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.