9 October 2008

Observing Location	PKR
Observational Period	1130-1145 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 67° F Wind Light Breeze Humidity High Barometric Pressure 29.99" Hg Steady Feels Like Mild It was raining early this morning but the sky is clearing off now. Transparency Fair Seeing II
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 20081009.1130 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 0.999 AU 8m18 s Angular Size 32' 4.9" Altitude 40.5° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 6.22° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 189.13° Parallactic Angle (P) 26.28° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2075 Nothing Seen   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

8 October 2008

Observing Location	VP
Observational Period	0900-0915 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 53° Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.19" Hg Steady Feels Like Fair It is actually cooler today than it was yesterday but it feels warmer since there is no wind at all. The clouds are thin stratus and cirrostratus. I can see cloud moving past the sun and it would make it difficult to see any small spots that there might be with these optics. Transparency Fair Seeing II
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 20081008.0900 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 0.999 AU 8m 18s Angular Size 32' 4.3" Altitude 21.0° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 6.29° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 203.70° Parallactic Angle (P) 26.27° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2075 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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I realized today that I record sky transparency information for each observing session but don’t think I have ever defined the criteria I use in making my assessment so will do so now.

The assessment is subjective and based on the goal of the observing session and the optics being utilized. So a day with light cloud when I want to observe the Sun might be recorded as Good transparency while the same sky at night when I want to look for “faint fuzzies” whould be termed Fair or possibly Poor transparency.

That being said, here is a rough guide to what I mean by transparency:

Excellent

Unobstructed sky; blue sky.

Good

Light haze or passing clouds; the sky is light blue to gray (during the day) but no clouds are visible (other than passing clouds)

Fair

There are thick clouds and I am spending as much time waiting for them to get out of the was as I am observing in the gaps between them, for solar observations the granularity of light cloud passing over the sun would make the identification of small spots difficult.

Poor

I can see bright objects through the clouds and can possible make out some detail on them.

Nil

Nothing is observable beyond the glow if the Sun or Moon behind complete cloud cover.

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Observing Location	McGraw Ave @ White Plains Rd, Bronx, NY
Observational Period	1830-1900 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds becoming Broken Clouds Temperature 61° F Wind Light Breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.05" Hg Falling Feels Like Cool The clouds filled in as I stood there until it was nearly overcast. Transparency Poor becoming Nil Seeing
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

1827 EST	Sunset Civil Twilight begins

Target Iridium Flare Constellation Aql Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20081008.1853 EDT Comments Not Seen This flare was not listed in CalSky, probably because it was so close to sunset. Given the magnitude of the flare I think it was the clouds rather than the ambient light that prevented it from being seen.   Heavens Above CalSky Time 1853:15 EDT   Alt. 52°   Az. 177° S   Mag. -5   Surface

Target ISS Visible Pass Constellation UMa-Dra-Cyg-Peg-Aqr Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20081008.18523 EDT Comments Not Seen I thought I might see it as it culminated but by then the clouds had blocked out that part of the sky too.     Starts Max. Alt. Ends H A e b a o v v e e n   s   Time 1853:05 EDT 1856:11 EDT 18:58:57 EDT Alt. 10° 70° 10° Az. NW ENE ESE Mag -2.4 C a l S k y Time 1851:04 EDT 1856:03 EDT 1859:45 EDT Alt. horizon 73.5° 5.5° Az. 307.2° NW 35.3° NE 122.3° ESE Mag 1.2 -4,4 -1.6

1854 EST	Civil Twilight ends Nautical Twilight begins
1927 EST	Nautical Twilight ends Astronomical Twilight begins
1958 EST	Astronomical Twilight ends

7 October 2008

Observing Location	VP
Observational Period	1145-1200 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 57° Wind Gentle Breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.36" Hg Falling Feels Like Cool It is a beautiful fall day. It is cool but not uncomfortably so. 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 20081007.1145 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 0.999 AU 8m 19s Angular Size 32' 3.08" Altitude 42.2° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 6.35° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 215.38° Parallactic Angle (P) 26.26° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2075 Nothing Seen   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

6 October 2008

This story appears on SpaceWeather this afternoon:

INCOMING ASTEROID   A small, newly-discovered asteroid named 2008 TC3 is approaching Earth and chances are better than 99.8% that it will hit. Steve Chesley of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory estimates that atmospheric entry will occur on Oct 7th at 0246 UTC over northern Sudan--just hours from now. Measuring only a few meters across, the space rock poses NO THREAT to people or structures on the ground, but it should create a spectacular fireball, releasing about a kiloton of TNT in energy as it disintegrates and explodes in the atmosphere. Asteroids of this size hit Earth every few months, but this is the first time one has been discovered before it hit.

There should be good pictures of the event there tomorrow, hopefully some sound files as well.

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SpaceWeather always posts anaglyphs (3D images) on days when I don't have my 3D glasses. I am parking the link to the image of Victoria Crater here, at least until I get a chance to view it properly.

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Observing Location	McGraw Ave @ White Plains Rd, Bronx, NY
Observational Period	1915-1945 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 55° F Wind Light Breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.33" Hg Rising Feels Like Brisk I can’t see any clouds but sense that there were broken clouds overhead. There was no ring around the Moon and it didn’t illuminate any clouds strongly enough for me to identify them but the ISS appeared to be illuminating atmosphere beneath it as it passed nearly overhead. [Weather Underground’s weather history for Central Park says that it was Clear at the time and for LaGuardia airport Partly Cloudy.] Transparency Excellent Seeing
Instruments	Naked-eye - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target ISS Visible Pass Constellation UMa, Dra, UMi, Cep, Lac, Peg Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20081006.1934 EDT Comments The ISS rose out of the horizon dimly and appeared to be moving very slowly although it’s apparent motion was toward me. It rose very high in the sky and became very bright looking like a bar of light. As it dropped toward its point of disappearance it dimmed and its rate of travel appeared to decrease relative to what it was when it was overheae (which was greater than when it was rising) before winking out in the Earth’s shadow. The CalSky magnitude prediction seems to be the more realistic for culmination. I saw it pass through the handle of the Big Dipper between Mizar/Alcor and Megrez and then above Polaris.     Starts Max. Alt. Ends H A e b a o v v e e n &nbst s   Time 1934:15 EDT 1937:10 EDT 1938:16 EDT Alt. 10° 62° 33° Az. NW NE ESE Mag -2.3 C a l S k y Time 1933:12 EDT 1930:10 EDT 1939:20 EDT Alt. horizon 63.2° 31.5° Az. 307.9° NW 34.2° NE 105.4° ESE Mag 1.5 -4.4 -3.7

Target Moon Constellation Sgr Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20081006.1915 EDT Comments Lunation 1061 Phase Waxing Crescent First Quarter – 9h 50m Age 7d 15h 2m Distance Light Time (from earth) 401,475 km 1.34s Elongation 85.7° E % Illuminated 46.2% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 358.1° Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 6.1° Libration in Latitude 4° 49' Libration in Longitude -2° 23' Magnitude -9.9 Angular Size 29.76' Altitude ° Virtual Moon Atlas graphic My eyesight is not good enough to pick out lunar features unaided so I didn’t even try. The Moon is approaching first quarter but the shadow of the terminator still has an obvious bulge into the illuminated surface of the Moon. I did not detect any earthshine.

Starry Night Starter graphic

Target Jupiter Constellation Sgr Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20081006.1915 EDT Comments Jupiter is to the upper left of the slightly less than First Quarter Moon and looks like it is falling into the bowl of the Moon’s reflected light. Jupiter is bright enough and far enough away (~5°) from the Moon that it is easily seen. Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 89.7° E Distance Light Time (from Earth) 5.06 AU 42m 1s Distance (from Sun) 5.15 AU Angular Size 39" x 36.4" Magnitude -2.3 Central Meridian I/II 355°/24° Altitude 21.8° Moons Starry Night Starter graphic

5 October 2008

Jonathan D.W. Kahl and Kevin Horwitz, writing in 2002 in BAMS (Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society) say

High and low temperatures are featured prominently in virtually all weather forecasts. These forecast elements ae usually defined as the maximum and minimum temperatures, respectively, occurring in a 24-h period beginning at midnight on the specified day. At a midlatitude location such as Milwaukee, Wisconsin, daily high and low temperatures are generally expected to occur in the late afternoon and early morning, respectively. The highs typically lag a few hours behind the daily maximum solar elevation, whereas the lows typically occur around sunrise.

Their article relates to the confusion that can result in interpreting weather forecasts when you don’t know what definition the forecaster uses for the term he employs. They site “low” as an example, one that I have previously mentioned. In checking with five media outlets they found that two of them use the term to mean the low temperature during the 24 hour period between midnight on one day and midnight on the next. The remaining three ourlets use it to imply the “overnight low” which roughly menas the low temperature between sunset on one day and sunrise on the succeeding day.

I don’t know which definition of low the NWS uses in their short and long term forecasts.

To depict the relationship I graphed the Central Park hourly climate data for sunrise Friday through sunrise today.

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Spaceflight Now reported today that NASA has fixed 14Nov08 as the target launch date for STS-126.

The HST Servicing mission will probably not occur before February with Discovery serving as the on deman launch rescue craft for Atlantis. This will delay the 12Feb09 launch of Discovery for a "high priority" mission to ISS. There is a possibility that the HST mission will be delayed to May09. Atlantis will be moved back to the VAB then Endeavour will be moved from Pad 39B to Pad 39A. There is no word of what trickle down effect beyond STS-119 this delay may cause, nor is there any information on why Endeavour needs to be moved from Pad 39B to Pad 39A which they were scurrying to get repaired so they could launch Atlantis.

Expedition 18 is still on schedule to launch to ISS from Russia early next Sunday morning, 12Oct08.

Date	Time EST	Event
12Oct08	0301	Soyus TMA-13 Launch of Expedition 18 to ISS
20Oct08		Atlantis moved from Pad 39A to VAB
21-22Oct08		STS-126 Flight Readiness Review
23Oct08	2020	Soyux TMA-12 Undocks from ISS with Expedition 17
	2346	Soyus TMA-12 lands in Kazakhstan
25Oct09		Endeavour moved from Pad 39B to Pad 39A
29Oct08		STS-126 Countdown Dress Rehearsal
30Oct08		STS-126 Executive Review
11Nov08		STS-126 Launch Countdown Begins
14Nov08	1955	STS-126 Launch
16Nov08	1710	STS-126 Docks with ISS
18Nov08		STS-126 Spacewalk
20Nov08		STS-126 Spacewalk
22Nov08		STS-126 Spacewalk
24Nov08		STS-126 Spacewalk
27Nov08	1049	STS-126 Undocks from ISS
29Nob08	1418	STS-126 Lands at KSC
Feb09 ?		STS-119 HST Servicing Mission
?		STS-127 ISS Mission

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I saw a guy at the library today who had on a brand new lime green T-shirt with Lincoln Stargazer across the chest. I didn't catch what was on the back. He got out of the library before I had a chance to talk to him. It looked like he was early college-age. I should have been wearing my TeleVue cap. Maybe we would have connected.

4 October 2008

Observing Location	VP
Observational Period	0815-0830 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 49° F Wind Calm Humidity High Barometric Pressure 30.21" Hg Rising Feels Like Cool It diesn’t feel either as cool or as moist as the statistics indicate. 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 20081004.0815 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.00 AU 8m 19s Angular Size 32' 2.1" Altitude 14.0° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 6.53° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 256.88° Parallactic Angle (P) 26.17° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2075 Nothing Seen There was a pore in the SE quadrant of the SOHO images yesterday but it has disappeared by now.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

2 October 2008

Observing Location	CT
Observational Period	1000-1015 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 56° F Wind Gentle Breeze gusting to Strong Breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 29.65" Hg Rising Feels Like Mild but Blustery The temperature doesn’t feel bad but the wind is making it feel cooler than it is even though there is no official wind chill effect when the temperature is this high. The clouds are long stripes of cumulous that are moving quickly so I didn’t have to wair long for the sun to become visible. Transparency Good Seeing II
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 20081002.1000EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.00 AU 8m 19s Angular Size 32' 1.0" Altitude 32.1° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 6.63° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 282.31° Parallactic Angle (P) 26.08° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2075 Nothing seen Yesterday Space Weather indicated that the “proto-sunspots” of Tuesday had dissipated leaving a featureless disk.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)