31 May 2011

Observing Location	BP
Observational Period	0930-0945 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 78° F Wind Light Breeze Wind Chill Effect Heat Index 78° F Humidity 52% Barometric Pressure 30.19" Hg 1 KNYC METAR 311351Z AUTO 04007KT 360V070 10SM CLR 26/15 A3022 RMK AO2 SLP223 T02560150 TSNO Feels Like Warm Transparency Good Seeing I
Instruments	Celestron C70 Mini Mak Spotting Scope w/Kendrick solar filter Celestron Outland 8x42 binocular
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Tau Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20110531.0940 EDT Distance Light Time 1.01 AU 8m 26s Angular Size 31' 33" Altitude 45° 23' Heliographic Latitude (B0) -0.77° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 69.33° Parallactic Angle (P) -15.73° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2110 Comments I tried making my observation with the Mini Mak again this morning and again I couldn't find the Sun. I thought it might have been an altitude issue but took the scope off the tripod and swept the sky with it and didn't even see a flash of light. I am wondering if a Maksutov this small just isn't suited to solar observing. We have used a C8 when I was solar observing with AAA but maybe the secondary mirror is proportionately larger in the smaller format. I don't know. When I got home I put the scope on the tripod on my table and measured the maximum altitude it is capable of and found that it is 60° and the sun this morning was only up at 45° so that wasn't the issue. I figured out how to use the tripod legs to adjust my azimuth. I had my protractor along to set the altitude but I didn't have my Palm so didn't know what the Sun's altitude was. I had to hold the filter over the front of my binocular to make my observation. The filter isn't large enough to cover both objectives so I lost a little in brightness and resolution but was able to see two simple sunspots. They appeared to be in the southern Hemisphere but when I brought up Helios, which compensates for phase rotation, I saw that one was actually a northern hemisphere spot. Helios graphic   Groups Spots R North 1 1 11 South 1 1 11 Total 2 2 22 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots) Group 1226 Heliographic Latitude -37° Heliographic Longitude 103° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2110 Mcintosh System Axx Group 1228 Heliographic Latitude 12° Heliographic Longitude 121° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2110 Mcintosh System Axx

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Observing Location	P84
Observational Period	2015-2315 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear but Hazy Temperature 73° F falling to 70° F Wind Calm gusting to Light Breeze Wind Chill Effect Heat Index ° F Humidity 79% Barometric Pressure 30.17" Hg 0 KNYC METAR 010051Z AUTO VRB04KT 7SM CLR 23/19 A3019 RMK AO2 SLP214 T02280194 TSNO Feels Like It was very pleasant when I arrived at sunset but by 2300 when the humidity was up and the temperature dropping it was a little chilly Transparency Fair-Poor Seeing
Instruments	Naked-eye - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Iridium 66 Flare Constellation UMa Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20110531.2003 EDT 322.4° NW   Heavens Above CalSky Time EDT 2003 EDT Alt. ° 6.4° Az. ° Mag. -1.4 Surface   MMA2 Comments I didn't get there in time to attempt this but then I wasn't trying all that hard since it has scheduled to happen before sunset in the west.

2019 EDT

Sunset
Beginning of civil Twilight

2051 EDT

End of Civil Twilight
Beginning of Nautical Twilight

2054 EDT

Arcturus and Saturn sighted naked-eye

Target Lacrosse 3 Flare Constellation UMa Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20110531.2112 EDT 292.7° NW   Heavens Above CalSky Time EDT 2112 EDT Alt. ° 65.1 EDT Az. ° Mag. 0.6 Surface   SAR antenna Comments Not Seen I thought I might have see it but what I saw was just Big Dipper handle stars shining through a thin patch of haze.

2132 EDT

End of nautical twilight
Beginning of astronomical twilight

2220 EDT

End of astronomical twilight

Target Iridium 52 Flare Constellation Leo Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20110531.2231 EDT 263.9° W   Heavens Above CalSky Time EDT 2231 EDT Alt. ° 19.1° Az. ° Mag. -4.3 Surface   MMA0 Comments It appeared higher than advertised, more like 22° by my hand span.

Target Iridium 53 Flare Constellation Hya Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20110531.2241 EDT 265.2° W   Heavens Above CalSky Time EDT 2241 EDT Alt. ° 15.5° Az. ° Mag. 0.1 Surface   MMA0 Comments Not Seen This was a faint flare and likely hidden by the haze/clouds low on the horizon.

Target Iridium 62 Flare Constellation Cas Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20110531.2311 EDT 6.3°24.7° NE   Heavens Above CalSky Time EDT 2311 EDT Alt. ° Az. ° Mag. -4.3 Surface   MMA1 Comments Not Seen Although a bright flare it required looking upriver where the security lighting playing on the visiting Fleet Week carrier Iwo Jima was causing a lot of light pollution. The flare should have been low over Ft Lee, NJ, which posed its own light-pollution problems.

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Observing Hours for the Year 2011

	Day			Night			Total
	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg
Jan	0.00	0	0.00	2.00	1	2.00	2.00	1	2.00
Feb	0.00	0	0.00	2.00	1	2.00	2.00	1	2.00
Mar	0.00	0	0.00	7.00	3	2.33	7.00	3	2.33
Apr	0.00	0	0.00	8.25	2	4.13	8.25	2	4.13
May	1.25	3	0.42	16.00	5	3.20	17.25	7	2.46
TOTAL	1.25	3	0.42	35.25	12	2.94	36.50	14	2.61

30 May 2011

Observing Location	41 St @ FDR Drive
Observational Period	0245-0320 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	clear at zenith, cloudy at horizon, very humid, warm Cloud Cover Scattered Temperature 74° F Wind Calm Wind Chill Effect Heat Index 75° F Humidity 82% Barometric Pressure 30.01" Hg 7 KNYC METAR 300651Z AUTO VRB03KT 9SM CLR 23/20 A3004 RMK AO2 SLP161 T02330200 TSNO Feels Like warm and close Transparency Poor Seeing
Instruments	Celestron Outland 8x42 binocular - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target ISS Visible Pass Constellation Aqr, Psc, Ari Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20110530.0316 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 0316:21 EDT 0316:21 EDT 0320:32 EDT Alt. 22.5° 22.5° horizon Az. 119.8° ESE 119.8° ESE 64.2° ENE Mag -2.1 -2.1 1.6 Heavens Above Graphic Comments Not Seen I was looking over an elevated portion of the FDR drive between two street lights into clouds.

0328 EDT

Beginning of astronomical twilight

0415 EDT

End of astronomical twilight
Beginning if nautical twilight

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Observing Location	Pier 84 (hereafter P84), Hudson River
Observational Period	0410-0500 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	hazy with clouds below ~30° Cloud Cover Scattered with haze Temperature 73° F Wind Gentle Breeze Wind Chill Effect Heat Index 74° F Humidity 87% Barometric Pressure 30.03" Hg 8 KNYC METAR 300851Z AUTO VRB06KT 7SM CLR 23/21 A3005 RMK AO2 SLP167 T02280206 55007 TSNO Feels Like warm and close Transparency Poor Seeing
Instruments	Celestron Outland 8x42 binocular - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

0415 EDT

End of astronomical twilight
Beginning of nautical twilight

Target Moon Constellation Ari Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20110530.0425 EDT Lunation 1093 Phase waning Crescent Age 27d 1h 33m Distance Light Time (from earth) 399,991 km 1.33s Elongation 29° 03' W % Illuminated 6.3% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) ° Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) ° Libration in Latitude ° Libration in Longitude ° Magnitude -6.6 Angular Size 29' 55" Altitude 5.59° Virtual Moon Atlas graphic Comments Looking east I saw the old Moon in the new Moon's arms just above the top of a northern Times Square building as it began it's daytime transit of the celestial sphere.

Target Lacrosse 3 Flare Constellation Cyg Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20110530.0447 EDT Heavens Above CalSky Time EDT 0447 EDT Alt. 72.9° Az. 84.5° Mag. 0.2 Surface SAR antenna Comments Not Seen The sky had brightened enough that my only reference star was already gone.

Target ISS Visible Pass Constellation Boo, Dra, UMi, Cam, Per, Aur Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20100530.0447 EDT Starts Max. Alt. Ends H A e b a o v v e e n &nbso; s   Time EDT EDT EDT Alt. ° ° ° Az. Mag C a l S k y Time 0447:44 EDT 0450:32 EDT 0455:44 EDT Alt. 6.7° 31.6° horizon Az. 260.9° W 331.4° NNW 48.5° NE Mag -1.8 -3.0 4.5 Heavens Above graphic Comments I saw two close points of golden light appear out to the west. In the binocular they were of unequal brightness. As I remember it the fainter was slightly above and trailing the brighter. They gave the appearance of being about as far apart as the width of a paper match. They remind me of naked-eye observing Alcor and Mizar. I tried to make a movie of them but could not find them in the camera LCD screen. When I went back to the binocular I couldn't find them there either. I suspect that I caught them when they poked above the clouds at or near culmination and ducked back down while I was trying to photograph them. I have a request in to NASA for relative position information. This was an extended departure of a Shuttle from ISS as they were experimenting with new hardware that will allow autonomous docking of the next generation of spacecraft, if we ever build it. The event, Sensor Test for Orion RelNav Risk Mitigation (STORRM), included the Shuttle backing off from ISS and re-approaching the orbiter in a trajectory similar to that of an Orion capsule.

0458 EDT

End of nautical twilight
Beginning of civil twilight

0528 EDT

End of civil twilight
Sunrise

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2030-2330 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Broken becoming<>Scattered Temperature 84° F falling to 79° F Wind Calm Wind Chill Effect Heat Index ° F Humidity 55% Barometric Pressure 30.09" Hg increasing to 30.13" Hg 2 KNYC METAR Feels Like Clammy and hot when you are walking around with the pack on your back Transparency   Poor Seeing II-III
Instruments	Celestron C70 Mini Mak Celestron 25x-75x stock zoom eyepiece 18mm 1.25" Kellner Celestron 15mm 1.25" Plossl Celestron 9mm 1.25" Plossl Celestron 6mm 1.25" Plossl Celestron 4mm 1.25" Plossl
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

  The objective tonight was to observe Saturn with the Celestron C70 Mini Mak Spotting Scope in the stock configuration and then with the 1.25" adapter and the eyepieces for my Dobsonian scope to determine if and how usable it will be for nighttime astronomy.  I was also using the gifted tripod for the first time.

The tripod first.  I was expecting a good bit of shake and it did not let me down.  It damps fairly quickly after you let go of the focuser.  There is nothing on the bottom of the center post to keep it from coming out of the base when you pull it up but it needs to be at full height all the time so I only have to remember about that once.  Even at maximum extension the tripod is not tall enough to get the eyepiece at a comfortable observing height so I might be better off all around observing from my stool where I won't need to use the center post extension and the scope will be more stable.

The scope does not have any kind of finder so I anticipated having some trouble finding stars but I had not anticipated spending half of my observing time just trying to get Saturn in my lowest power eyepiece.  The rubber armor over the OTA has grooves in it that look like they were made to hold an empty stick pen barrel or fat straw and they will be my first finders but I suspect that I am going to want something bigger so it is easier to see through.  Locating terrestrial objects was a good bit easier but still not a fast process.

the biggest problem with trying to find stars is getting the initial focus.  I think I figured out that turning the focuser up (anti-clockwise) brings the focus to distant objects and turning it down (clockwise) focuses on near objects.  I don't have a sense yet of how far from the end of travel infinity focus is.  Focusing is difficult.  I am used to fling past the focus point and then back focusing until sharp focus is achieved.  But when you go past the focus point with Cassigrain telescopes you often have to back focus farther than you have come.  There must be a horrendous amount of slop in the focuser threads of these types of focusing mechanisms.

I started out looking at the GE building to get the scope focused on something even if it was something a lot closer than Saturn.  I hoped it would get me in the ballpark so I would at least see a fussy tennis ball when I found Saturn.  The sign on the top of the GE building looked very crisp at 25x and at 75x it was still sharp enough to pick out the ends of the neon tubes making up the sign.  I think the scope will do fine for stationary birds but it will not work for anything in motion.  Point sources of light quickly become donuts as the move out of focus.  This might be a problem when observing birds with rippled water behind them where there are a lot of specular highlights.  The easiest eyepiece to focus is the 18mm Kellner because you can get rough focus with the telescope focuser and then rock in fine focus with the helical focuser built into the eyepiece.

Eyepiece stats:

Eyepiece	Magnification	Field Of View
Celestron 25x-75x Zoom	25x 75x	° °
18mm Kellner	41.6x	°
Celestron 15mm 1.25" Plossl	50x	°
Celestron 9mm 1.25" Plossl	88.3x	°
Celestron 6mm 1.25" Plossl	125x	°
Celestron 4mm 1.25" Plossl	187.5x	°

Celestron 25x-75x zoom eyepiece

@ 25x - sharp nut a tiny Saturn; will be good for M45 and maybe the Double Cluster or Kemble's Cascade
@ 75x - nice size planet but a little soft; hard to focus; small FoV

18mm Kellner

crisp image; the helical focuser makes it easy to get the sharpest focus possible

Celestron 15mm 1.25" Plossl

not as crisp or easy to focus as the 18mm Kellner

Celestron 9mm 1.25" Plossl

I definitely saw separation between the disk of the planet and the left and right extents of the rings

Celestron 6mm 1.25" Plossl

a very unforgiving eyepiece; it was gard to find the planet even though I had it centered in the 9mm eyepiece just before changing eyepieces

Celestron 4mm 1.25" Plossl

hard to find the exit pupil; a very dark, murky FoV when there is nothing bright in it; very small FoV makes finding things difficult; might work for the Moon but unusable even for the planets

2018 EDT

Sunset
Beginning of civil twilight

2039 EDT

Arcturus first seen naked-eye

2046 EDT

Saturn first seen naked-eye but it was some time before it could be reliably recovered

2051 EDT

End of civil twilight
Beginning of nautical twilight

Target Saturn Constellation Vir Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20110530.2130 EDT    Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 121° 15' E Distance Light Time (from Earth) 9.07 AU 1h15m Distance (from Sun) 9.63 AU Angular Size 18.3"x16.3" Ring Angular Size 41.4"x5.28" Ring Inclination -7° 19' Magnitude 0.7 Altitude 47° 52' Starry Night Starter graphic Comments I could not see detail in the rings or on the disk of the planet but I was able to see space between the disk and the rings at the sides of the planet.  I didn't see any moons and don't know if that was because of observing conditions or equipment limitations.

2131 EDT

End of nautical twilight
Beginning of astronomical twilight

2218 EDT

End of astronomical twilight

 

Target Iridium 86 Flare Constellation Hya Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20110530.2237 EDT °   Heavens Above CalSky Time 2237 EDT EDT Alt. 18.0° ° Az. 262.8° W Mag. -3.8   Surface     Comments It appeared moving S to N over CPW and quickly grew very bright and was white to slightly blueish.

Target Iridium 72 Flare Constellation Cas Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20110530.2317 EDT   Heavens Above CalSky Time 2317 EDT EDT Alt. 5.1° ° Az. 22.1° NNE ° Mag. -2.1   Surface     Comments Not Seen I don't know if it was below the treeline or if it wasn't bright enough to burn through the schmutz.

29 May 2011

My solar filter for the grab-'n'-go scope arrived Friday from Kendrick Astro Instruments.

I had to get a larger filter than needed because I wanted their old style filter cell and they no longer have that size available. The cell is for an ETX 90 and is appropriate for an OTA with an OD of 95-108 mm. My scope diameter is about 89 mm. They sent me a strip of adhesive-backed felt to shim the cell and a set of longer nylon screws. I found that the stock screws are just long enough to properly hold the filter in place. After the screws compress the scope's rubber jacket I will probably have to start using the longer screws.

This filter is made with Baader AstroSolar film which I prefer to the more usual glass filters that give an orange view of the Sun. As well as being white or slightly blue I feel that the Baader filters provide a sharper and more contrasty image.

I also picked up an old tripod from a friend. It isn't all that stable but will allow me to use the scope without a table as long as it isn't windy. With a notmal photographic head on the tripod pointing the scope will be a little tricky.

25 May 2011

Observing Location	Bryant Park west
Observational Period	0815-0915 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 68° F Wind Calm Wind Chill Effect Heat Index 68° F Humidity 85% Barometric Pressure 29.92" Hg 2 KNYC METAR 251151Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 20/13 A2995 RMK AO2 SLP132 T02000133 10222 20183 51018 TSNO Feels Like very comfortable Transparency Good Seeing I
Instruments	Celestron C-70 Mini Mak Spotting Scope Celestron Outland 8x42 Binocular Baader AstroSolar Filter Film
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Tau Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20110530.0815 EDT Distance Light Time 1.01 AU 8m 25s Angular Size 31' 38.0" Altitude 59.2° Heliographic Latitude (B0) -1.5° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 149.50° Parallactic Angle (P) -17.87° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2110 Comments I tried using my Far Laboratories Helio-Pod on the C-70 but was not able to find the Sun. I got white fields of view but was never able to bring anything into focus. After switching to the binocular I wasily saw the solitary sunspot.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 1 11 11 Total 1 11 11 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots) Group # Heliographic Latitude -23° Heliographic Longitude 106° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2110 Mcintosh System Asx

21 May 2011

I picked up a Celestron C70 Mini Mak Early in the week to use as a grab-'n'-go scope for solar observing.  I don't see myself dragging 50# of Dobsonian out to look at the Sun for 15 minutes and wanted something with more magnification than my 8x42 binocular.

In looking for what was available the Mini Mak seemed to be closest to what I wanted.  It has a 70 mm objective, which is more light gathering power than I need for the Sun and a 25-75x zoom ocular.  The thing that sold me on it was that you can remove that eyepiece, screw on an adapter, and use any other 1.25" eyepiece.  It comes with a tabletop tripod with slow motion altitude and azimuth controls.  Specifications are as follows:

Aperture	70 mm
Focal Length	750 mm
Supplied Eyepieces	25x-75x zoom
Near Focus	16' / 5 m
Angular Field of View	@ 25x: 1.25° @ 75x: 0.66°
Linear Field of View	@ 25x: 66' @ 1000 yards @ 75 x: 33' @ 1000 yards
Eye Relief	@ 25x: 22 mm
Optical Coatings	Multi-Coated
Length	11.5" / 229 mm
Weight	35 oz /  2.3# / 992 g
	Water Resistant

I guess I should throw in here that the reason it is called a Mini Mak is because it is a small (2.75" aperture) Schmidt-Maksutov spotting telescope. So it has a chunky secondary mirror (that it is said never cools down due to its mass) attached to a concave corrector plate at the front of the scope.

I set the scope up on my table and tried to focus on the wall in the adjoining room but wasn't able to bring it into focus.  I removed the eyepiece and installed the 1.25" eyepiece adapter then dropped in my laser collimator and it says the scope is properly aligned.

Today has been the first day it has been clear since I got the scope (probably the first day it hasn't been raining) so when I woke up and my room was bright I grabbed it and went (after first getting dressed, of course).  NOAA said 0% cloud cover until 1100 hrs then rapidly increasing cloud cover and right on cue the room went dark for a minute or two at 1130 hrs.  When I got outside there were some building cumulus clouds low in the east.  

I went to Bryant Park and set the telescope up on a table near the fountain that would be in the sun if the loads moved.  I first focused on the roof of the library to make sure the scope would focus on something.  Then when the cloud moved I cranked the scope up as far as it would go but my Sun finder said it wasn't far enough.  I looked anyway and tried finding the sun hand holding the scope with one of Peter's solar paddles in front of it and once got near the Sun but never passed over it.  Checking in Planetarium I see that the Sun was at approximately 63.5° of altitude at that time so I probably need to get out when it is no more than ~55° to be sure of seeing it.

I had my binocular with me to do a little birding so observed the sun through them and confirmed the presence of Sunspot 1216 near the meridian but did not see 1214 or 1218 which are smaller and on opposite sides of the sun in the foreshortening zone.

	Groups	Spots	Number (Groups x 1 + Spots
North	0	0	0
South	1	1	11
Total	1	1	11
Optics	Celestron Outland 8x42 binocular w/Baader AstroSolar film
NASA SunspotcNumber			33

I have a solar filter appropriate for this scope on order and should see it by early next month.

30 April 2011

April 2011 Global Astronomy Month Central Park Cloud Cover
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Clear				Hazy
Scatter Clouds				Partly Cloudy
Mostly Cloudy				Overcast
Rain

April 2011 Global Astronomy Month Central Park Wind Speed
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Calm <1 mph				Light Air 1-3 mph
Light Breeze 4-7 mph				Gentle Breeze 8-12 mph
Moderate Breeze 12-17 mph				Fresh Breeze 18-24 mph
Strong Breeze 25-39 mph				Moderate Gale 31-38 mph
Indicates mmximum wind or wind gust reported