31 October 2009

Sunspots Observed

I was not able to do any solar observing this month. There has been a pretty spectacular sunspot that just rotated off the Earth-facing hemisphere of the Sun so I guess it is time to start getting ready for some more observing.

Observing Hours for the Year 2009

	Day			Night			Total
	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg
Jan	0.50	2	0.25	0.25	1	0.25	0.75	2	0.38
Feb	2.75	11	0.25	2.50	9	0.28	2.25	14	0.38
Mar	0.00	0	0.0	4.00	7	0.57	4.00	7	0.57
Apr	0.25	1	0.25	0.75	2	0.38	1.00	2	0.50
May	1.25	2	0.63	0.25	1	0.25	1.50	3	0.50
Jun	0.00	0	0.00	0.50	1	0.50	0.50	1	0.50
Jul	0.50	1	0.50	0.50	1	0.50	1.00	2	0.50
Aug	0.50	2	0.25	15.50	5	3.10	16.00	6	2.67
Sep	1.00	1	1.00	27.00	7	3.86	28.00	8	3.50
Oct	0.00	0	0.00	11.00	6	1.83	11.00	6	1.83
TOTAL	6.75	20	0.34	62.25	40	1.56	67.75	50	1.36

30 October 2009

Before The Rain We knew it would rain, for all the morn    A spirit on slender ropes of mist Was lowering its golden buckets down    Into the vapory amethyst. Of marshes and swamps and dismal fens --    Scooping the dew that lay in the flowers, Dipping the jewels out of the sea,    To sprinkle them over the land in showers. We kneew it would rain, for the poplars showed    The white of their leaves, the amber grain Shrunk in the wind -- and the lightning now    Is tangled in tremulous skeins of rain! Thomas Bailey Aldrich

29 October 2009

I just checked on my Birthday Star and it has changed, again. It is in the right hemisphere and high enough in the sky in the evening and it is just bright enough to be seen without optics. It is δ Equulei, the mouth of the pony and shines at Mag 4.47. The light from this star takes 6.28 ly to reach earth so it is actually a little farther away from earth than my age right now, or will be for a while, but it the closest match the database has. And at least it is something I can see this time.

Stellarium graphic

25 October 2009

Observing Location	TotL Resources: The bathrooms were still open when I arrived but were closed when I left. The water fountains are still turned on.
Observational Period	1845-1945 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Broken becoming Scattered becoming Broken Temperature 58° F Wind Light Breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.11" Hg Rising Feels Like Cool I checked the Weather Underground history for the Central Park NOAA weather station and it reported clear skies all day yesterday Transparency Poor Seeing
Instruments	Naked-eye – Charlie Naked Eye - Tom
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Tom Claybough

1559 EDT

Moonrise

1802 EDT

Sunset
Civil Twilight begins

1830 EDT

Civil Twiligt ends
Nautical Twilight begins

1845 EDT

• The First Quarter Moon and Jupiter were shining through the clouds. The Moon is about 15° to the West of Jupiter and will be near Jupiter tomorrow night when the clouds should be even worse.
• Polaris, Arcturus, Altair, Vega, the top of the Northern Cross and Cassiopeia were seen through gaps in the clouds.

1902 EDT

Nautical Twilight ends
Astronomical Twilight begins

Target Iridium 72 Flare Constellation Cas, Cam Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20091025.1923 EDT Comments   Heavens Above CalSky Time 1923:08 EDT 1923:09 EDT Alt. 46° 46.3° Az. 21° NNE; 20.8° NNE Mag. -7 -6.0 Surface &nsp; MMA2 I had an alarm set on my watch for 1822 EDT but was already watching for the satellite when it went off. Shortly after the alarm I picked it up descending through upper Cassiopeia. As it got down near the altitude of Polaris it flared a very bright, big and gold. I think it appeared so large because the light was being refracted by the clouds. Finally a flare where I was expecting it to be. I had estimated the location by looking a hand span east of Polaris then fudged back west to compensate for compass deviation. I was looking for anything moving anywhere near Cassiopeia.

1934 EDT

Astronomical Twilight ends

1943 EDT

First Quarter Moon

22 October 2009

Tonight through Saturday are the Galilean Nights sponsored by International Astronomy Year 2009 to encourage people to observe what Galileo observed 400 years ago. It looks like we will be having rain through the period.

400 Years of the Telescope

21 October 2009

NASA appears to be sacrificing completion of the ISS in favor of the next generation space vehicle, the ARES 1 rocket and Crew Expedition Vehicle.

They have determined that the Shuttle replacement is the agency's number one priority right now and have moved its first test flight up even though that will push the first available launch date for STS-129 back to a date when it can not be launched unless another launch is postponed.

It takes two days to reconfigure all of the tracking hardware the Air Force uses to support launches and right now there is a military launch scheduled for 14 or 15Nov09, which means that STS-129 couldn't be launched before 17Nov09. The launch window for STS-129 is 16-19Nov09. After 19Nov09 NASA will have to stand down until 6-11Dec09 because of thermal concerns at ISS and a subsequent Russian satellite docking at ISS.

20 October 2009

It wasn't infinity in fact. Infinity itself looks flat and uninteresting. Looking up into the night sky is looking into infinity. Distance is incomprehensible and therefore meaningless. The chamber into which the aircar emerged was anything but infinite, it was just very very very big, so big that it gave the impression of infinity far better than infinity itself. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams

19 October 2009

If you make a measurement and get what you expect, you have made a measurement. If you don't get wat you expect, you've made a discovery. attrib.: Enrico Fermi

Observing Location	Various southern Manhattan Locations
Observational Period	1902030 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 50° F Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure " Hg Feels Like Mild Transparency Good Seeing
Instruments	Naked-eye - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Great World Wide Star Count

1810 EST Sunset Civil Twilight Begins 1837 EDT Moonset 1838 EST Civil Twilight Ends Nautical Twilight Begins 1910 EST Nautical Twilight Ends Astronomical Twilight Begins 20091019 1910 EST Observation 701 Date Time Location Herald Square Lat.: 40.750542° Long: -73.987645° Conditions It was clear but I was looking up through floodlights illuminating the park from on top of Macy’s. Limiting Magnitude Mag. 1.25 Comments I could see Vega and Deneb. Observation 704 Date Time 20091019 1920 EST Location 7 Abe @ 29 St Lat.: 40.747722° Long: -73.992845° Conditions The corner is darker than most. Limiting Magnitude Mag. 3.89 Comments I could see all of the Northern Cross stars but none of the stars in the V behind Deneb. Observation 705 Date Time 20091019 1940 EST Location Madison Square Park Lat.: 40.742512° Long: -73.987849° Conditions It is dark inside the park if you are not neat a street light. Limiting Magnitude Mag. 3.89 Comments I saw all of the Northern Cross stars but none of the stars in the V behind Deneb. 1942 EST Astronomical Twilight Ends Observation 706 Date Time 20091019 1950 EST Location Union Square Park Lat.: 40.742512° Long: -73.987849° Conditions The areas without trees obstructing the view of the sky are the most light-polluted. Limiting Magnitude Mag. 3.89 Comments I could see all of the Northern Cross stars but none of the stars in the V behind Deneb. Observation 707 Date Time 20091019 2000 EST Location Washington Square Park Lat.: 40.730798° Long: -73.997282° Conditions The park is well lit where it is open to the sky and there are floodlights shining upward onto Washington Arch. Limiting Magnitude Mag. 4.55 Comments I could see all of the stars of the Northern Cross and the two farthest stars of the V behind Deneb. Observation 708 Date Time 20091019 2020 EST Location Tompkins Square Park Lat.: 40.725195° Long: -73.981269° Conditions To e 1 km from the other locations I am surveying I have to stand on the SE corner of the park under a street light so there is more light-pollution than if I were observing from inside the park. Limiting Magnitude Mag. 4.55 Comments I saw all of the stars of the Northern Cross and found the two farthest stars of the V, the fainter one with difficulty. This observation was made 10 minutes after the close of the official observation window but was reported anyway. Of the last 100 reports submitted all but 9 have been from the USA and most of those from east of the Mississippi.

17 October 2009

Lunar Terminology

Feature	Plural	Meaning from Latin	Contemporary Meaning	Example Best Seen
Basin			bery large impact features which have been filled with lava	Mare Imbrium Day 10
Caldera			the collapsed top of a volcano which forms a crater
Catena		Chain	chain of craters	Catena Davy Day 8
Cleft			a cliff often found in the inside of crater walls as the result of slumping	Langrenous Day 2
Crater	Craters		a circular or nearly circular feature on the Moon	Copernicus Day 9
Craterlet			a crater that is just at the lower limits of observability with the optics being used
Dome			lowrounded hills	Mons Rumker Day 12
Dorsum	Dorsa	Back	wrinkle ridge tens of meters high	Dorsa Smirnov Day 5
Fault			cracks in the lunar surface caused by compression and spreading	Rupes Recta Day 8
Graben			te process by which a valley forms when the material between two parallel faults sinks below the surrounding area due to spreading	Vallis Alpes Day 7
Highlands			the portion of the Moon not occupied by craters, walled plains, palus, and basins; also called the uplands	south polar region
Impact Basin			huge impact features that have been modified by volcanism, lava flows and subsequent impacts	Mare Imbrium Day 10
Lacus		Lake	small plain	Lacus Somniorum Day 5
Mare	Maria	Sea	large plain	Mare Crisium Day 3
Massif			a large solitary mountain	Picolomini Day 5
Mons	Montes	Mount	mountain	Montes Teneriffe Day 8
Oceanus		Ocean	very large plain	Oceanus Procelarum Day 10
Palus		Swamp	small plain	Palus Somni Day 5
Planitia		Plain	low plain
Promontorium		Promontory	headland jutting into a mare	Promontorium Laplace Day 10
Ray			a stripe on the lunar surface where ejects has landed from the formation of a crater; most prominent at the time of full Moon	Tycho Day 14
Rift Valley			a graben valley	Vallis Alpes Day 7
Rille			narrow valleys formed between parallel faults	Hyginus Rille Day 6
Rima	Rimae	Crack	rille (narrow valley)	Rima Huyginus Day 6
Rupes		Cliff	scarp	Rupes Recta Day 8
Scarp			a cliff formed by faulting	Rupes Altai (Altai Scarp) Day 5
Sinus		Bay	indentation at the edge of a mare	Sinus Iridum Day 10
Upland			the portion of the Moon not occupied by craters, walled plains, palus, and basins; also called the highlands	south polar region
Vallis	Valles	Valley	large valley	Vallis Alpes Day 7
Walled Plain			features over 70 km across; low walls; moderately sunkrn floor; (no central peak)	Prolemaeus Day 7
Wrinkle Ridge			see Dorsum	Dorsa Smirnov Day 5
Terms in Italics are English terms Based on and expanded from Moon Observer's Guide

Crater- let <- 12 km

Crater 12 km ->

Walled Plain 70 km ->

Impact Basin 300 km ->

Mountains, mountain ranges and valleys on the Moon were given Latinized names after similar features on earth. Craters have been named after people, primarily dead people or people who only lived in mythology (the exception being the craters named after the Apollo 11 astronauts who were all living at the time the craters were named). But the largest craters have been given Latin names. This is a list of those Latin names and their meanings.

Feature	Meaning	Visible
Lacus Aestatis	Lake of Summer	Day 13
Lacus Autumni	Lake of Autumn	Day 13
Lacus Doloris	Lake of Sorrow	Day 6
Lacus Excellentiae	Lake of Excellence	Day 10
Lacus Gaudii	Lake of Joy	Day 6
Lacus Lenatitis	Lake of Tenderness	Day 6
Lacus Mortis	Lake of Death	Day 5
Lacus Odii	Lake of Hatred	Day 6
Lacus Somniorum	Lake of Dreams	Day 5
Lacus Timoris	Lake of Fear	Day 10
Lacus Veris	Lake of Spring	Day 13
Mare Anguis	Sea of Serpents	Day 2
Mare Australe	Southern Sea	Day 3
Mare Cognitum	Known Sea	Day 9
Mare Crisium	Sea of Crises	Day 2
Mare Fecunditatis	Sea of Fertility	Day 2
Mare Frigoris	Sea of Cold	Day 5
Mare Humboldtianum	Sea of Alexander von Humboldt	Day 2
Mare Humorum	Sea of Moisture	Day 10
Mare Imbrium	Sea of Rains	Day 7
Mare Insularum	Sea of Islands	Day 8
Mare Marginis	Border Sea	Day 3
Mare Nectaris	Sea of Nectar	Day 5
Mare Nubium	Sea of Clouds	Day 8
Mare Orientale	Eastern Sea	Day 14
Mare Serenitatis	Sea of Serenity	Day 5
Mare Smythii	Smyth's Sea	Day 3
Mare Spumans	Foaming Sea	Day 2
Mare Tranquilitatis	Sea of Tranquility	Day 4
Mare Undularum	Sea of Waves	Day 2
Mare Vaporum	Sea of Vapors	Day 6
Oceanus Procellarum	Ocean of Storms	Day 10
Palus Epidemiarum	Marsh of Epidemics	Day 9
Palus Putredensis	Marsh of Decay	Day 8
Palus Somni	Marsh of Sleep	Day 4
Sinus Aestuum	Bat of Billows	Day 8
Sinus Amoris	Bay of Love	Day 4
Sinus Asperitatis	Bay of Asperity	Day 5
Sinus Fidei	Sea of Faith	Day 8
Sinus Honoris	Bay of Honor	Day 6
Sinus Iridum	Bay of Rainbows	Day 9
Sinus Medii	Central Bay	Day 6
Sinus Roris	Bay of Dew	Day 9
Sinus Successus	Bay of Success	Day 2
Statio Tranquilitatis	Tranquility Base	Day 5

14 October 2009

Observing Location	Bryant Park
Observational Period	0530-0550 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 41° F Wind Calm Gusting to Light Breeze Humidity High Barometric Pressure 30.24" Hg Falling Feels Like Very Cool Transparency Good Seeing
Instruments	Naked-eye - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Looking Manhattan S Orion was standing over the dirigible mast and antennas of the Empire State building; Antares is just visible nest to the buildings on the W side of 6 Ave; Sirius is behind a tree and Procyon and Gomeisa are above the tree. Auriga is high over my right shoulder in 6 Ave. Orion’s Belt is washed out in the lights shining down into Bryant Park from the MetLife Building. I might have been able to have seen Mars but I didn’t think about planets and didn’t know where it was anyway.

0534 EDT

Astrological Twilight begins

Target ISS Visible Pass Constellation Ori - Gem – Lyn – UMa - CVn Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20090914.0546 EDT Comments     Starts Max. Alt. Ends H A e b a o v v e e n   s   Time 0547 EDT 0547 EDT 0550 EDT Alt. 38° 79° 10° Az. SW SE NE Mag -3.3 C a l S k y Time 0546 EDT 0547 EDT 0552 EDT Alt. 33.6° 79.4° orizon Az. 224.6° SW 142.3° SE 54.8° NE Mag -3.7 -4.4 -1.4 The Shuttle rose from behind the buildings on the W side of 6 Ave already illuminated and continued climbing past Orion’s outstretched arm and head (which I couldn’t see) then out over 42 Street high overhead before setting into the buildings on the N side of 43 Street. It was much brighter than Sirius and had a slight yellow tinge. It gave the impression of being closer than the stars it was passing, which it is, and larger, which it is not except in the arc it subtends.

0606 EDT

Astrological Twilight ends
Nautical Twilight begins

0637 EDT

Nautical Twilight ends
Civil Twilight begins

0705 EDT

Civil Twilight ends
Sunrise

---

One of my friends who knows of my interest in space and astronomy sent me a link to a N0VA movie that was made on the HST Servicing Mission.

NOVA

---

Observing Location	Battery Park
Observational Period	2030-2230 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Overcast Cloud Cover Temperature Wind Light Breeze Humidity High Barometric Pressure " Hg Feels Like Very Cool Transparency None Seeing II
Instruments	Harry - Charlie Peter’s DIY 6” Newtonian Telescope Takahashi 102mm F/8.2 refractor - Peter
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac Tom Clabough Jon Pazmino

Tonight was a special observing Peter had set of for the Claremont School down in the Financial District as a result of meeting one of their teachers at TotL.

Peter and I traveled together and assessed the sky conditions when we got to the Staten Island Ferry and knew we were up against the wall. There was A star visible, Vega. Before we had gone down we knew it was going to be doubtful since the sky had been white most of the afternoon.

On getting to the school we were taken to the roof were they thought we might observe and we did see a few more stars from there but the roof is a play area for the younger kids so is completely enclosed in netting which would make telescopic netting very difficult.

John Pazmino gave a talk on the LCROSS mission and Peter and I left shortly after he got started to go down to Battery Park to assess the conditions there. It was looking bleak and when we arrived The Star had disappeared behind the clouds. There were a few gaps and I was able to get in a quick Great World Wide Star Count count but conditions were going south fast.

While we were setting up Peter found that his eyepieces for the Takahashi were not in his backpack as he believed so we were going to be forced to share the two eyepieces he did have for Harry.

The teacher in charge of the event did not understand the same location that Peter was describing and ended up getting to Wagner Park instead of Battery Park but persevered and eventually got down to us with about a dozen students and parents. By that time there wasn’t any clear sky left to observe in.

We trained the scopes on the Statue of Liberty and the Colgate clock so the kids could have the experience of looking through them at something. There were several of them who were really into it and one had brought his telescope and another a pair of binoculars. The kids would have lasted longer than their parents who siphoned them off at various times until it was only the teacher and one older student left and they left as well.

The teacher is interested in trying to reschedule the observing part of the event in a month. We will not have the lecture and it will be getting darker earlier so we will be able to start observing earlier and maybe have more students participate.

Great World Wide Star Count

1818 EDT Sunset Civil Twilight Begins 1845 EDT Civil Twilight Ends Nautical Twilight Begins 1917 EDT Nautical Twilight Ends Astronomical Twilight Begins 1949 EDT Astronomical Twilight Ends Observation 339 Date Time 20091014 2038 EDT Location Lat.: 40.701040° Long: -74.015266° Conditions Broken Clouds becoming Overcast Limiting Magnitude 4 Comments Through a gap in the clouds I was able to see all five of the Northern Cross stars. This observation was made 20 minutes after the close of the official observation window but was submitted anyway.

There was a double flare from Iridium 21 that I had hoped to have seen but I think it would have been blocked by buildings even if the sky had been clear. This was another case where a bright flare was listed in CalSky but not in Heavens-Above. This pair of flares iwas unusual in that they eccurred several minutes apart so should have been two distinct events rather than the prolonged flares I have seen before when observing double flares.

	Flare 1	Flare 2
Time	2018:46 EST	2022:26
Alt.	61.3°	23.8°
Az.	21.6° ESE	13.8° NNE
Mag.	0	-2.8
Surface	Solar Panels	MMA2

13 October 2009

By the year 2000 we will undoubtedly have a sizeable operation on the moon, we will have achieved a manned Mars landing and it's entirely possible we will have flown men to the other planets. Wernher von Braun

11 October 2009

Observing Location	TotL I stopped six times on my way uo to TotL to make Great World Wide Star Count observations.
Observational Period	1900-2100 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear becoming Broken Clouds Temperature 57° F Wind Light Breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.21" Hg Rising Feels Like Cool autumn evening Transparency Good Seeing
Instruments
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Great World Wide Star Count 1823 EDT Sunset Civil Twilight Begins 1850 EDT Civil Twilight Ends Nautical Twilight Begins 1922 EDT Nautical Twilight Ends Astronomical Twilight Begins Observation 111 Date Time 20091011 1923 EDT Location Bryant ParkK Lat.: 40.753807° Long: -73.983644° Conditions I was looking up into the floodlights shining down on Bryant Park from the MetLife building across the street. Limiting Magnitude Mag. 0.77 Comments Observation 112 Date Time 20091011 1928 EDT Location Times Square Lat.: 40.758880° Long: -73.983644° Conditions The whole of the Times Square area is terribly light-polluted and even impacts on our observing up at TotL over 2 km away. Limiting Magnitude Comments I couldn't see any stars at all due to all the advertisements on the surrounding buildings. I had to report this as cloudy since they don't have a category for tat much light pollution. Observation 114 Date Time 20091011 1940 EDT Location Columbus Circle Lat.: 40.768110° Long: -73.981856° Conditions This location isn't too badly light-polluted since the surrounding buildings don't have many decorative lights and you only have to contend with the cobra heads. Limiting Magnitude Mag 2 Comments Observation 115 Date Time 20091011 1951 EDT Location W 72 St just inside the park Lat.: 40.776195° Long: -73.975838° Conditions There is a lot of ligt on 72 St at the intersection but it falls off quickly as you move into the park. Limiting Magnitude Mag. 2.46 Comments Saw three stars of the cross 1953 EDT Astronomical Twilight Ends Observation 118 Date Time 20091011 1958 EDT Location Bathesda Fountain Lat.: 40.776195° Long: -73.972110° Conditions This is a very dark area. There are no street lights around and except for being down in a hole with a limited horizon and no public interaction this might be a better observing location than TotL. Limiting Magnitude Mag. 4.84 Comments I saw 2 stars in the V behind Deneb Observation 119 Date Time 20091011 2003 EDT Location E 72 St just inside the park Lat.: 40.772635° Long: -73.967532° Conditions Conditions here are much the same as at W 72 St. Limiting Magnitude Mag. 3.98 Comments I saw all of the stars of the cross but none in the V behind Deneb. Observation   Date Time 20091011 2017 EDT Location Outside the playground S of the Metropolitan Museum Lat.: 40.777638° Long: -73.964084° Conditions This is a dark location nestled in trees with only one street light nearby although the side of the museum is lit up for security reasons Limiting Magnitude Mag. 4.55 Comments This observation not reported as it is too close to both TotL and E 72 St. Observation 120 Date Time 20091011 2019 EDT Location TotL Lat.: 40.782462° Long: -73.965591° Conditions Low street lights on either side of the observing location Limiting Magnitude Comments

Target	Iridium 14 Flare
Constellation	Cam
Category	Satellite
Time yyyymmdd.hhmm	20091011.2040 EDT
Comments	Heavens Above CalSky Time   2040:45 EDT Alt.   18.3° Az.   010.9° N Mag.   -5.8 Surface   MMA2 This flare does not appear in the Heavens Above listing. When I saw it I assumed I was seeing the Iridium 75 flare until the second satellite showed up, then I didn’t know what I was seeing. I had set my watch alarm for 2040 EDT and didn’t check it when either of the flares occurred. The satellite appeared to be dropping vertically. It appeared brighter than the Iridium 75 flare and the decay did not appear to be uniform.

Target	Iridium 75 Flare
Constellation	Cam
Category	Satellite
Time yyyymmdd.hhmm	20091011.2041 EDT
Comments	Heavens Above CalSky Time 2041:44 EDT 2041:47 EDT Alt. 16° 15.4° Az. 010° N 009.6° N Mag. -5 -4.5 Surface   MMA2 This flare lasted longer than the flare of Iridium 14, had an extended but uniform decay and started a little above and to the right of Iridium 14.

Both of the above flares occurred closer to Polaris than either my compass or my estimate of the offset from Polaris indicated they should have been. My compass points ~20° W of Polaris from here. NOAA indicates that the declination at TotL is 16° 7' W. I know there are drain pipes running beneath the pavement in that area but if anything I would expect them to deflect the compass needle to the east where I was standing. And adding the declination to the listed azimuth for the flares would have had me looking even farther east.

Acorns are falling; Squirrels are having a feast: Winter approaches. Charlie Ridgway

I have a add-on for Firefox that displays earthquakes by causing the browser to shake. The stronger the quake the longer the shaking continues. I have been noticing a lot of shaking going on lately. In Google Earth I have display of earthquakes turned on and this afternoon was looking at the earthquakes they are showing close to NYC. The only one that was there was off the NJ coast. When I got home tonight there was a quake displayed in upstate NY. I figured it was probably because I was zoomed to a different level where lesser quakes were being displayed but when I clicked on it the bubble said it was a quake that had just occurred yesterday and probably just got included on an update tonight. I checked the NJ quake which I had assumed was historic and found that it had just occurred on Friday.

20091009.1723	Richter 2.1	offshore NJ
20091010.2149	Richter 2.4	Lewis County, NY SW of Harrisville NW of Lewis

I got a bag of M&Ms on the way home tonight. I don’t particularly like chocolate, and my dentist hates it, but it is supposed to be a good antioxidant so I figure it is a neutral food. On opening the bag and pouring its contents into a bowl I was struck by how many more blue candies and fewer red and brown there seemed to be. So I had to count them and create a chart of the results. Since I don’t have another blog for scientific studies like this the data will have to live here.

I found that orange and brown candies seemed to melt more than others. Deformed candies seemed to be fairly evenly distributed among all of the colors although I didn’t perform an analysis of this.

10 October 2009

Great World Wide Star Count

1824 EDT Sunset Civil Twilight Begins 1852 EDT Civil Twilight Ends Nautical Twilight Begins 1923 EDT Nautical Twilight Ends Astronomical Twilight Ends Observation 83 Date Time 20091010 1924 EDT Location Tompkins Square Park Lat.: 40.725185° Long: -73.981298° Conditions Cloudy. It was supposed to clear off tonight but hasn't happened yet. Limiting Magnitude Comments I could only see Jupiter as a fuzzy light behind the clouds. Observation 84 Date Time 20091010 1942 EDT Location Broadway @ Broome St Lat.: 40.721631° Long: -73.999767° Conditions Cloudy Limiting Magnitude Comments It has cleared a little as I can see Vega from here. 1955 EDT Astronomical Twilight Ends Observation 85 Date Time 20091010 1955 EDT Location City Hall Park Lat.: 40.792191° Long: -74.007057° Conditions Cloudy Limiting Magnitude Comments I am under a thick patch of cloud now as Vega has disappeared. Observation 86 Date Time 20091010 2007 EDT Location Pier 16 Lat.: 40.704648° Long: -74.002187° Conditions Cloudy Limiting Magnitude Comments I can see Jupiter and Vega behind the clouds.

7 October 2009

In the sciences the authority of thousands of opinions is not worth as much as one tiny spark of reason in an individual man. Galileo Galilei

5 October 2009

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason and intellect has intended to forgo their use . . . He would not require us to deny sense and reason in physical matters which are set before our eyes and minds by direct experience or necessary demonstrations. Galileo Galilei

This still afternoon Is full of autumn sunlight     and spring memories. Richard Wright

Observing Location	TotL & TPO I started out at TotL and moved to TPO at 2015 when some dog walkers we have been seeing regularly told me Peter was down there. Tonight was the 6th anniversary of our first joint observing session at TPO and I missed in his email that he intended celebrating it at that location rather than our usual TotL.
Observational Period	1945-0100 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds decreasing to Isolated Clouds Initially there were passing patches of heavy cloud with other areas where stars could be seen but where the sly was a brighter gray than other areas, like the milky way ad been moved. The pillars of light rising from the GE building and Times Square were very much in evidence. Temperature 60° F Wind varying between Light Breeze and Gentle Breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 29.94" Hg Rising Feels Like Very Cool Transparency Good Seeing I
Instruments	Naked-eye – Charlie Teleport 10" Donsonisn reflector – Peter 2" Pentax 40mm, 70° FoV, 31.8x 2" TeleVue Nagler 17mm, 82° FoV, 74.7x 1.25" TeleVue Nagler 13mm, 82° FoV, 97.7x 1.25" TeleVue Plossl 7mm, 82° FoV, 181.4x
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac

1832 EDT

Sun Sets
Civil Twilight Begins

1853 EDT

Moon Rises

1900 EDT

Civil Twilight Ends
Nautical Twilight Begins

Target Moon Constellation Ari Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20091005.1930 – 20091006.0100 EDT Comments Lunation 1073 Phase Waning Gibous Age 17.24d Distance Light Time (from earth) 380,776 km s Elongation ° % Illuminated 96.5% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 116.1° Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 296.1° Libration in Latitude -5° 44' Libration in Longitude -4° 7’ Magnitude - Angular Size 31.38' Altitude 17° 6’ Virtual Moon Atlas graphic As I entered The Great Lawn by TPO I saw the not quite full Moon rising yellow above a big apartment building along 5 Ave. I think most people would say that it was full but I could see that there was a portion of it missing in the NE quadrant. When I got down to TPO Peter and I spent all night bouncing back and forth between the Moon and Jupiter with passers-by. On the Moon we started out looking at Mare Orientale then switched to the terminator and finally just before heading out, back to Mare Orientale. The western rim of the Moon is in full light so should appear smooth but in the area of Mare Orientale it was obviously lumpy. There were what looked like mountain ranges and peaks separated by varying lengths of smooth terrain. We are interpreting this as being the inner slump rings of the great walled plain as they were farther out on the limb than Lacus Veris and Lacus Autumni. I ave looked in Virtual Moon Atlas and it isn’t much help that close to the limb. It also doesn’t like to give you the labels of maria on damand. Google Earth graphic Over on the terminator we spent most of our time looking into the southern portion of Mare Crisium. There was a discolored area down there that looked to me like a drowned crater but did not give that impression to Peter. I can’t find any indication of a large feature there in either Grego of VMA. Further down on the terminator we observed Langrenous and Petavius. In Langrenous we could see the complex central peak and a lot of slumping in the NW portion of the rim and a lesser amount opposite in the SW portion. Google Earth graphic geologic map of Langrenous Down in Petavius we saw the central peak, Petavius C in the rim and the long, straight Rimae Petavius extending from the central peak all the way to the rim. Google Earth graphic geologic map of Petavious Up above Mare Crisium we checked in on Atlas and Hercules. The extensive slumping of the wall of Atlas was noted and in Hercules we saw Hercules G on the crater floor and Hercules E and an unnamed crateron the southern rim. Google Earth graphic geologic map of Atlas & Hercules

1931 EDT

Nautical Twilight Ends
Astronomical Twilight Begins

Target Cygnus Constellation Cyg Category Constellation Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20091005.1945 EDT Comments In preparation for the upcoming Great World Wide Star Count I decided to to a limiting magnitude estimate in Cygnus to familiarize myself with the indicator stars. I also intend to make observations from Times Square and Columbus Circle which I am guessing are about the minimum 1 km separation requested for multiple observations. So on the way up to TotL I stopped briefly at each location to see what I could see. Times Square no stars seen Mag -1 Columbus Circle 3 stars in cross Mag 2 TotL & TPO 3-4 stars in V behind Deneb Mag 4.75

At2000 EDT Antares was 2:00 to the northern tower of the Time-Warner Building(s) and Sagittarius was over the GE Building pouring its contents into Times Square. The Moon is now above the trees NE or TotL and below Hamal and Sheridan in Aries. I can see Polaris and the Guardians of the Pole, Pherkad and Kochab.

2003 EDT

Astronomical Twilight Ends

Target Jupiter Constellation Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20091005.2030 EDT Comments Object Class Classical Planet Elongation ° Distance Light Time (from Earth) 4.3935 AU m s Distance (from Sun) 5.0257 AU Angular Size 44.8" Magnitude -2.7 Central Meridian I/II/III 237.50°/8.96° /118.91° Altitude 31° 41’ Moons Carted du Ciel graphic Europa, Callisto and Io were out to the left of the planet. Io and Callisto were close together. Ganymede was out to the right all by itself. There was a field star a little fainter than the moons visible above the planet. I could see the Equatorial Bands but no indication of polar caps. Naked-eye &io; Cap could be seen to the lower left of the planet right on the edge of a ring of illuminated atmosphere.

3 October 2009

Great World Wide Star Count Organized by the Windows on the Universe project of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the Great World Wide Star Count is an effort to quantify the effects of light-pollution. People all around the world will be checking to see what the faintest star they can see it. In the Northern Hemisphere we will be looking into Cygnus between 9 and 23 October 2009.

Sky and Telescope
Great World Wide Star Count

2 October 2009

International Year of Astronomy 2009 graphic

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 has available a DVD (only if you are going to use it for educating others) called Eyes on the Skies that celebrates the 400^th anniversary of the telescope. Individuals can downloaded it in 7 chapter increments.

1 October 2009

October. This is one of the pecularly dangerous months to speculate in stocks in. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February. Pudd'nhead Wilson Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)