18 July 2010

I was supposed to have backed out some past observing reports this weekend. Unfortunately my laptop died during the week and we think it is beyond resuscitation. It was an old machine. I have a new, to me anyway, MacBook on order but it may not arrive until the end of the month. Then it is going to take a while to set it up. Some of my astronomy software is PC only so I am going to have to run a virtual machine and install Windows and the PC programs on it. I had been doing nightly backups of most of my data so I probably haven't lost much. But the back out I had started last weekend was saved to the desktop and that doesn't get backed up. And each time I entered the data into the blog template I deleted it from the Palm log so half of that nights Observations may have been lost forever.

11 July 2010

2 July 2010

Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2000-2330 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 74° F Wind Calm Wind Chill Effect Heat Index ° F Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.15" Hg Steady (4) KNYC METAR 022351Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 23/09 A3017 RMK AO2 SLP208 T02330089 10278 20233 55005 Feels Like Warm Transparency Very Good approaching excellent Seeing
Instruments	Naked-eye – Charlie Celestron Outland 8.42 binocular – Charlie Naked-eye - Peter
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac

The weather tonight was a lot worse than NOAA or any of my other weather resources had predicted. Peter had brought the TelePort but never bothered to set it up. We did a little naked-eye observing but mainly talked since it has been a couple of weeks since we have seen each other..

Target Venus Constellation Leo Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100702.2030 EDT Object Class Classical Planet Phase Waning Gibbous Elongation 40.57° % Illuminated 70.1% Distance Light Time (from Earth) 1.06 AU 8m 50s Distance (from Sun) 0.722 AU Angular Size 15.8" Magnitude -4.1 Altitude 25.42° Meridian graphic Comments Saw it naked-eye at 2030 EDT. I can’t detect any phase in the binocular. Later in the evening when Venus dropped into more atmosphere it lit up a ring of haze around it. This effect is very prohounced in the binocular but visible to the naked eye.

Target Arcturus Constellation Boo Category Star Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100702.2050 EDT Comments Arcturus was the next object to become visible.

Target Mars Constellation Leo Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100702.2050 EDT Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 63.09° Distance Light Time (from Earth) 1.81 AU 15m 2s Distance (from Sun) 1.62 AU Angular Size 5.18" Magnitude 1.4 Central Meridian 50 ° Altitude 31.63° Meridian graphic Comments Mars was next to appear, faint with a slight orange tinge.

Target Saturn Constellation Vir Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100702.2107 EDT Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 77.73° Distance Light Time (from Earth) 9.70 AU 1 h 21m Distance (from Sun) 9.53 AU Angular Size 17.1"x15.2" Ring Angular Size 38.7"x1.5" Ring Inclination -2.22° Magnitude 1.1 Altitude 35.5° Starry Night Starter graphic Comments Saturn was the last of the planets to be seen naked-eye. I thought I got an indication of rings in the binocular but it doesn’t seem to me that I should be seeing them in an 8x hand-held instrument.

Target Regulus Constellation Leo Category Star Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100702.2109 EDT Comments I located Regulus (mag 1.36) but had to use the binocular to do it.

Target Spica Constellation Vir Category Star Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100702.2117 EDT Comments Spica is now visible naked-eye.

1 July 2010

Observing Location	TotL & TPO
Observational Period	2000-2200 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 70° F Wind Calm gusting to Wind Chill Effect Heat Index ° F Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure " Hg KNYC METAR Feels Like Transparency Very GoodIt wasn't excellent but wasn't far from it.  There were a few clouds up there that occasionally got in the way. Seeing
Instruments	celestron Outland 8x42 binocular  - Charlie Naked-eye - Tom
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Tom Clabough

   < !-- VENUS -->

Target Venus Constellation Leo Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100701.2015 EDT    "    Object Class Classical Planet Phase 2Waning Gibbous Elongation 40.38° E % Illuminated 70.5% Distance Light Time (from Earth) 1.07 AU 8m 54s Distance (from Sun) 0.722 AU Angular Size Magnitude -4.1 Altitude 28.4° Meridian graphic Comments Venus was the first planet to become visible which was nor surprising since it is the brightest planet.  I was surprised at how easily I found it and recovered it naked eye before seeing it in the binocular.  Once the sky got dark it looked planetary even to the naked eye.  The binocular view doesn't give any hint of phase.

  < !-- MARS -->

Target Mars Constellation Leo Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100701.2056 EDT       Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 63.48° E Distance Light Time (from Earth) 1.80 AU 14m 58s Distance (from Sun) 1.62 AU Angular Size 5.2" Magnitude 1.4 Central Meridian 52° Altitude 38.19° Meridian graphic Comments Mars was the next planet to become visible which was surprising since it was not as bright as Saturn. Which was in a part of the sky where the contrast was a little better.  I estimated the offset from Venus based on the information in Planetarium and there, after a while, was a faint reddish dot which became planetary in the binocular.  Tracking back along the ecliptic with the binocular I located Regulus which did not become visible to the naked eye until 2101 EDT.

   

Target Saturn Constellation Vir Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100701.2100 EDT    Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 78.66° Distance Light Time (from Earth) 9.68 AU 1h 20m Distance (from Sun) 9.53 AU Angular Size 17.1"x15.3" Ring Angular Size 38.8"x1.48" Ring Inclination -2.19° Magnitude 1.1 Altitude 43.26° Starry Night Starter graphic Comments Saturn was the last of the planets to become visible.  I don't think I ever looked at it in the binocular.

Extending the line from Venus to Saturn it was my impression that Regulus and Mars were both slightly below the line.

Saturn	Mars	Regulus	Venus
Elongation	78.66° E	63.48° E	49.93° E	40.38° E
Azimuth	236.18°	255.19°	270.11°	280.41°
Ecliptic	above	slightly above	slightly above	above
Magnitude	1.1	1.4	1.36	-4.1
Seen NE	2100 EDT	2056 EDT	2101 EDT	2015 EDT

Target Iridium Flare Constellation Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 2010 EDT °   Heavens Above CalSky Time EDT EDT Alt. ° Az. ° Mag. Surface   Comments Not Seen neither Ton nor I have ever seen a daytime Iridium flare no matter how bright it's advertised brightness.

Target ISS Visible Pass Constellation Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 2010 EDT     Starts Max. Alt. Ends H A e b a o v v e e n   s   Time EDT EDT  EDT Alt. ° ° ° Az. Mag C a l S k y Time EDT EDT EDT Alt. ° ° ° Az. ° ° /td> ° Mag Comments I used the ISS Lite app to see where ISS was relative to NYC and the track looked right but the timing was way off. The graphic below shows the display when ISS first became visible at our location./td>

1 July 2010

30 June 2010

This month has not been a good astronomy month.

Sunspots Observed

My only solar observing this month was the Sun Triangle alignment on the June Solstice.

Observing Hours for the Year 2010

	Day			Night			Total
	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg
Jan	0.00	0	0.00	12.50	8	1.56	12.20	8	1.56
Feb	2.25	3	0.75	3.75	5	0.75	6.00	8	0.75
Mar	8.25	6	1.38	13.75	9	1.53	22.00	12	1.83
Apr	0.75	3	0.25	11.25	3	3.75	12.00	6	2.00
May	4.25	2	2.13	0.00	0	0.00	4.25	2	2.13
Jun	1.00	1	1.00	4.5	2	2.25	5.50	3	1.83
TOTAL	16.25	14	1.16	45.75	27	1.69	62.00	38	1.64

The one time I got out to see stars other than the Sun was an event that started before sunset and was logged as a daytime event although it was probably about half-and-half.

21 June 2010

Observing Location	McGraw-Hill Sun Triangle
Observational Period	1200-1300 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover isolated Clouds Temperature 84° F Wind Light Breeze Wind Chill Effect Heat Index 83° F Humidity 41% Barometric Pressure 30.01" Hg Steady (3) KNYC METAR 211551Z AUTO VRB05KT 10SM CLR 29/14 A3003 RMK AO2 SLP158 T02890144 Feels Like Hot Transparency Excellent Seeing
Instruments	Celestron 8x42 Outland binocular with 14 + 4 green welders glass - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

 

Target Solar Alignment Constellation Tau Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100621.1200 EDT         Distance Light Time 1.02 AU 8m 27s Angular Size 31' 29" Altitude 68.85° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 1.78° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 287.64° Parallactic Angle (P) -6.95° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2098 Comments I arrived early for the Sun alignment to take some measurements.  I has already checked my SoHo app and knew that there is a sunspot group in the NW quadrant of the Sun which is supposed to be growing rapidly but is probably still too small for me to see with my 8x hand held binocular but I gave it a try anyway.  I didn't see anything through just the welders glass so gave it a try with the glass Helsinki in front of the binocular.  I wasn't able to get ten sun into sharp focus.  I suspect that there are two many air/glass boundary transitions for this system to work well.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots) The Sun Triangle points to approximately 240° magnetic.  I tried laying my iPad and compass along the edge of the pedestal but, as I suspected there would be, there appears to be a ferrous framework within the Triangle that is sheathed in a shiny metallic skin and I can't get compass readings there. Planetarium says the Sun will be at azimuth 180° magnetic at 1241 EDT.  At 1242 EDT I measured it's azimuth to be about 186° magnetic. The alignment appeared to have occurred at about 1257 EDT but I can't be sure of that because one of the local Druids had to stand under the point of the Triangle where he was casting a shadow where the shadow of the Triangle's point should have been.  And he was not looking either up the edge of the Triangle or back at it's shadow.