30 April 2010

Observing Location	TotL Tonight the infield sprinklers came on and not the outfield sprinklers. They came on around 2330 EDT and were still on when we left the par at 0100 EDT. Why dies the dirt need more water than the grass? Do they want it to grow more since they don’t have to mow that part of the Lawn?
Observational Period	2045-0100 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 65° F Wind Calm gusting to Light Breeze Wind Chill Effect Heat Index ° F Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 29.78" Hg Steady (3) KNYC METAR 010051Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 18/08 A2980 RMK AO2 SLP084 T01830078 Feels Like Cool Transparency Good I felt the sky looked murky and that I was not seeing as many stars in the binocular as I would on a clear night but there was no visible cloud. There was a lot of diffuse glow coming out of the south skyline. Seeing II-III
Instruments	West Marine Raiatea 7x50 binocular on Benro MP-98M8 Monopod - 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 Tol Clabough

Tonight was my first night observing with my Benro monopod. It takes the up and down shake out of the binocular but there is side to side sway and rotational movement. It helps and propping the leg against something solid will help even further. Even at the full 77” extension I can’t look high into the sky like I wanted and am going to have to put a single-axis head on it. I found that when I wanted to look up I got a steadier view than just hand-held binoculars if I collapsed the monopod and held the binocular in one hand and the monopod in the other down near the tip. We used it looking at the Moon at the end of the night and I was able to see more detail than I can see hand holding the binocular. Peter thought the Moon views were very good with his Nikon binocular on it.

I had thought about trying to get a simple wooden ball that I could mount on top of the monopod so it could be used as a cane when my knee is bothering me and tried using it in that manner on the way up to TotL but it isn’t going to work. I think there is too much swing weight and I am only able to get it out to match my footfall about every 2 ½ steps.

I have been to the eye doctor and tonight is also the first night with my new windshields. My prescription has gotten a little stronger and they found some astigmatism that hasn’t previously been noted or at least not mentioned to me or corrected for. I am seeing more clearly now but tonight was not a night to test them out against Peter. I was able to see Alcor but not Pherkad minot.

Target Venus Constellation Tau Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430.2050 EDT Object Class Classical Planet Phase Gibbous Elongation 26.55° E % Illuminated 89.0% Distance Light Time (from Earth) 1.46 AU 12m 09s Distance (from Sun) 0.719 AU Angular Size 11.5" Magnitude -3.9 Altitude 12.73° Stellarium graphic Comments When I arrived at The Great Lawn I could see something very bright near the apartment building along CPW that has the three towers where we watch for the crescent Moons and knew it must be Saturn. After dropping my gear off at TotL I moved over to the benches at the NE corner of the lawn to get a look at it before it set into the buildings. It was very bright and flared in the binocular. I could not detect any phase. There were some stars nearby to the left that turned out to be the Hyades but there weren’t enough of them visible for me to identify them in the binocular and if I saw Aldeberan I didn’t notice any color to it. M45 had already gone behind the buildings. Stellarium graphic

Target Saturn Constellation Vir Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430.2100 EDT Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 137.92° E Distance Light Time (from Earth) 8.74 AU 1h 13m Distance (from Sun) 9.51 AU Angular Size 18.9"x16.9" Ring Angular Size 42.9"x1.45" Ring Inclination -1.94 ° Magnitude 0.8 Altitude 48.12° Cartes du Ciel graphic Comments There are reports on the internet of a huge storm on Saturn that both professional and armature astronomers have been observing. I looked for it but didn’t see any planetary detail. I don’t know what its longitude is, how fast Saturn is rotating or what its central meridian was at the time when we were observing. But from the looks of the image below I think it will just be luck if I do eventually see it. NASA graphic I could see two moons on each side of the planet. A thin band of ring shadow was visible on the planet above (scope view) the tings. A woman stopped to look later in the night and kept referring to the rings as Saturns “orbit things.”

Target Mars Constellation Cnc Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430.2105 EDT Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 91.95° Distance Light Time (from Earth) 1.29 AU 10m 42s Distance (from Sun) 1.66 AU Angular Size 7.27" Magnitude 0.7 Central Meridian 302 ° Altitude 59.18° Meridian graphic Comments Mars has gotten a lot farther away from M44 than it was last Friday and now the two objects are on the field stops of my 6.5D°: FoV. Peter and I both saw a comma-shaped dark mark at the top of the planet’s disk that we thought was surface detail and matched what was showing in Mars Map on the Palm, but now that I see the same thing in the accompanying Meridian graphic, although rotated east more than what we observed, I realize that the telescope image was flipped both north-south and mirror-reversed east-west and what we were seeing was on the southern hemisphere so does not match up with the Meridian graphic. Peter mentioned suspecting a smudge on an eyepiece but said what he sees doesn’t move when they eyepiece is rotated so was wondering it it was something on the mirror. We looked down at the mirror which has a coating of dust and a few larger specks but nothing that should cause a stripe to appear in the eyepiece. In any case I am wondering if what we saw was this artifact.

Target Unknown Satellite Constellation UMa Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430.2115 EDT Comments At about 2115 EDT someone saw a satellite. I picked it up as it was crossing the bowl of the Big Dipper tracking S-N. It was almost as bright as the bowl stars. I checked in CalSky and can’t find a likely candidate for it. All of the satellites (spent rocket casings) around that time were on S-N trajectories.

Target ISS Visible Pass Constellation Cep ? Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430.2136 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 2136:35 EDT 2131:21 EDT 2141:54 EDT Alt. horizon 64.4° horizon Az. 260.4° W 325.5° NW 52.2° NE Mag 0.7 -3.7 -0.7 Comments Everyone was looking for this in the W. Tom asked if I saw it and as I turned back to where I was looking I saw it coming from behind the trees as it passed through N. After locating it I went back to my own observations. It was bright and low down to the trees above the chimney of the park maintenance building north of the North Fields.

Target NGC 2903 Constellation Leo Category DSO: SpGal Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430.2140 EDT Magnitude 9 Surface Brightness 13/sq' Size 10' Shape Elongated Difficulty (2) Distance 25 Mly Location Catres du Ciel graphic References Deep Sky Observer’s Guide: 45, 60 Stars and Planets: 252 Binocular Highlights: 46 The Observer’s Sky Atlas: E11 Comments The comment in Planetarium is "conspicuous spiral" while Karkoshca says it needs at least a 75mm guide scope and is more difficult because of low surface brightness. Bone says One of Leo’s brighter galaxies, NGC 2903 is perhaps a surprising omission from Messier’s catalog, being prominent in small telescopes. NGC 2903 is easy to find, just west of the Sickle of Leo. The mag. +4.3 star γ Leo is the best guide: just south of γ are a couple of 7th-magnitude stars aligned roughly E–W, and NGC 2903 is 22’ south of the more easterly of the two. I find this galaxy prominent in my 80mm f/5 refractor at X40. The galaxy appears elongated NE-SW, with a slightly brighter nuclear region offset somewhat to the south. Visually, NGC 2903 has a long axis of about 8’. Larger telescopes show mottling: there are prominent H II regions. This Sh spiral galaxy is 25 million light years away and was discobered by William Herschel in 1784. My note is that I may have seen it or I may have seen a nearby star. I definitely saw something in the right place that I didn’t think resolved but Peter thought it was a star. There is a star where I was looking in Pleiad Atlas and the galaxy is shown off to the side of what I saw and very large. For all of its conspicuousness I am not sure that either Peter or I saw it. Interestingly I saw a line of faint stars marching off the the left that Peter didn’t find until he had been in the eyepiece for a while. And he almost always sees deeper than I do. I wasn’t using the new windshields so don’t know what to attribute this to.

Since we hadn’t found this easy galaxy peter decided that it was probably a better night to look at globular clusters.

Target M3, NGC 5272 Constellation B00 Category DSO: GCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430.2203 EDT Magnitude 6.5 Surface Brightness 11/sq' Size 10' Shape Circular Difficulty 5 Distance 35,000 ly Location Where is M13 graphic Catres du Ciel graphic References Deep Sky Observer’s Guide: 81-82 Stars and Planets: 159, 162, 190, 192, 256 Binocular Highlights: The Observer’s Sky Atlas: E15 Comments Easy (in the telescope) Bright and extended. Brightness of core falls off to a thin mist quickly, It looked like a big, circular, fuzzy dust bunny. I tried finding it in my binocular without success.

I branched out on my own a bit with my binocular and Binocular Highlights. The monopod is no mach though for a tripod with a Bogen 410 head. It is nice being able to look away from the eyepieces to refer to star charts and go back to the eyepieces and the binoculars are still pointed where they were (allowing for earth rotation). I just can’t justify spending $100+ for a tripod and $200+ for the geared head to support a $50 binocular.

Target ρ Cnc Constellation Cnc Category Double Star Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430.2230 EDT Magnitude 6.0/6.3 Color 0.9/1.5 Separation 273" P.A. 5:00 Difficulty 5 Location Catres du Ciel graphic References Deep Sky Observer’s Guide: 44 Stars and Planets: 53 Observer’s Handbook 2010: Binocular Highlights: 44 The Observer’s Sky Atlas: Comments Easy, a wide double, fairly equal There is a ρ1 Cnc and a ρ2 Cnc which are 47’ apart and sounds like a double but the actual ρ Cnc double is ρ1 Cnc.

Target ι Cnc, 48 Cnc Constellation Category Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 2010 EDT Magnitude 4.0/6/5 Color orange/green, 1.0/0.1 Separation 30.5" P.A. 2:00 Difficulty 2 Location see &rho Cnc chart above References Deep Sky Observer’s Guide: Stars and Planets: 252, 253 Observer’s Handbook 2010: Binocular Highlights: 44 The Observer’s Sky Atlas: E9 Comments I didn make a note of it and don’t have a recollection of it so don’t think I saw this as a double star.

Target δ Boo Constellation Boo Category Double Star Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430. EDT Magnitude 3.5/7.8 Color 1.0/0.6 Separation 104.9" P.A. 10:00 Difficulty 3 Location Catres du Ciel graphic References Binocular Highlights: 42 Stars and Planets Chart 16 The Observer’s Sky Atlas: N14 Comments The left corner of the Kite. I think I saw this as a double but I wasn’t making notes so can’t be suer.

Target μ Boo Constellation Category Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 2010 EDT Magnitude 4.3/6.5(7.0/7.6) Color 0.3/0.6(0.6/0.6) Separation 108.8" (2.1”) P.A. 6:30 (12:00) Difficulty 4 (1) Location see &delta Boo entry References Stars and Planets: Chart 16 Binocular Highlights: 42 The Observer’s Sky Atlas: N14 Comments Above the line between the left corner and the top of the Kite. About half way between δ Boo and the ν Boo double. I think I detected it as a double but did not split it. The secondary star is itself a binary star system

Target &nu Boo Constellation Boo Category Double Star Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430. EDT Magnitude Color Separation " P.A.   Difficulty   Location see δ Boo entry References Stars and Planets: Chart 16 Binocular Highlights: 42 Comments A very wide double. Not listed by Karkoschka. I get the feeling he doesn’t think these very wide doubles are worth looking at.

Target Iridium 42 Flare Constellation Cyg Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430.2243 EDT   Heavens Above CalSky Time EDT 2243:49 EDT Alt. ° 11.3° NE Az. ° 41.5° Mag. -3.9 Surface   MMA1 Comments This flare was bright and in the center of it there was an instant when the brightness increased and dropped again to the former brightness before it faded entirely.

Target Engagement Ring Constellation UMi Category Asterism Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430 EDT Comments A saw a few more stars up there tonight than I had seen last week when I tried to observe this asterism from Columbia Univerisity, but still not enough to say I saw the ring.

Target R CrB Constellation CrB Category Variable Star Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430 EDT Location Cartes du Ciel graphic Comments I looked but wasn’t able to find the star. I attribute this more to poor transparency than to the possibility that the star has suddenly dimmed below the light grasp of by binodular.

Target Melotte 111, Coma Cluster Constellation Com Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430 EDT Magnitude 2.5 Surface Brightness 13/sq' Size 300' Shape circular Difficulty (6) Distance 290 ly Location Catres du Ciel graphic References Deep Sky Observer’s Guide: 256 Stars and Planets: Binocular Highlights: 41 The Observer’s Sky Atlas: E13 Comments Peter thought I should be able to see Mel 111 and it was in Binocular Highlights so I gave it a try. I couldn’t even be sure where Com was. I didn’t feel too bad about it because later when Peter tried for the cluster in the scope he couldn’t find it either.

Target Regulus Constellation Leo Category Double Star Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430 EDT The Observer’s Sky Atlas: E11 Magnitude Color Separation " References Stars and Planets: 286 Binocular Highlights: 47 Location Catres du Ciel graphic Comments I was on what I thought was Regulus but was looking out over the glare from Times Square and things were washed out. I didn’t see a double but with the secondary being faint and Regulus being of the 1st magnitude It would be difficult to spot anyway.

Target τ Leo 84 Leo Constellation Leo Category Double Star Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430 EDT Magnitude 5.0/7.5 Color Separation 89" P.A.   Difficulty   Location Catres du Ciel graphic References Stars and Planets: Chart 27 Binocular Highlights: 47 Comments The sky was muddy enough I wasn’t sure where I was going so never found the star.

Target Moon Constellation Sco Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100430.0001 EDT Lunation 1080 Phase Waning Gibbous Age 16d 15h 31m Distance Light Time (from earth) 385,097 km 1.28s Elongation 146.59° W % Illuminated 91.7% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 117.69° Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 297.69° Libration in Latitude 4° 01' Libration in Longitude 6° 05' Magnitude -11.8 Angular Size 31' 04" Altitude 10.11° Virtual Moon Atlas graphic Cartes du Ciel graphic Terminator In Sunlight Feature In Shadow <<< Endymion   <<< Mare Crisium >>> <<< Langrenus >>> <<< Petavius >>> Comments As the Moon rose it was a nice honey color, appropriate since one of the names for the Full Moon of four days ago is the Honey Moon. As it rose higher it turned silver and gray. There was some glow in the atmosphere around the Moon but no defined ring so whatever atmosphere is up there it probably isn’t ice crystals. We did some naked eye observing and could see the head and ears of the Rabbit, Sinus Aestuum/Mare Vaporum/Sinus Medii and Mare Humorum and Aristarchus, Copernicus and Kepler. In the binocular the eastern and western margins of Mare Imbrium looked much straighter than usual. I could see the Montes Alpes, Montes Carpatus and Montes Apenninus as a white bulging margin framing the mare plain. The east, north and west edges of Mare Serenitatis look straight with a bulding southern margin. The Mare wears a dunce’s cap. Tycho’s rays are still bisible. Palus Somni is subdued.

It doesn’t seem like we actually saw a lot last night but it took forever to write about it.

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Sunspots Observed

I got out a few times this month with my binocular but never saw anything. I have been checking the SOHO image on clear days and it it isn't showing anything or if what it is showing is small I don't even bother going out.

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
TOTAL	11.25	12	0.94	41.25	25	1.65	52.50	34	1.54

23 April 2010

Observing Location	CU
Observational Period	2100-2200 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 62° F Wind Gentle Breeze gusting to Moderate Breeze Wind Chill Effect Heat Index ° F Humidity Low Barometric Pressure 29.94" Hg Rising (2) KNYC METAR 240051Z AUTO 30009G15KT 260V350 10SM CLR 17/M04 A2997 RMK AO2 SLP138 T01671039 Feels Like Chilly Transparency Fair Seeing II-III
Instruments	West Marine Raiatea 7x50 binocular - Charlie 6” Dobsonian – Columbia ~8” Cassiagrain – Columbia I didn’t check to see which type of Cassiagrain telescope this was 14” Cassiagrain – Columbia I asked the post-doc who was taking questions while people waited to get to the scope what kind of Cassiagrain telescope it was and he said he was a radio astronomer and didn’t know scopes. When I got to the scope I asked the doctoral candidate who was running it what it was and she didn’t know either.
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Tom Clabough Columbia astronomy students public

I attended an astronomy lecture entitled The Physics of History at Columbia tonight. The talk was about how we can use subatomic particles as datestamps for historic events that are captured in geology (KT extinction), biology (dendrochronology) and astronomy (Big Bang). After the event there was public observing on the roof.

Target Moon Constellation Leo Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100423.2100 EDT Lunation 1089 Phase Waxing Gibbous Age 9d12h30m Distance Light Time (from earth) 362,983 km 1.21s Elongation 120.10° E % Illuminated 75.1% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 30.94° Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 210.94° Libration in Latitude 5° 37’ Libration in Longitude -00° 39’ Magnitude -11.2 Angular Size 33' 03" Altitude 55.13° Virtual Moon Atlas graphic Comments I first observed the Moon in the 6” Dobsonian out on the roof and was able to walk it up and down the terminator but since there was a line of people waiting to get to the scope I couldn’t spend a lot of time looking at anything. I did notice some apparent rinkle ridges in the floor of Mare Imbrium just south of Promontorium Lunar Astronautical Chart Toward the end of the night I got a chance to see Mare Imbrium filling the field of view of the 14” Cassiagrain scope. I was not permitted to focus the scope so my view wasn’t good even with my new glasses. I could not find the ridges I saw in the smaller scope but did see two faint young craters (Helicon and Le Verrier)out in the middle of the Imbrium plain. USGS Geologic Lunar Atlas Helcion Statistics Quadrant NW Area NW part of Mare Imbrium Long. 231.1° W Lat. 40.4° N Diameter/Length 26 km Depth 1,910 m Age (Baldwin) (Imbrian period - from 3.2 Bya to present) Best Observed 2 days after First Quarter, 1 day after Last Quarter Description Circular Formation. Forms a remarkable couple with Le Verrier. Few steep slopes supporting the craterlet Helcion E to the West. Few high walls supporting a craterlet to the SW. Flat floor filled with lava. Small central relief References Lunar Aeronautical Chart (LAC) LAC-24 USGS Geologic Lunar Atlas I-602 Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap (LTO) Atlas of the Moon (Rukl) 10 Amateur Astronomer’s Photographic Lunar Atlas (Hartfield) 6 e4 Exploring the Moon Tryough Binoculars and Small Telescopes (Cherrington) 177, 197 III USGS Geologic Moon Atlas graphic Le Verrier Statistics Quadrant NW Area Central part of Mare Imbrium Long. 20.6° W Lat. 40.3° N; Diameter/Length 20 km Depth 2,100 m Age (Baldwin) Erastosthenian period (3.2 Bya to1.1 Bya) Best Observed 2 days after First Quarter or 1 day after Last Quarter Description Circular formation. Forms a remarkable couple with Helcion. Pretty steep slopes supporting Le Verrier T to the S. Pretty high walls damaged to the N. Flat floor. Line or crest. Small mountain. References Lunar Aeronautical Chart (LAC) LAC-24 USGS Geologic Lunar Atlas Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap (LTO) Atlas of the Moon (Rukl) 11 Amateur Astronomer’s Photographic Lunar Atlas (Hartfield) 6 d4 Exploring the Moon Tryough Binoculars and Small Telescopes (Cherrington) 177, 199 Moon Observer’s Guide (Grego) 106, 132

Target Engagement Ring Constellation CMi Category Asterism Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100423.2110 EDT Location Catres du Ciel graphic References Binocular Highlights: 34 Comments I looked with the hand-held binocular but didn’t see anything. Binocular Highlights says “Depending on your sky conditions, just about any size binoculars should show this grouping.” My sky looked murky.

Target Saturn Constellation Leo Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100424.2125 EDT Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 145.05° E Distance Light Time (from Earth) 8.67 AU 1h 12m Distance (from Sun) 9.51 AU Angular Size 19.1"x17" Ring Angular Size 43.3"x1.58" Ring Inclination -2.10° Magnitude 0.8 Altitude 47.62° Stellarium graphic Comments I observed the planet in the small Cassiagrain telescope in the small dome. I was able to focus the scope so got a good view and saw Titan off to the right and a very faint moon to the left probably about 5 ring diameters away.

Target Mars Constellation Cnc Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100423.2150 EDT Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 96.02° E Distance Light Time (from Earth) 1.22 AU 10m 10s Distance (from Sun) 1.66 AU Angular Size 7.65" Magnitude 0.6 Central Meridian 13° Altitude 59.36° Meridian graphic Comments We observed Mars in the 6” Dobsonian and it just looked like an orangs circle. I was not able to see any surface markings on it. In the binocular it looked very nice sitting in a squashed square with δ Cnc, γ Cnc and M44. They probably filled 2/3 of my 6.5° FoV. Catres du Ciel graphic

Target M44, Beehive Cluster, Praesape, NGC 2632 Constellation Cnc Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100423.2155 EDT Magnitude 3.5 Surface Brightness 13/sq’ Size 80’ Shape nearly circular Difficulty (6) Distance 580 ly Location Where is M13 graphic References Deep Sky Observer’s Guide: 111, 113, 117-118, 140, 175 Stars and Planets: 190, 192, 252, 284 Binocular Highlights: 45 The Observer’s Sky Atlas: E8 Comments The rest of the public had gone and the woman driving the 6” Dob was looking for targets so I suggested M44 since we were in the neighborhood anyway. The cluster didn’t look anything like what I am used to seeing and we had to find it twice to be sure of it. All of the stars are a uniform blue-white color and of fairly equal brightness. There might have been an underlying ground glass impression behind the bright stars but if there was it was just below my limits of vision.

Target M81 Constellation CMa Category DSO: Gal Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100423.2200 EDT Magnitude 7 Surface Brightness 12/sq’ Size 18’ Shape elongated Difficulty 4 Distance 12 M ly Location Where is M13 graphic Stellarium graphic References Deep Sky Observer’s Guide: 22, 56-57, 71, 171, 178 Stars and Planets: 175, 190, 193, 234 Binocular Highlights: 35 The Observer’s Sky Atlas: N8 Comments This was the last object for the night in the 6” Dob. We were in the general area of it with a low power eyepiece but I don’t know the star field so couldn’t pick anything out.

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Observing Location	TotL Tonight is the first night we have had to contend with the sprinklers this year. The ones along the fence inside the oval don’t look like they will be as much problem this year as in the past as they don’t hit the fence when aimed at TotL. They came on at 2340 EDT,which is 20 minutes earlier than last year, and shut down at 0005 EDT. There is one sprinkler in the North Fields that could be problematic with a stiff north wind and the closest Oval heads could pose problems on any south wind.
Observational Period	2230-2430 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Isolated Clouds Temperature 58° F Wind Calm Wind Chill Effect Heat Index ° F Humidity Low Barometric Pressure 29.98" Hg Rising (2) KNYC METAR 240251Z AUTO VRB04KT 10SM CLR 14/M05 A3000 RMK AO2 SLP150 T01441050 51023 Feels Like Cool Transparency Fair Seeing II
Instruments	West Marine Raiatea 7x50 binocular - 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 Tom Clabough

Target Saturn Constellation Leo Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100423.2240 EDT Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 144.97° E Distance Light Time (from Earth) 8.67 AU 1 h 12m Distance (from Sun) 9.51 AU Angular Size 19.1"x17" Ring Angular Size 43.3"x1.58" Ring Inclination -2.09° Magnitude 0.8 Altitude 50.19° Stellarium graphic Comments The view in the TelePort was much better than that through the ~8” Cassiagrain scope in the small dome at Columbia. I could see four moons around the planet. There was a thin stripe of shadow separating the rings from the planet.

Target Moon Constellation Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100423.2345 EDT Lunation 1090 Phase Waxing Gibbous Age 9d 15h 15m Distance Light Time (from earth) 364,499 km s Elongation 121.63° E % Illuminated 76.2% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 32.33° Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 212.33° Libration in Latitude 5° 56’ Libration in Longitude -00° 54’ Magnitude -11.3 Angular Size 32' 57" Altitude 40.28° Virtual Moon Atlas graphic Comments I stole a quick look and got an eyeful of Clavius. The overall brightness in the FoV was very comfortable. There is a string of craters arcing across the floor of the plain, each one a bit smaller than its predecessor. Virtual Moon Atlas graphic Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon Lunar Astronautical Atlas graphic USGS Geologic Moon Atlas graphic Crater Diameter Rutherfurd 56 km Clavius D 26 lm Clavius C 21 km Clavius N 13 km Clavius J 12 km Just beneath Clavius N is a Catina composed of three overlapping craters which I did not see. Statistics Quadrant SW Area South limb Long. 12.4° W Lat. 58.8° S Diameter/Length 28 km Depth   Age (Baldwin) 2 Best Observed 1 day after First Quarter or Last Quarter References Lunar Aeronautical Chart (LAC) LAC-125, LAC-125 USGS Geologic Lunar Atlas I-706, I691 Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap (LTO) Atlas of the Moon (Rukl) 72 Amateur Astronomer’s Photographic Lunar Atlas (Hartfield) 10 d3, 12 a2, 14 g3, 14 h3 Exploring the Moon Through Binoculars and Small Telescopes (Cherrington) 6, 20, 40, 41, 108, 112, 173, 175, 177. 195, III

Target M81, Bodes Galazy (Nebula), NGC 3031 & M82, Cigar Galaxy, NGC 3034 Constellation UMa Category DSO: Gal Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100423. EDT   M81 M82 Magnitude 37 8.5 Surface Brightness 12/sq’ 12/sq’ Size 18’ 10’ Shape elongated ellipse Difficulty 4 3 Distance 13 Mly 13 Mly Location Where is M13 graphicWhere is M13 graphic Stellarium graphic References Deep Sky Observer’s Guide: 22, 56-57, 71, 171, 178 Stars and Planets: 175, 190, 193, 234 Binocular Highlights: 35 The Observer’s Sky Atlas: N8 Comments M81 was easier tonight than it was the last time we looked at it in Peters 6” refractor but still not an easy object. I don’t hold out much hope of seeing it in my binocular despite what Binocular Highlights says about it (M81 seen in 10x50 binocular easily while M82 only seen intermittently). Karkoschka says M81 id doable in a finder scope (6x30) and M82 needs binoculars (12x50). I don’t think I even detected M82 in the 10” TelePort. First Hop Cartes du Ciel graphic Second Hop Cartes du Ciel graphic Last Hop The Observer's Sky Atlas graphic

22 April 2010

Today is the 40^th anniversary of Earth Day.

16 April 2010

STS-131 will undock from ISS tomorrow morning and is scheduled to land at KSC on Monday morning, 2^d 0^h 1^m later. Between those events there will be a few early morning supposedly visible passes when they might be viewed flying close together. But the passes are all low on the horizon and flat and our weather is not supposed to be great over the period. In fact our weather is supposed to be pretty bad. So it isn't worth getting out of bed for them.

14 April 2010

12 April 2010

Tonight is Yuri's Night, the 45^th anniversary of the beginning of the manned space age

10 April 2010

Galaxy Song Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour, That's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned, A sun that is the source of all our power. The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see Are moving at a million miles a day In an outer spiral arm, at forty thousand miles an hour, Of the galaxy we call the 'Milky Way'. Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars. It's a hundred thousand light years side to side. It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick, But out by us, it's just three thousand light years wide. We're thirty thousand light years from galactic central point. We go 'round every two hundred million years, And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions In this amazing and expanding universe. The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding In all of the directions it can whizz As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know, Twelve million miles a minute, and that's the fastest speed there is. So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure, How amazingly unlikely is your birth, And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space, 'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth. from The Meaning of Lift Monty Python

International Dark Skies Week
4-10 April 2010

Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2000-2400 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 59° F Wind Light Breeze gusting to Moderate Breeze Wind Chill Effect Heat Index ° F Humidity Low Barometric Pressure 30.20" Hg Rising (3) KNYC METAR 102351Z AUTO VRB06KT 10SM CLR 14/M04 A3023 RMK AO2 SLP227 T01441039 10167 20133 53008 Feels Like Cold Transparency Good Seeing IV due to scope shake
Instruments	West Marine Raiatea 7x50 binocular w/Baader AstroSolar filter film- Charlie Takahashi 102mm F/8.2 refractor - Peter 1.5" TeleVue Plossl 32mm, ##° FoV, 31.8x 1.25" TV Nagler 13mm, 82° FoV, 97.7x 1.25" TV Plossl 7mm, 82° FoV, 181.4x
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac

Stellarium graphic

Peter emailed this evening saying that he would be at either TotL or TPO so I headed up after dinner. I stopped very briefly at DR to look for Mercury but didn’t see anything in the late twilight that was bright enough that I would judge it to be a planet.

When I got to Bethesda Fountain I noticed that it was very dark around the fountain itself and observed that there are no street lights anywhere around the plaza. Thinking this would be a good observing location I went out to the lake where I thought it would be the darkest and afford the most unobstructed sky. Unfortunately there is a string of spotlights mounted under the deck of the Boathouse Restaurant that shine out across the surface of the water and are very troublesome any time you are looking north.

I continued on to TPO and stopped there. I scanned TotL from the police call box to the east to the dormitory tree to the West and didn’t see Peter so stayed there and did some observing waiting for Peter to arrive at TPO or TotL. From TPO I identified without reference to Planetarium, the following constellations and asterisms:

• entire Big Dipper and one Leap of the Gazzel (UMa)
• Polaris, Kochab and Pherkad (UMi)
• Arcturis and Izar (Boo)
• Alpheca (CrB)
• all of Leo but the Sickle
• Saturn
• Castor and Pollux (Gem)
• Mars
• Procyon and Gomesia (CMi)
• Sirius and most of the dog’s body (CMa)
• the major stars of Orion but not the Sword
• Arcturus through the trees
• Aur

  Naked-eye I could not tell if ε Aur was as bright as ζ Aur or not. In the binoculars they appeared to me to be equal in brightness

I scanned TotL and found Peter setting up there so proceeded up to meet him. On arriving there at 2030 EDT I found that he had been set up at TotL East for a couple of hours and had observed Mercury in crescent phase until it set into the trees around 2020 EDT.

The wind seemed to be a lot brisker at TotL than it was at TPO. I don't know if it was the difference in time or because the hill south of Turtle Pond was sheltering TPO from most of the wind. Whatever the case it was shaking the telescope and making observing difficult not to mention that it felt cold.

Target Saturn Constellation Vir Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100410.2030 EDT Comments Titan was obvious out to the right a good ways. Rhea was faint and off to the left about a ring diameter from the edge of the rings. There was a slight line of ring shadow separating the rings from the planet’s disk. Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 158.58° E Distance Light Time (from Earth) 8.57 AU 1 h 11m Distance (from Sun) 9.51 AU Angular Size 19.3"x17.2" Ring Angular Size 43.8"x1.88" Ring Inclination -2.47° Magnitude 0.7 Altitude 32.19° Stellarium graphic

While looking up at Saturn I saw a very fast bright white meteor streak across the sky N to S. I checked Planetarium and the only stream active tonight is the Virginids and this could not have been one of them. Later in the night I thought I saw a faint streak of light go behind the tree by the police call box heading S to N. This was likely a Virginid. Peter also saw a meteor heading on a similar trajectory.

Target Satellite Constellation Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100410.2130 EDT Comments Around about 2130 EDT Peter picked up a satellite that flared multiple times as it tracked S to N across most of the sky. By the time I saw it it was near UMa/UMi and was no longer flashing. Peter called out at least three flashes and I have never seen an Iridium listed for more than two flashes. It was also too late for an Iridium unless it was a tumbling iridium but they seem to be fairly faint objects. I checked my list of upcoming Tumbling Iridiums from CalSky and there were none listed close to that timeframe and the ones listed were all in the mag.6-10 range so definitely not naked-eye objects. It was probably a spent Meteor 3M rocket which was in UMa about that time at mag. 3.3.

Target Mars Constellation Cnc Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100410. EDT Comments Someone wanted to see Mars so Peter got it in the scope and thought he saw a central darkening but when he checkeed Mars Map there was nothing indicated. I could see what he was seeing but it was not constant and I couldn’t decide it if was something that was really there or an artifact of seeing. Stellarium graphic Meridian graphic Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 104.30° E Distance Light Time (from Earth) 1.10 AU 9m 11s Distance (from Sun) 1.66 AU Angular Size 8.47" Magnitude 0.4 Central Meridian 147° Altitude 58.58°

Target M44, Praesepe, Beehive Cluster, NGC 2632 Constellation Cnc Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100410. EDT Mag. 3.5 Surface Brightness 13/sq’ Size 80’ Shape Circular to Triangular Difficulty 6 diffuse Distance580 ly Location Where is M13 graphics Stellarium graphic References Deep Sky Observer’s Guide: 111, 113, 117-118, 140, 175 Observers Sky Atlas: E9 Comments While we were in Cnc Peter dropped the scope on M44 which fills the eyepiece even at low power. I liked my binocular view much better even though the cluster was fainter because it gave it some context. Having seen the cluster before I didn’t focus the scope for my vision which was a mistake because I can’t say anything about star color differences or differences in brightness levels. All the stars looked like little comets to me.

Target Vesta Constellation Leo Category Asteroid Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100410.2210 EDT Mag. 7.0 Distance Light Time 1.67 AU 13m 56sec Distance from Sun 2.35 AU Elongation 120.26° E Location Stellarium graphic References Observer’s Handbook 2010: 241, 241 Comments Peter asked about other things we could look at and I noticed that Vesta was hanging off the tip of the Sickle of Leo so Peter found it and it was not very impressive. It looked just like 20 Leo which was right above it. Vesta is in the last half of a leisurely loop through the Sickle.

Target M81, NGC 3031 Constellation UMa Category DSO: Gal Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100410. EDT Magnitude 7 Surface Brightness 12/sq' Size 18' Shape Elongated Difficulty 6 Distance 13,000 ly Location Where is M13 graphic2 References Deep Sky Observer’s Guide: 22, 56-67, 71, 171, 178 The Observer’s Sky Atlas: N8 Comments This object is supposed to be easy to see and seen in binoculars but I only detected it and Peter said it was much fainter than it should have been. Since we didn’t see this “easy” object we didn’t try for the fainter ones nearby.

Target ε Boo, Izar Constellation Boo Category Double Star Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100410.2315 EDT Location Catres du Ciel graphic Magnitude 2.5/4.9 2.6/4.8 2.7.5.1 Color 1.1/0.1 Orange/Blue Yellow/Green Separation 2.9" 3 2,8 Visibility 1 References Deep Sky Observer’s Guide:144 Observer’s Handbook 2010: 290 Observer’sSky Atlas: E15 Comments Peter didn’t see anything but when I got to the scope I definitely say two stars separated by a thin black line with the secondary in the 11:00 position. I called them yellow and blue but don’t remember which star was which color. When Peter increased the magnification I could not see it as a double star. This double is described as Very Tight. Stellarium graphic