31 May 2010

This month has not been a good astronomy month.

Sunspots Observed

I have checked on the Internet a few times this month to see if there were any sunspots up there big enough for me to see but there haven't been whenever I checked. I don't have a sense of how active the sun was this month and I only got out to look at it once all month and wasn't able to find the spots I knew were there that day.

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
TOTAL	15.50	14	1.11	41.25	25	1.65	56.75	36	1.58

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.

16 May 2010

Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	1830-2230 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 70° F Wind Liight Breeze Wind Chill Effect Heat Index ° F Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.07" Hg Steady (3) KNYC METAR 162251Z AUTO VRB05KT 10SM CLR 21/05 A3010 RMK AO2 SLP182 T02110050 Feels Like Mild Transparency Good Seeing II
Instruments	West Marine Raiatea 7x50 binocular - Charlie Celestron Outland 8x42 ginocular - Charlie Benro MP-98M8 monopod single axis head 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

It has taken me a week to get this observing session documented so I have forgotten a lot of the details.

The primary objective of the session tonight was to see the young Crescent Moon and Venus before sunset.

Stellarium Braphic

Target Moon Constellation Gem Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100516.1830 EDT Lunation Phase Waxing Crescent Age 2d 22h 35m Distance Light Time (from earth) 369,524 km 1.23s Elongation 37.44° E % Illuminated 10.3% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 310.99° Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 130.99° Libration in Latitude -0° 43' Libration in Longitude -4° 07' Magnitude -7.4 Angular Size 32' 24" Altitude 35.63° Virtual Moon Atlas graphic Comments We didn’t do as much intense lunar observing as we normally do but that was because the Moon set before it got dark and we had a lot of public interaction since we were set up before it got dark and people knew we were there. We did identify Mare Crisium, Langrenous, Petavius, Cleomedes and Endymion. As it started to get darker the earthshine on the Moon looked nice.

Target Venus Constellation Tau Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100516.1940 EDT Object Class Classical Planet Phase Gibbous Elongation 30.39° E % Illuminated 85.1% Distance Light Time (from Earth) 1.38 AU 11m 27s Distance (from Sun) 0.718 AU Angular Size 12.2" Magnitude -4.0 Altitude 30.90° Meridian graphic Comments I could not detect any phase in either of my binoculars but could see that part of the upper corner was missing when I observed it in Peter’s scope. It was a lot farther from the Moon than I was looking for it.

Target Saturn Constellation Vir Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100516 EDT Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 121.96° E Distance Light Time (from Earth) 8.94 AU 1 h 14m Distance (from Sun) 9.52 AU Angular Size 18.5"x16.5" Ring Angular Size 42"x1.26" Ring Inclination -1.72° Magnitude 0.9 Altitude 46.74° Starry Night Starter graphic Comments

Target Mars Constellation Leo Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100516. EDT Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 83.51° E Distance Light Time (from Earth) 1.43 AU m s Distance (from Sun) 1.65 AU Angular Size 6.55" Magnitude 0.9 Central Meridian 128 ° Altitude 63.28° Meridian graphic Comments

Target ISS Visible Pass Constellation Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100516.2021 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 2021:54 EDT 2026:52 EDT 2030:36 EDT Alt. horizon 86.5° 5.5° Az. 306.2° NW 36.5° NE/td> 126.4° SE Mag 4.7 -4.3 -1.7 Comments

Target Iridium 18 Flare Constellation Her Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100516.2204 EDT   Heavens Above CalSky Time EDT 2204:10 EDT Alt. ° 40.5° Az. ° 63.8° ENE Mag. -5.2 Surface   MAA1 Comments

13 May 2010

4 May 2010

Observing Location	BP
Observational Period	1400-1415 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Broken Big cumulus clouds have been moving through all afternoon causing alternate periods of bright sun and deep shade. It is fixing to rain and probably thunder and lightning too. Temperature 79° F Wind Gentle Breeze gusting to Fresh Breeze Wind Chill Effect Heat Index The RealFeel temperature this afternoon has been running about 2° below the dry bulb thermometer but the humidity is making it feel the reverse Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 29.71" Hg Falling (7) KNYC METAR 041751Z AUTO 24010G21KT 200V020 10SM CLR 26/09 A2974 RMK AO2 SLP061 T02610094 10272 20194 56022 TSNO RTX FIBI Feels Like Hot Transparency Good (between the clouds) Seeing II-III
Instruments	West Marine Raiatea 7x50 binocular - Charlie Baader AstroSolar filter film Benro MP-98M8 monopod Benro DJ-80 single axis head
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Ari Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100504.1400 EDT Distance Light Time 1.01 AU 8m 23s Angular Size 31' 43" Altitude 61.33° Heliographic Latitude (B0) ° Heliographic Longitude (L0) ° Parallactic Angle (P) ° Carrington rotation number (CR) Comments Nothing Seen There are spots up there. I know there are. I checked Spaceweather before coming out and they are showing three groups for today although I can see a place in the big image where I think there is one more. They are also saying that the sunspot number for yesterday was 61 which probably means five groups. SOHO graphic I checked Active Regions Explorer and they are showing six groups for today. One of them is only a pore. Raben Systems graphic None of these groups are large enough that I was really expecting to see them in my 7X binocular but gave it a try anyway. The image is a lot more satisfying with the binocular mounted on the monopod. I think I will be able to pick out some of the moderat-sized groups when they come around. I was surprised at how far I had to extend the monopod to see up to 70° even when I was seated. To see at zenith it is going to take all but the last 6” of the 77” extension the monopod is capable of.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

1 May 2010