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.