008

The first five ESA Automated Transfer Vehicles scheduled for construction departed the ISS on Friday, 5Sep08. It will reenter earth's atmosphere and burn up over the Pacific Ocean on the night of 29Sep08.

Will this result in a decrease in the brightness of the ISS visible passes until the next ATV docks?

Universe Today article

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Observing Location	PKR
Observational Period	1145-1200 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 76° F Wind LightBreeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 29.95" Hg Steady Feels Like Warm Transparency Excellent Seeing I
Instruments	Golden Gate 7x35 binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Leo Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080907.1145 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.01 AU 8m 23s Angular Size 31' 47.9" Altitude 52.6° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 7.25° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 251.33° Parallactic Angle (P) 22.69° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2074 Nothing Seen   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

5 September 2008

NASA has decided that Atlantis will be in no danger of damage from passing Tropical Storm Hanna and rolled it out to the launch pad yesterday. The scheduled launch date has been pushed back two days to 10Oct08 at 0033 EDT, landing 20Oct08.

NASA graphic

Endeavour, which is the on demand launch rescue vehicle for Atlantis on the HST Servicing Mission, is now scheduled for launch on STS-126 on 12Nov08 at 2043 EST, landing 27Nov08. I haven't seen anything about when the stack will be rolled out the the launch pad adjacent to the one Atlantis currently occupies.

4 September 2008

It looks like Hanna will be passing through here Saturday night or Sunday morning. It is supposed to be a wet weekend.

Chance of Precipitation
	Day	Night
Friday 5Sep08	20%	70%
Saturday 6Sep08	70%	70%
Sunday 7Sep08	60%
Monday 8Sep08
Tuesday 9Sep08	40%

NOAA graphic

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In a Universe Today article today it is reported that the NASA administrator has said that there may not be any astronauts on the ISS in 2012 because Congress has not extended permission for the US to pay Russia to transport US astronauts up to the ISS. A contract for Soyuz spacecraft needs to be in place by early 2009 to have the craft ready to fly in 2012 and he feels that Congress is unlikely to do so now because of the current situation regarding Russia and Georgia. This is another example of the administration's shortsightedness in demanding the retirement of the Shuttle fleet before a replacement craft is ready for regular service.

3 September 2008

You would think an agency that can send a rocket into space to release a satellite and guide that satellite to impact an asteroid moving through space could do something as mundane as make an ID card. That seems to beyond the capabilities of the rocket scientists at NASA. I found a 27Aug08 article on Universe Today about their woes. It seems that it wasn’t their fault though. They were sold a bill of goods by GSA.

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NOAA is forecasting tropical storm conditions for us over the coming weekend when the remainder of Hurricane Gustav and active Tropical Storm Hanna get up here. I was reviewing the news at the bottom of the blog and saw this classic low preassure system signature in the GOES IR satellite image.

NOAA graphic Here is that portion of the synoptic chart. The low looks like a huge hurricane although it isn't deep enough to be one.
NOAA graphic

2 September 2008

Observing Location	VP
Observational Period	0915-0930 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Isolated Temperature 73° F Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.08" Hg Steady Feels Like Warm Transparency Excellent Seeing I
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Leo Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080902.0915 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.01 AU 8m 23s Angular Size 31' 45.5" Altitude 31.3° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 7.22° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 318.77° Parallactic Angle (P) 21.53° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2074 Nothing Seen   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

1 September 2008

From the latin word septem, "seven," because this had been the seventh month of the early Roman Calendar

September, the seventh month.

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Observing Location	McGraw Ave @ White Plains Road
Observational Period	1815-2015 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Temperature 81° F Wind Gentle Breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.10" Hg Steady Feels Like Warm The sky looks clear most of the way down to the horizon. With the red filter I can see wisps of cloud moving across the lower sky. Transparency Good Seeing I
Instruments	Unless otherwise noted observations were made with the Golden Gate binocular. Golden Gate 7x35 binocular – Charlie Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie Cokin Professional 003 red filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Leo Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080901.1815 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.01 AU 8m 23s Angular Size 31' 45.2" Altitude 12.8° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 7.21° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 327.02° Parallactic Angle (P) 21.37° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2074 Nothing Seen   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

Target Young Crescent Moon Constellation Vir Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080901.1926 EDT Comments Lunation 1060 Phase Waxing Crescent Age 2d 3h 27m Distance Light Time (from earth) 386,794 km 1.29s Elongation 26.8° 5.3% Illuminated % Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 291.4° Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 111° Libration in Latitude 5° 54' Libration in Longitude 4° 48' Magnitude -6.5 Angular Size 30.89' Altitude 6° 49' Virtual Moon Atlas graphic I located the Moon low on the horizon in the binoculars at 1926 EDT and naked-eye immediately after.

1929 EDT	Sunset Civil Twilight begins

Target Venus Constellation Vir Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080901.1930 EDT Comments Object Class Classical Planet Phase Gibbous Elongation 23° % Illuminated 91.9% Distance Light Time (from Earth) 1.53 AU 12m 46s Distance (from Sun) 0.723 AU Angular Size 11" Magnitude -3.9 Altitude 10.6° Meridian graphic Venus was to the upper right of the Moon. They both fit in the Golden Gate FoV.

Target Mars Constellation Vir Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080901.1930 EDT Comments Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 28.8° Distance Light Time (from Earth) 2.42 AU 20m 5s Distance (from Sun) 1.61 AU Angular Size 3.87" Magnitude 1.7 Central Meridian 335° Altitude 12.6° Starry Night Starter graphic Not Seen

Target Jupiter Constellation Sgr Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080901.1944 EDT Comments Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 122.7° Distance Light Time (from Earth) 4.54 AU 37m 47s Distance (from Sun) 5.16 AU Angular Size 43.3" x 40.5" Magnitude -2.5 Central Meridian I/II 229°/166° Altitude 22.8° Moons Starry Night Starter graphic I can see a moon to the east and maybe one to the west in the Golden Gate binocular.

Target Mercury Constellation Vir Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080901.1953 EDT Comments Object Class Classical Planet Phase Gibbous Elongation 25.3° % Illuminated 69.1% Distance Light Time (from Earth) 1.09 AU 9m 4s Distance (from Sun) 0.466 AU Angular Size 6.16" Magnitude 0.0 Altitude 9.5° Meridian graphic Not Seen

1957 EDT	Civil Twilight ends Nautical Twilight begins
2030 EDT	Nautical Twilight ends Astronomical Twilight begins
2106 EDT	Astronomical Twilight ends
2006 EDT	Moon sets
2019 EDT	Mercury sets
2024 EDT	Venus sets
2035 EDT	Mars sets