31 March 2012

EarthHour.org graphic

I went out to Times Square tonight to see it go dark for Earth Hour. I might as well have stayed home since, with a few notable exceptions, nobody turned their lights off. After a half hour of standing there with no further change I decided to walk around Mid-Town to see of other illuminated venues had shut their lights off and found the trend continued. Once I get all my images into a web page a link will appear here.

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March observing

Sunspots

The blue and green traces are my R and running MDS and the yellow and red are the provisional international numbers. Unfortunately Numbers is very inconsistent in the way it deals with charts in general and with missing values in particular. With no difference in the way the base data is recorded or the way the chart is structured it has recorded most of my days without observing as having an R of 0 while this month it did not place a point for dates with null values.

Observing Hours for the Year 2012

	Day			Night			Total
	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg
Jan	0.00	0	0.00	1.00	1	1.00	1.00	1	1.00
Feb	6.75	6	1.13	13.75	6	2.29	20.50	9	2.28
Mar	4.75	12	0.40	14.25	7	2.04	19.00	14	1.36
TOTAL	11.50	18	0.64	29.00	14	2.07	40.50	24	1.69

	Days With Observing	Time Spent Observing
Jan12	3.23%	0.13%
Feb12	31.03%	2.95%
Mar12	45.16%	2.55%
2012 To Date	26.37%	2.85%

31 March 2012

March observing

Sunspots

Charts

Observing Hours for the Year 2012

	Day			Night			Total
	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg
Jan	0.00	0	0.00	1.00	1	1.00	1.00	1	1.00
Feb	6.75	6	1.13	13.75	6	2.29	20.50	9	2.28
Mar	4.75	12	0.40	14.25	7	2.04	19.00	14	1.36
TOTAL	11.50	18	0.64	29.00	14	2.07	40.50	24	1.69

	Days With Observing	Time Spent Observing
Jan12	3.23%	0.13%
Feb12	31.03%	2.95%
2012 To Date	16.67%	1.49%
Mar12	45.16%	2.55%
2012 To Date	26.37%	2.85%

27 March 2012

The president of AAA has been divesting himself of his astronomy book collection and Peter picked up one of the books, Star-Hopping: Your Visa to Viewing the Universe by Robert Garfinkle (ISBN 0-521-41590-X) for me.  I have started reading the introductory chapters and found mention af appendices so I immediately skipped to the back of the book to check them out.  I have reformatted the data from two of them dealing with stars here since they are objects that I routinely observe.

When we observe double stars we often refer to them as being wide or close or even very close.  For me these have always been relative terms and would therefore change with the magnification I was using.  What appeared a close double at 25X could become a wide double when viewed at 75X (now that I have telescopes and can change my magnification).  But now I see that these terms have actual numbers behind them and that there are Open and Standard categories of doubles that I have never used or, in the case of Standard, even heard of.  I have color coded it with information about the resolving powers (Dawes Limit) of my scopes to make the table relevant for me.  Now I have to become proficient at estimating distances in the eyepiece.  I have heretofore use descriptive terms like the size of a pea, the width of a paper match, or whatever else seems appropriate at the time.

Double Star Separation
Open	>30.0"
Wide	10.1" - 30.0"
Standard	5.1" - 10.0"
Close	2.1" - 5.0"
Very Close	0.5" - 2.0"
Naked-Eye
Both scopes
Dobsonian only
Not Possible
6" Dobsonian 0.76"	70mm Mini Mak 1.65"

When Peter and I observe open clusters we often describe their appearance to us to each other while at the eyepiece.  We speak of levels of star brightness - I can often discriminate two levels of brightness and a "crunchy" under level behind them.  We also speak of the clusters being "rich" or "poor," but again these have been relative terms for me.  In the Double Cluster, NGC ___ appears to me to be a ring of bright stars with a basically empty center which I term sparse while NGC ___ appears as a filled in circle which I have called rich.  But somewhere I read a description of this feature that described both clusters as being rich.  Now I have numbers that will allow me to more accurately describe what I am seeing.  This ability will obviously be tempered by my eyesight which isn't great ar seeing faint things.

                    

Trumpler Classification of Open Clusters
Concentration	Magnitude	Richness
I Detached from surrounding central concentration      II Detached with little central concentration      III Detached with no central concentration      IV Not well detached	1 Small range from brightest to faintest member      2 Moderate brightness range      3 Large range	p Poor: <50 stars      m Medium: 50-100 stars      r Rich: >100 stars
Example: NGC 1891 (Cr 73)	III2p	Detached, no central concentration Moderate brightness range; fewer than 50 stars

20 March 2012

Staten Island Chuck's Report Card

It is now officially spring and I thought I would review the temperature record over the past 47 says since Groundhog Day to see how Staten Island Chuck's prediction panned out.

If Chuck hadn't come tumbling out of his house onto a stage lit for TV cameras which cast a shadow, and if he hadn't been in an area surrounded by buildings and trees where there was no hope that the Sun, only at altitude 3.6°, would have had any chance of reaching him to cast a shadow, it is unlikely that he would have seen his shadow due to it being overcast at that time. That would mean, according to weather lore, which has no basis in science or fact,

If on February 2 (Groundhog Day in the United States and Canada) the groundhog sees its shadow, thirty days of winter remain. If not, spring will follow immediately.

that we should have had an early spring. We were told that an "early spring" was when the temperatures are "abnormally high" between Groundhog Day, on 2Feb2012, and the March Equinox, on 20Mar2012. "Abnormally high" temperatures were defined as days when the high temperature is above 40° F. By that measure we have had an early spring with the high temperature being above 40° on 94% of those days.

But I want to know where the magic number of 40° F came from and that was never explained. Looking in the historical weather data I tried to deduce it. The Weather Service reports the high, low and mean temperatures for each 24 hour period. They also provide the average of those same parameters for all records in the data history. Lastly they provide the recorded temperature extremes for the date. So I collected data for each day and made some calculations. It would seem that if a high of over 40° F is the standard then that should be the average of the average high temperature for all days within the date range. It isn't. The average of the averages is 44° F (Central Park) or 45° F (Newark Airport, the location Weather Underground uses when you ask for data for the zoo's ZIP Cide). So the rodent is given a statistical head start before he even wakes up to make his prediction.

Basing this assessment on the high temperature doesn't seem like a good way to go since it ignores any really low temperature days or cold snaps that might occur. So I thought comparing the mean temperature to the average mean temperature for the date would be a better way to go. By that measure the daily mean was higher than the average daily mean 87% of the time. But does just being warmer than the average mean temperature make the day abnormally warm. I think not. To be abnormally warm I would think the temperature would have to exceed the average mean by x%. But I don't know what value to adding to x.

I also compared the high temperature for each date to the average high temperature for that date and found that it was only higher 75% of the time.

So any way I have been able to figure to figure it, the rodent was right . . . If he did indeed predict anything.

	Central Park	Newark Airport
High Temp >=40° F	96.6%	93.9%
High Temp <=32°: F	2.1%	0.0%
Low Temp <=32& deg; F	29.8%	36.2%
Mean Temp >=40° F	57.4%	53.2%
High Temp >= Avg High	74.5%	76.6%
Mean Temp >= Avg Mean	87.2%	93.6%

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Druid For A Day

I went up to the McGraw-Hill building today to watch the Sun alignment with the Sun Triangle.

it looked like it was going to be a sparse crowd.  There were only two office workers and me at 1245 EDT.  Then at 1255 a group of 9 office workers arrived.  It seems that they were there for the event at noon but it didn't happen so they went back to work.  When they got there someone realized that it was because they hadn't reset their sundials to EDT so they came back at the appropriate time.

The Sun was playing hide and seek behind the clouds and at the time of the alignment it happened to have been hiding.  It came out at 1301:15 and you could see from the shadow that the alignment was already over.  But then at around 1305 it looked like there was minimal shadow again.

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Date	19 March 2012
Time	2045 EDT
Location	NW corner of 4 Ave @ Bay Ridge Ave, Brooklyn, NY 40.63479338374345°N 73.02361030366768°W
Location Comments
Constellation	Leo
NELM	Mag. 0
Cloud Cover	Observed: 100% Reported: >50%
Sky Comments	When I went into my meeting at 1900 the sky was perfectly clear and I left at 2030 expecting to see Venus and Jupiter and Mars and then Saturn when I arrived home only to find that it was now overcast and I couldn't find anything at all.

18 March 2012

Date	18 March 2012
Time	2125 EDT
Location	In front of Metropolitan Life building, 1095 Avenue of the Americas (6 Ave), 41/42 ST, New York, NY 40.7545889°N 73.9845489°W
Location Comments	This building has 11 klieg lights on top of it pointing down at Bryant Park across the street and making it like day there. The Sickle portion of Leo was viewed through the wash of light.
Constellation	Leo
NELM	Mag. 3
Cloud Cover	Observed: 0% Reported: 0%
Sky Comments	The forecast is for 30-40% cloud cover at this time but I can't see any clouds in the portions of the sky I can see.

15 March 2012

Creature Comforts

I have picked up some new astronomy equipment this season but it isn't the kind of stuff that you look through.  These things are items that make hours behind the eyepiece more endurable.

I probably bought this last season but I was down at EMS one day with Peter when they were having one of their big sales and picked up a Byer Trilite Folding Stool (XL I think).  My hip and knee don't appreciate it when I stand for long periods of time and I had been thinking about getting a camp stool for observing.  Peter has one that I occasionally borrowed when I got really sore and was thinking about getting something similar because I didn't know of anything else out there that would be appropriate.  But his is a tripod where the legs cross in the middle and I have always found it a bit tippy.  The stool I got has the base lower down where it is a little bit more stable but there are a pair of bars that extend upward from it to hold a hammock-like seat.  The bars add in some instability so it is probably about the same as Peter's stool.  The bars that hold the seat out are nylon or plastic and I worry about them snapping under load or even when I am setting it up or breaking it down.  It has a weight limitation that is not advertised and because of that and the instability I don't let the public use it.  When I get tired I back it up to the fence and lean back onto the fence for a back rest.  My Dobsonian mount was supposed to have been made to get the zenith eyepiece height at eye level when I am seated on that stool but the eyepiece is too high to observe seated well before zenith.

I was browsing the L. L. Bean catalog and came across the GCI Outdoor Quick E-Seat (it is available for $10 less from REI and you get a rebate on the purchase if you are an REI member) which looked to be more stable than my Trilite stool and has a back rest.  This is a great chair.  It is comfortable and stable.  The seat is a little lower than that of the Trilite so it isn't much good for observing with the Dobsonian but it is great for observing breaks.  I can use it with the Mini Mak if I put the tripod off to the side of the chair.  The only downsides are that it doesn't fold down as compactly as the Trilite and it is a bit heavier.

When I was ordering the camp chair from them I came across the Pathfinder Self-Inflating Multisport Inflatable Seat and picked it up to use as a kneeling pad.  The only time I used it was out at Custer Institute on a cold night in a grassy field.  I am not sure how well it will work on a sidewalk though.  I don't know if it will keep my knees from pushing through to the pavement.  Out at Custer it looked like I might have a leaky valve as it appeared to have deflated but I think the problem was that I filled it with air at ~98.6° from my lungs and when that air cooled to freezing and below it didn't occupy as mush volume.  So in cold weather the pad will probably have to be topped off several times as the air inside it cools and contracts.

Over the past several years I have noticed that I don't tolerate the cold as well as I used to.  This may be due in part to my hypo thyroidism but it is probably also do to just getting old.  I can wear all the close I have and still not be comfortable.  One time I returned from observing or birdwatching and was so bulked up with sweaters and jackets that the man at the front desk of my building didn't recognize me as a resident.  I was looking through a Duluth Trading Company catalog and saw that they sold Zippo handwarmers. My father had one that I tried using in my scouting days but could never get it to light.  I viewed some UTube video reviews (why are they always by high school students) that said they work so decided to give them a try and Peter had me get one for him as well.  Getting fuel for it isn't easy around here.  You pretty much have to go to a "head" shop.  Once I got that and got it filled it lit fine from the butane lighter I had for lighting my butane soldering iron.  I suspect that the problems I was having with my father's warmer were because I was trying to light it with farmer matches.  I fill it up with six hours of fuel (it is supposed to hold fuel for 12 hours but I find that it starts regurgitating fuel right about the time I get 6 hours worth into it) a bit before I head out and let it sit near the steam riser to get the fuel evaporating up through the burner then hold the lighter beneath it for about 10 seconds on each side.  After 10 seconds on the first side I can usually see a red glow in there indicating that it is lit but give it the second 10 seconds to be sure.  I put the lit warmer in a ruler pocket in my fleece-lined jeans or a backpack pocket and leave it there until I start to get chilled.  These days I am wearing a heavy fleece jacket under my down parka when I observe.  When I start to get cold I move the warmer to the zippered chest pocket of the fleece jacket.  That goes a long way to keeping me comfortable although we haven't been out in sub-zero temperatures this year.  The heater gives off a sweet smell when it is burning that isn't objectionable but can be very strong when I move and air gets expelled from the neck opening of my parka and is directed up towards my nose.  Since it is a catalytic reaction combustion should be complete but I don't know if there is anything in the exhaust that would be a health concern when the warmer is used in this manner.

I got a catalog from Orvis a while ago and found that they were advertising the Ansai Mobile Warming Softshell Vest which has a battery-operated heater built into it.  I researched it on the net and found that the manufacturer sells it for $150 while Orvis sells it for $159, not that that surprises me with Orvis.  It is supposed to reach 135° on full power and have a run time of 2.5 hours.  At 25% power the run time is up to 10 hours but they say that for indoor temperatures of 50°-60° you will probably want to run it at the 50% power setting.  I cogitated about this purchase for a couple of weeks since I don't like spending that much money on anything but eventually ordered one.  I found it for $140 from a biker shop.  I knew in the back of my head somewhere that bikers plug everything into their bike but never thought about the new battery technologies making it possible to have unteathered heated garments.  There was a video talking about it on the site and a favorable review by a biker.  It got here yesterday and had 75% charge on the battery so I plugged it on and set it to 25% power to see how hot it got and how long the battery would last.  I wore it for a while in my room but got too hot so took it off.  When I measured the temperature with my IR thermometer the area over the heating panels was around 115°.  I left it laying on my bed turned on until I put it on to go out to Brooklyn for hacking.  When I picked up my keys which happened to have been under it they were too hot to touch.  I got out to Brooklyn and was at dinner when I realized there was no longer any heat being produced.  That was less than three hours after I had turned it on at 25% power with a 75% battery charge.  So right now it doesn't look like the battery life is as listed but they list it as Up To so I guess it it turns on at all it meets their claim.  But since I am not planning on this as being my primary warmth three hours should be OK.  It still needs to be tested with a full battery charge under observing conditions.  The heating panels appear to be smaller than the illustration lead me to believe they would be and are mounted higher up than I expected.  I would think they would put them on the sides since the hypothermia researchers tell us that there and the groin are the areas of greatest heat loss, or in the kidney area since I often feel cold there before feeling it between my shoulder blades.

13 March 2012

Date	13 March 2012
Time	2130 EDT
Location	New York Hall of Science 111 ST @ 50 Ave Corona, NY 40.74771°N 73.85284°W
Location Comments	Standing in a copse of denuded trees looking over the illuminated museum building and street lights
Constellation	Leo
NELM	Mag. 5
Cloud Cover	Observed: % Reported: 25%
Sky Comments	The sky is grey with haze

11 March 2012

I got a calendar alarm last night reminding me that Daylight Saving Time began today at 0200 so I went around and reset all my clocks that required manual adjustment.

• the clock radio next to my bed
• the DotKlok on the chest of drawers
• my wristwatch
• my Solder :Time wristwatch
• the microwave
• my Brunton ADC wind gauge
• my ham radio

I am sure I have forgotten something but can't remember what it is.  Then I set an alarm for 0156 (0256 on my wristwatch that was already set to DST) so I can listen to my computer and watch my radio-controlled clock to see how they deal with the situation.

The computer is set up to strike ship's time on the half hour and to also announce the time in speech on the hour.  But at 0100 all it did was strike two bells.  I have often felt that the computer was not announcing the time but never know whether it really isn't announcing it or it is and I have become so accustomed to hearing it that I just don't hear it anymore.  The computer neither announced the time nor struck the bells at 0200/0300 and it didn't strike bells at 0330 either.  The iPad has updated but I didn't see it happen.

The radio-controlled clock rolled over to 0200 and stayed there for a while.  I went to look at the time on the computer and when I looked back at the clock at 0300:45 it had updated to 0300.

And the GPS sitting on the Arduino that is in the process of being made into on occultation event timer is happily reporting Universal Time as before.