21 September 2006

Observing Location	CSP
Observational Period	0530-0715 EDT I almost didn't make it this morning,. I woke up at 0300 EDT and turned the alarm off but did not get out of bed. When I regained consciousness it was already 0420 EDT and I had told Peter I planned to arrive at 0500ish0. Coincidentally I am reading A geography of time: the temporal misadventures of a social psychologist, or how every culture keeps time just a little bit differently and, in the current chapter on the history of the clock, which I was reading on my way to the park, the author is talking about punctuality and how our perception of it has changed as our ability to measure time and to measure it in ever fiber increments had advanced.
Atmospheric Conditions	Clear and brisk. I heard on the radio they the 0630 EDT Central Park temperature was 58 and it was down in the high 40s up at Newburgh. I could have used more insulation on my arms. Transparency Good Seeing Good
Instruments	Canon 15x50 IS binocular w/Baader AstroSolar filter film - Charlie takahashi 22x60 binocular - Peter Fujinon 7x50 binocular - Peter
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac

Target Orion Constellation Ori Category Constellation Time 20060921.0530 EDT Comments Orion appeared very bright. I could see the thee stars of the sword but did not notice any nebulosity NE.

Target Saturn Constellation Category Planet Time 20060921.0545 EDT Comments Saturn looked flattened on the top and had a lot of flare.

Target Moon Constellation Category Lunar Time 20060921.0558 EDT Comments Peter found it first and I got it as soon as I knew where he was looking. It rose a lot farther south than it had last month. We saw it at 1.19° above the horizon just north of east. If there hadn’t been buildings there we might have seen it lower down. I didn't notice any horns, the illuminated portion appeared thick along its entire length and looked knotty. I could see it between 8:30 and 4:00. By 0615 it was really difficult to see naked eye and it was last seen in the binocular at 0625. I did subsequently see something in Peter's binocular that I thought was the 6:00 portion of the limb. Date 21Sep06 Time 0625 EDT Phase last crescent Age 28d15h14m -1d1h24m from new Elongation 11.44° W % Illuminated 1.0% Alt. 6.10°

Target Venus Constellation Category Planet Time 20060921.0604 EDT Comments Peter and I found Venus at the same time. It was so bright I identified it literally naked eye; I wasn't even wearing my glasses. It flared in my binocular, having two tails like a comet. I don't have a record of when I last saw it naked eye, but it was shortly before sunrise (0642 EDT)

Target ISS visible pass Constellation Eri, Lep, CMa Category Satellite Time 20060921.0611 EDT Comments The ISS was making a pass from S to E, low on the horizon (18° max. alt.). It passed very close under Wezen and was gone when I looked back for it. Heavens Above lists the Space Shuttle following it one minute later but this appears to be if they had been waved off on their first landing attempt. The ISS didn't look any different to my eye from what I remember of it before the new solar panels were installed.

Target Space Shuttle Communications Constellation Category Satellite Time 20060921.0625 EDT Comments I had done some research to find out which amateur radio repeater would be rebroadcasting the Shuttle communications during landing this morning. There is a radio club in Hauppague, Long Island, and another in Monmouth County, NJ, who both say on their web pages that they rebroadcast on either the 2-meter or 70 centimeter bands. Yesterday I heard some NASA commentary on the Hauppague repeater but reception was poor. Today there was commercial radio or TV there with a lot of other intremodilation. The other frequencies were quiet. Then, just after the scheduled landing time, I heard Houston calling Atlantis on a checklist item. I couldn't tell at the time if it was a pre or post landing call. I subsequently heard in the commentary that Atlantis had landed on schedule. I expect that I will have an easier time receiving that signal once I get my Yagi antenna built.

Target Sunspots Constellation Vir Category Solar Time 20060921.0715 EDT Comments Heliphraphic Latitude (B0) +7.08° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 357.31° Position Angle (P) +25.00° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2048 Moderate boiling on the upper and lower limbs. I can't be certain I haven't missed something there. Group 910 Heliographic Latitude -11° Heliographic Longitude 340° McIntosh System Axx The spot is small and not immediately apparent (even Peter had to search a while and ultimately needed me to direct that search).   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 1 1 11 Total 1 1 11 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2000-2345 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cold and clear with light haze. Transparency Good Seeing Good
Instruments	Canon 15x50 IS binocular - Charlie Celestron 7x50 binocular - Kin
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Kin Lee

Target Satellites Constellation Cyg Category Satellite Time 20060921.2115 EDT Comments I was talking with a passer by while watching the Cosmos 1833 rocket, which I happened to spot, passing NNW-SSE. He thought he had found it but had picked up another, unknown satellite on the reciprocal path.

Target Iridium 29 Flare Constellation Her Category Satellite Time 20060921.2141 EDT Comments This is the first Iridium flare I have seen in a while and it was a good one. It was up at 50° so was in clear air and at Mag. -3 it looked like a plane heading right for is. It was so bright that it lit up the haze in a halo around it.

Target Corona Australis Constellation CrA Category Constellation Time 20060921.2050 EDT Comments I spent some time scanning the horizon the south to are if any new constellations might be visible. I saw less of the constellations I had previously found there. I think I saw three stars at the top of CrB.

Target Microscopium Constellation Mic Category Constellation Time 20060921.2054 EDT Comments I only found four stars at the top of the constellation. The low horizon was washed out by the Manhattan South skyline.

Target Piscis Austrinus Constellation PsA Category Constellation Time 20060921.2100 EDT Comments I could see the tail but ran into trees after the first belly star.

Target Kemble's Cascade & NGC1502 Constellation Cam Category Asterism & DSO Time 20060921.2254 EDT Comments Kemble's Cascade is not a bright asterism on really black sky nights but it appeared particularly faint tonight. I didn't see NGC1502 in the birds foot.

Target Neptune Constellation Aqr Category Planet Time 20060921.2230 EDT Comments Easily found but dim; slightly bluish.

Target Uranus Constellation Aqr Category Planet Time 20060921.2247 EDT Comments I had trouble hopping to it but once there it was easily identified as it is relatively bright and out of place in the star field.

Naked-eye Limiting Magnitude I didn't do a full star inventory tonight but did check out the UMi and did are all of the stars of the little dipper and Pherkad Minor. This is unusual for me even when Peter reports seeing everything. Pherkad Minor is Mag 5.02 and at 2253 EDT was 35.10° above the horizon. Using the table below, from the 2004 Observer's Handbook, which corrects for atmospheric extinction, I am estimating that my zenith limiting magnitude should have been at least Mag.. 5.22. Alt. Add 52-90. 0.0 36-52 0.1 29-36 0.2 24-29 0.3 20-24 0.4 18-20 0.5

Target Andromeda Galaxy, M31 Constellation And Category DSO: Galaxy Time 20060921.2255 EDT Comments A dense nucleus surrounded by a much less dense, thin band of nebulosity.

Target NGC6633/td> Constellation Oph Category DSO: OCl Time 20060921.2333 EDT Comments About a half dozen brighter stars surrounded by stardust.

Target 27 Oph Constellation Oph Category Double Star Time 20060921.2337 EDT Comments At 287" a very wide and unequal (3.7/7.5) double.

Target NGC6572 Constellation Oph Category DSO Time 20060921.2344 EDT Comments Not certain but I saw some points of light in the area. Planetarium doesn't say so I don't even know what kind of object it is.

This morning we noticed considerable flare around Venus in my binocular. It was bothersome but there was observing to do so I didn't dwell on it. Tonight the same thing happened. All of the stars looked like little comets with two tails all pointing in the same direction. I was showing a passer by the Alpha Perseus Association and she asked what the strange shaped object was at the top of the field. I explained that it was a defect in the binocular that had just occurred and speculated that they might have been bumped. After she walked away it hit me. This morning I found that my batteries were dead but didn't take the time to swap them with the charged pair I had in the binocular bag. For some reason, whenever the charge on the batteries drops below the level at which the IS will function the prisms go somewhere where they are out of alignment and all the stars start looking like comets. So even if you don't intend to use IS you need to have a pair of good batteries installed in the binocular for them to focus properly.