31 March 2006

The weather is not looking good for the Pleiades occultations on Saturday night.

Saturday, 1Apr06	1600	1700	1800	1900	2000	2100	2200
The Weather Channel	Thunder Showers		Partly Cloudy			Mostly Clear
Weather Underground	Showers	Chance of Rain					Partly Cloudy
AccuWeather		Rain	Mostly Cloudy		Partly Cloudy
Forecasts as of 2400 EDT 30Mar06

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Observing Location	White Plains Road and Mcgraw Avenue, The Bronx, NY
Observational Period	0430-0500 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	This is not an ideal location for stargazing being located at an entrance/exit to I-95 and well lit with street lamps, but even getting there my impression was that transparency was below what was forecast. Looking to the S and W the only objects I could locate were Arcturus, Jupiter, Altair and Tarazed. On the way home I saw Vega, Deneb, Sadr, 18 Cyg, and ε Cyg. I don't think it was as transparent as it was supposed to have been.
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	ISS and Progress
Constellation	Aql
Category	Satellite
Time	20060331.0445-0453 EDT
Comments	ISS: Seen Progress: Not Seen ISS is due to make a visible pass followed one second later by Progress which will dock with ISS tonight to exchange crews. Progress is dark enough that it is not supposed to be visible from here although it is visible from Washington, DC. It was real rough getting up for this event this morning but I eventually did it. I saw ISS shining brightly and climbing steeply above White Plains Road. At that time it was taking about four seconds to transit my 4.5° FOV. At its zenith in Aql it was already dimming and its apparent speed had increased to three seconds o transit the FOV. It continued to dim as it moved eastward into a rapidly brightening sky and when it disappeared behind the Parkchester buildings along McGraw Ave its apparent speed had slowed to four seconds to transit the FOV. I was not able to discern any lightening or darkening of the sky trailing the ISS. On two occasions I stopped tracking the ISS and counted off a second to see if I could identify anything centered in the FOV. Even when the ISS was moving at its fastest both it and Progress should have been in my FOV at the same time. Being a capsule type craft it is a lot smaller than either ISS or a Space Shuttle and it is also painted black. It does not have the solar panel arrays which are what make the ISS shine so brightly.

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The weather forecasts have changed a little but not gotten much better.

Saturday, 1Apr06	1600	1700	1800	1900	2000	2100	2200
The Weather Channel	Scattered Thunder Showers		Mostly Cloudy			Partly Cloudy
Weather Underground	Rain Showers			Rain Showers			Chance of Rain
AccuWeather	Mostly Cloudy					Partly Cloudy
Forecasts as of 1200 EST 31Mar06

There is a large low pressure system out over the midwest that is what is going to cause out weather tomorrow. There is supposed to be a high pressure gradient between here and there that caused the posting of fire weather warnings for NYC for this afternoon. The warnings have since been dripped and it isn't very windy here at all,

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Here is the weather summary for tomorrow as of midnight tonight

Saturday, 1Apr06		1600	1700	1800	1900	2000	2100	2200
The Weather Channel		Partly Cloudy
Weather Underground		Chance of Thunderstorms			Chance of Rain			Partly Cloudy
AccuWeather		Mostly Cloudy
NOAA	Cloud	83%	80%	79%	76%	75%	73%	71%
	PoP	60%	30%	20%	14%	14%	14%	10%
	Wind	14 W	14 W	14 W	13 WNW	13 WNW	13 WNW	11 WNW
	Temp	65	63	60	57	55	53	52
Forecasts as of 2400 EST 31Mar06

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2006 Observing Statistics

	Day			Night			Total
	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg
Jan	3.50	4	0.88	14.00	6	2.92	21.00	9	3.33
Feb	1.00	1	1.00	10.25	6	1.71	11.25	6	1.88
Mar	3.75	3	1.25	14.00	10	1.40	17.75	13	1.37
TOTAL	8.25	8	1.03	41.75	22	1.90	50.00	28	1.79

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Clear Sky Clock Accuracy for the Month of March 2006

30 March 2006

Observing Location	PSC My observations were cut short when I accumulated a large group of teenagers who wanted my binoculars. They dispersed when I got on the ham radio and was in communication with someone else.
Observational Period	1300-1430 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	At noon it is hazy but the sky still has a light blue color to it. CSC is saying average transparency which is probably about right. Transparency is supposed to drop for a few hours around 1600 EST then rebound around 2000 EST.
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars with Baader AstroSolar filter film - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Sunspots
Constellation	Psc
Category	Solar
Time	20060331.1330 EST
Comments	There are two groups of spots that have rotated onto the disk of the sun and were hanging down from around 11:00. 865 This spot is the one that is farthest onto the disk and appears biggest and most solid. There is a line of spots trailing it and then a pore. 866 866 is fainter and smaller. It looks like it could be a group of unconsolidated spots but it is still too foreshortened to tell much about it. Hemisphere Groups Spots Sunspot # North 2 3 23 South 0 0 0 Total 2 3 23 Sunspot # = (Groups *10) + Spots

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I just saw a news article about the next crew being en route to the ISS and found that they are due to dock there tomorrow night. I checked Heavens-Above and found that there is a visible pass of the ISS here at 0445 EST tomorrow morning. Next I checked CalSky and found a Progress pass 1 second later but realized that the location in CalSky was set to Washington DC. When I set it to New York City the progress pass disappeared. So it looks like they will be visible flying in tandem south of here but not from here. I may get up to observe just in case.

	Time	Alt	Az	Mag	Constellation
Rises	0443 EST	0.48°	214° SW	inv	Cen
Appears	0429 EST	10°	205° SSW	0.5	Cen
Max Alt/Transit	0448 EST	34°	137° SE	-0.3	Aql
Disappears/Sets	0450 EST	10°	61° ENE	5.4	And

CalSky graphic

Progress is scheduled to land on 8Apr06 with the current ISS crew. I have not seen any references to visible Progress passes for NYC on either 7Apr06 or 8Apr06.

29 March 2006

Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2130-2230 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	I received email from CSC saying that conditions would be spectacular between 1100 and 1800 EST today. So far I don't think they are as good as predicted. Transparency is good by not 100%. Conditions are supposed to continue clear with a slight decrease in transparency through the night but unfortunately I have a meeting to attend tonight. When I got out of my meeting I looked up and could see Castor, Pollux and Saturn framed by the buildings of Broadway down in SoHo so headed up to TotL for a little observing. Conditions in the park were very good but there was nobody there observing and I didn't have any equipment with me. I think CSC had a good forecast for tonight.
Instruments	Naked-eye observing - Charlie and Tom
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Tom Clabough

I expected that there would be others in the park but found myself alone. I had been talking to a couple of friends on the amateur radio on the way in so continued my conversation while counting stars. After a while Tom came walking up the west side of the lawn and we stood there observing for a bit before walking back the way he had come to see Jupiter rising. I got as much radio done as I did astronomy. But part of the radio conversation was about astronomy.

Naked-eye Limiting Magnitude Observations	I never got around to identifying what stars I was seeing but did count 48 easily seen stars.

Target	Saturn
Constellation	Cnc
Category	Planet
Time	20060309.2130 EST
Comments	Saturn, to me, looked double. I don't know if it was light refracting off the top of my bifocal or if I was seeing it through the bifocal lens with one eye and the upper portion of the lens with the other, or what. It is nice and bright and seems to be getting farther from Castor and Pollux.

Target	Mars
Constellation	Tau
Category	Planet
Time	20060309.2200 EST
Comments	There were two bright "stars" over the trees north of Orion and I thought one of them was Mars and the other Aldeberan but I couldn't get the Palm to work to conform what we were seeing. Tom felt the lower "star" was Mars and I thought that was Aldeberan and the upper "star" was Mars. All we could see of Orion was Betelgeuse, Alnitak, and Alnilam, the rest of the constellation being below the trees or lost in the schmutz. Auriga was behind the large tree to out west. It turns out the lower "star" was Mars and the upper one Alnath. Mars has moved away from Aldeberan a good bit since the last time I observed them. Advancing Planetarium a day at a time I see that Mars will be centered between Taurus' horns, right next to HIP 25695, a close binary system, on Sunday night. It is 8° between horn tips so I will not be able to see everything in one FOV.

Target	Jupiter
Constellation	Lib
Category	Planet
Time	20060309.2215 EST
Comments	Very bright next to the top of one of the tall buildings along Fifth Avenue near the Met. It may have been a little golden.

28 March 2006

Observing Location	NYC
Observational Period
Atmospheric Conditions	CSC is gray to white for tonight. I have a PHP meeting to attend anyway. It is certainly white out there now, in the early afternoon.
Instruments
Observing Party

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If my back and the weather hold out I am planning to go to Floyd Bennett Field to observe the grazing occultation of Celaeno. The Weather Channel says there may be some rain Saturday and Sunday is supposed to be partly cloudy but all that is likely to change some before then. I have emailed Steve Leiber to see what the legalities are for an individual in the park after dark and to see if he or anyone else will be there.

27 March 2006

I had two computers melt down then rearranged my back so haven't been online or out observing lately. In the meltdown I lost all the records I had backed out for my observing statistics for the year and the CSC accuracy assessments I had made for this month. I will be able to back both of them out again, but it will take some time.

Here are the recent CSC assessments I was able to make:

• 24Mar06 - good agreement
• 25Mar06 - good agreement
• 26Mar06 - good agreement

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	1955-2010 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	It was a beautiful day here today. I went out and sat still on a park bench in the afternoon and got a little bit red from the sun. I hadn't gotten the cables rerouted on my computers so couldn't get to a weather forecast but couldn't imagine that it would be anything other than great so headed downtown planning to arrive shortly before 2000 EST to participate in an amateur radio net before starting observing. To be kind to my back I wasn't carrying anything that wouldn't fit in my pockets so was planning on naked-eye observing. When I got off the subway there was a bus pulling into the stop so I rode it the three blocks over to the park. Getting off there I could see that the sky didn't look really dark. On getting into the park I could see that it was very mottled. I got to TotL and sat on a bench waiting for the net to start and watching the clouds pass by. About 2015 EST the batteries on the radio died and the clouds were still there so I headed home. Since I hadn't seen the CSC forecast I can't make any assessment of its accuracy tonight.
Instruments	Naked-eye - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

23 March 2006

There is a notice on SpaceWeather.com today about a hoax picture circulating on the internet that is supposed to show a huge Moon hanging over the tiny Sun as seen from the South Pole. It is a nice picture but the explanation goes on to say that it just can't happen that way. That got me to thinking about the relative size of the planets at aphelion/perihelion and apogee/perigee. And that got me thinking about a day when I was out at the park along and someone asked the distance to Mars and I could look it up in planetarium which gave it in AU, but I couldn't put that into miles which is what the questioner wanted. So I decided to create a spreadsheet to do the conversions in my Palm (that will get lost the next time I have to reset but may come in handy sometime before then). That got me searching the Web and got me a reference to a site called Solar System Live (which I notice is at Forumilab which is one of the sites I am seeing a lot recently). It will show you where all the planets are in their orbits on any data and at any time. You can even plug in the orbital elements of your favorite comet and see where it is.

I wasn't able to find anywhere on the Net where anyone has listed the date of closest perihelion and farthest aphelion. I did find that information for apogee and perigee within a 100 year window ending at 2015. So I have had to use this year's sun information with the historical moon data in the following chart.

	Aphelion (typical) Apogee (mazimum)		Perihelion (typical) Perigee (minimum)
	Distance	Subtends	Distance	Subtends
Sun	152,000,000 km 94,500,000 miles	31.47'	146,000,000 km 91,000,000 miles	32.53'
Moon	406,720 km 252,724 miles	29.78'	356,375 km 221,441 miles	33.83

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2015-2200 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	At noon it is mostly clear with a few passing fair weather cumulus clouds. The NOAA satellite imagery shows a hole in the clouds ovre the NYC metro area. NOAA graphic CSC says it will be clear through 2000 EST then cloud up a little to 10% cover through 0100 EST. Clear Sky Clock graphic But NOAA is saying that clouds will already be at 21% by 1900 EST and will build from there. NOAA graphic AccuWeather is forecasting thickening clouds for the overnight period with the temperature only dropping to 38°F and the winds around 5mph. They are predicting a RealFeel temperature of 36°F. When I went out to dinner it was cloudy but when I returned a half hour later it was clear. I got my gear together and headed out and by the time I got back downstairs it was mostly cloudy but I kept going. When I got into the park it was mostly cloudy but there were some holes, or at least thinner spots, in the clouds. Sometimes you could see a star and sometimes it would be gone. It was a little nippy but there was no wind. I think conditions were worse tonight than what CSC was (and still is) predicting and more in line with the NOAA prediction.
Instruments	SAR: Coulter CT-100 - Charlie I had the scope with me so set it up but didn't use it much.
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Kin Lee

Naked-eye Limiting Magnitude Observations	I wanted to do a limiting magnitude assessment for GLOBE at Night but the sky wouldn't cooperate again tonight. I did eventaully see stars down in the Mag 3.5-4 range, but not early enough to count them toward a GLOBE observation.

Target	Saturn
Constellation	Cnc
Category	Planet
Time	20060323.2045 EST
Comments	I could tell that Saturn wasn't round and when it was off to the left side of the field of view I thought I detected space between the rings and the planet on the sides. Saturn does not look as cigar shaped as it used to. This is due to the rings being near their maximum inclination (through 15May06) which makes the view more face on rather than edge on. After seeing the location of the moons in Kin's Tablet PC planetarium program it was fairly easy to pick out Titan off to the west of the planet.

Target	M45, The Beehive Cluster
Constellation	Cnc
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	20060323.2130 EST
Comments	I looked at M45 early on and all I could see were the bright stars. Later, when it had moved further west, I could see the dusting of faint stars between the gright ones.

22 March 2006

Observing Location	Virginia Ave off Metropolitan Ave, The Bronx, NY Lat: 40.834690547309265, Long: -73.861985206604
Observational Period	2145 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	Tonight is the start of the GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) at Night light-pollution survey and I had hoped to get out and make an assessment from at least one location in The Bronx. But the assessments have to be made between 1900 and 2100 hrs local time (so the kids don't have to stay up too late and also, Orion isn't dipping down into the schmutz). CSC now says it won't be clear enough to make any observations until 2100 EST. Clear Sky Clock graphic When I left the library at around 1935 Hrs it was very clear out and I thought I might stop off at TotL on the way home. At 2030 when I left dinner and was headed for Grand Central Terminal it was completely overcast. When I arrived home it was mostly cloudy, very windy and raw. I was glad I hadn't stopped off at TotL as I was not dressed for those weather conditions.
Instruments	Naked-eye Observing - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Orion
Constellation	Ori
Category	Constellation
Time	20060322.2145 EST
Comments	As I was walking up from the subway I spied Orion through a gap in the clouds and stopped long enough to see what stars I could see. It didn't take long as there weren't many. I got a hint of the star below Alnitak at Mag 3.77 but did not see his head which are Mag 3.2, 3.39 and 3.4 stars all grouped close together. I saw more stars than on the GLOBE Mag 3 chart but not as many as on their Mag 4 chart so am going to go with Mag 3.5. I was tempted to sneak the report in but it was 45 minutes outside of the reporting window so restrained myself.

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While I was at Grand Central Terminal looking at the stars in the ceiling I thought of submitting a report for that location but decided to behave. I think they are probably showing Mag 6 stars at least, but I have never noticed M45. I have often looked for Auriga and haven't picked it out either. I will have to look for M45 the next time I am there, and M44 as well.

21 March 2006

Observing Location	NYC
Observational Period
Atmospheric Conditions	It isn't terribly cold tonight and there is no wind so it is a lot more pleasant than it has been of late. But there is no sky to speak of. I did notice a few darker patches in the clouds but they are not thin enoough and properly placed for any stars to burn through. I think the CSC forecast tonight is in good agreement with the current conditions. Clear Sky Clock graphic
Instruments
Observing Party

20 March 2003

Observing Location	McGraw Hill Building, 1221 Avenue of the Americas (W 49 St), New York, NY Lat: 40.75917985432286, Long: -73.98133277893066
Observational Period	1130-1330 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	CSC says it is supposed to be clear and very transparent. It started out cloudy and then the sun started shining through holes in the clouds. Then it moved on to occasional clouds passing in front of the sun. Now we are back to the sun being behind large clouds a good bit of the time. It is supposed to be very clear most of the day and tonight according to CSC. Clear Sky Clock graphic NOAA is in substantial agreement with the CSC forecast. NOAA graphic But looking at the satellite imagery I don't see it happening. NOAA graphic The AccuWeather loop shows everything moving down out of Canada and western NY where there is lots of cloud. And the clouds for tomorrow's snow have to come from up in that direction. I am going to head downtown and hope there is a break in the clouds at noon. It was mostly cloudy at noon. A few times the sun poked through gaps between the clouds but mostly I had to view it through a veil of cloud. This was partially a good thing because it cut contrast making it a little easier to get pictures of the event. CSC was way off though. In the late afternoon it is finally clearing off some, but there are strong and gusty winds blowing. The satellite imagery is still showing a lot of clouds streaming down from upstate so I don’t hold a lot of faith for their forecast of a clear night. Clear Sky Clock graphic
Instruments	35mm, real film, camera - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Vernal Equinox
Constellation	Psc
Category	Solar
Time	20060320. EST
Comments	The Vernal Equinox was at 1326 EST (1826 UTC) today Planetarium shows the Sun as being at RA 0:0:0, Dec 0° 0' 0". At noon.the Sun was supposed to be aligned with the upper arm of the Sun Triangle at the McGraw-Hill building.. The triangle is a sculpture by the artist Athelstan Spilhaus that is installed in a sunken plaza in front of the McGraw-Hill building on Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue). It is just a huge, open, stainless steel triangle that extends up out of the plaza about a storey above street level and means nothing until you read the little plaque embedded in the pavement in front of the sculpture. The plaque tells you that the sun is aligned with various arms of the triangle at noon on various dates during the year. Those dates happen to be the dates of the solstices and equinoxes. At the time of the Winter Solstice the Sun is at its lowest in the sky when it culminates so it is aligned with the lower arm of the triangle. At the Vernal Equinox it is mid way up in the sky and is aligned with the long upper arm of the triangle. At the Summer Solstice the Sun is the highest it gets in the sky and is aligned with the short steeply inclined arm at the end of the triangle. By the Autumnal Equinox the sun has dropped to its intermediate level and is again aligned with the upper arm of the triangle. Here is the triangle and the Sun shortly before noon today. Because NYC is one degree away from its central meridian solar noon occurs four minutes after civil noon so at noon on the clock the sun was still a little bit to the left of the tip of the triangle. 1202 EST 1203 EST 1204 EST By the time of the equinox the sun had tracked west behind the buildings south of my location> Also embedded in the pavement of the plaza are a couple of maps. They are elongated polar projections of the northern and southern hemispheres. The northern hemisphere projection shows the continents clumped tightly together surrounded by a little bit of water and is supposed to represent the land world. In the polar projection of the southern hemisphere Antarctica is small in the center of the map and is surrounded by lots of water and it is supposed to represent a water world. I can understand what they are saying, but to me they are just maps. Information about the McGraw-Hill Sun Triangle: NYCJPEG Tyson Midtown Book Upcoming.org New York City Images

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Observing Location	NYC
Observational Period
Atmospheric Conditions	Much to my surprise, it has remained clear tonight as CSC had predicted. NOAA is now saying it will be clear through the night and clouds will build quickly in the morning but they have killed the forecast for snow. It is cold and windy out there with the wind chill dropping the effective temperature into the low 20s. I think CSC has a good forecast for tonight and have given them a second mark for today, one much worse than predicted and one as predicted.
Instruments
Observing Party

19 March 2006

Observing Location	NYC
Observational Period
Atmospheric Conditions	Last night CSC said it was going to be cloudy early then clear off but when I checked shortly after sunset it was already clear so I am saying conditions were better than forecast. But it was too windy to go out observing. It was a raw cold too. Clear Sky Clock graphic Tonight the forecast is much the same but at 2100 EST the sky is still almost totally cloud covered so I am saying conditions are worse than forecast. It has been cloudy all day today and still a raw cold. The wind was gusty and NOAA says it will be around 15-20 mph through tomorrow and they still have fire warnings posted for NYC. There were even some snow flurries at mid-day today. Clear Sky Clock graphic
Instruments
Observing Party

17 March 2006

Observing Location	NYC
Observational Period
Atmospheric Conditions	It was a beautiful day all day today but now that clear sky is going south, literally. CSC said that right about now it was supposed to start getting cloudy and transparency would get worse. Clear Sky Clock graphic When I arrived home it looked clear but I was seeing very few stars. I checked the AccuWeather IR satellite loop and it is showing clouds moving down from Lake Ontario. They appear to be breakign up a little but there is still enough there that I don't think it is worth getting dressed and going back downtown. Per NOAA, winds are supposed to be steady in the teens also. I think CSC has made an acurate prediction for tonight.
Instruments
Observing Party

16 March 2006

Blogger ate another of my posts. This time it didn't even publish it first. This the second blog thay have done this to.

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2100-2145 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	CSC and NOAA were at odds today over the forecast. CSC was forecasting that it would be clear around 1700 EST, which it was, and would then get cloudy. Clear Sky Clock graphic NOAA was saying 2% cloud cover at 1700 EST and it would drop even lower through the same time tomorrow. Clear Sky Clock graphic It looked very clear when I went downtown for a meeting tonight. On getting out of the meeting I looked up and could see stars between the buildings. When I got to TotL there was at least 50% cloud cover. There were sky worms everywhere and just plane old clouds. The sky to the north was obscured but there were holes in the clouds to the south and I suspect that since the weather station is at Belvedere Castle, south of TotL, a check of the NOAA observed conditions for Central Park will show that they were better at the time than I observed. I stood around for 45 minutes watching the stars as they appeared in the holes in the clouds. It wasn't terribly cold but there was a moderate wind. I think CSC was dead on tonight. NOAA is now saying 20% cloud cover but there was more cloud there than on previous nights when they say 40% so they are the ones who were way off tonight. I would call it a Mag 4 sky (between the clouds) tonight. Time Wind Dir. Speed Gusts Vis. Sky Temp. 2051 EST Var 3 -- 10 m Clr 39°F 2151 EST Var 6 mph -- 10 m Clr 39°F
Instruments	I had the Canons with me but never got them out.
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

I saw Leo for the first time this season. At various times it was clear enough to pick out all the major stars. The kite of Bootes was laying over on its side just above the trees and I could see three stars on the lower side of the kite as well as the tail star.

15 March 2006

Observing Location	NYC
Observational Period
Atmospheric Conditions	CSC says it will be clear tonight with above average transparency. There are clouds out there although they are scattered. I can see some stars but not the number I think I should be seeing if transparency is above average. I think conditions are worse than predicted. It doesn't matter much because it is too windy for astronomy. There were fire warnings up for NYC today because it was so windy and the humidity so low. I don't remember ever hearing that before in the city.
Instruments
Observing Party

14 March 2006

I found a little more information about the Celestron SkyScout today. It appears that nobody has actually used, probably even held, one of these things since there are no reviews for it. Everything you read on the Web is the hype from Celestron with a ship date of this month. The few people who have actually seen it must have watched a Celestron rep demo it at one of the trade shows.

I managed to find this I4U News interview with Celestron at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show.

It is a terrible interview from a marketing point of view. During the three minute uncut interview the Celestron rep regerred to the unit as IT. Neither he nor the interviewer ever used the name of the device at all. From the demonstration it appears that you sight on an object through the device then push a button and have to take the device away from your eye to read about the object in the LCD screen on the side of the unit. It looks like the objective end has about a 2-3" aperture. He said that it will "launch at 399" which sounds like he is quoting a MSRP although the web indicates that it is $417.95.

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Observing Location	Hall of Science, Corona Park, Flushung Meadows, Flushing, NY Lat: 40.74729760342077, Long: -73.85119199752808
Observational Period	1800-1915 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	Early today CSC was predicting clear and perfectly transparent skies. By the time I left the house for Queens they had backed away from that forecast and were predicting up to 70% cloud cover and even poor transparency for an hour. There were a few isolated clouds but less than 10% cloud cover. There was some haze but it was very light. The wind was strong and made it feel very cold. It also meant there was some boiling on the limb of the moon. La Guardia Airport Time Wind Dir Speed Gusts Vis Colud Cover Temp. 1751 EST W 24 mph 33 mph 10 m Mostly Cloudy 50ºF 1851 EST W 20 mph 36 mph 10 m Partly Cloudy 48ºF 1951 EST W 18 mph 28 mph 10 m A Few Clouds 46ºF Transparency Excellent Seeing Good When I got out of my meeting at 2200 EST the sky was 23-50% covered by broken cumulus clouds. I think at 1800 EST conditions were much better than the last CSC predictionn I saw. At 2200 EST they were better so I will say overall they were much better. The weather service has a high wind warning in effect for tomorrow. I didn't notice it earlier today but I wouldn't be surprised if there had been one in effect for today also. Sustained winds peaked out at 23 mph today in Central Park with the highest gust registering 36 mph. La Guardia always seems to be windier and their peak sustained wind was 30 mph with their highest gust at 43 mph.
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Iridium Flare
Constellation
Category	Satellite
Time	20060314.1810 EST
Comments	Not Seen I watched for this Mag -7 flare from 1805 EST until 1815 EST and didn't see anything. I could see much dimmer Spica so the Iridium must have been behind a cloud.

Target	Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
Constellation	Lib
Category	Lunar
Time	20060314.1820 EST
Comments	When I first saw the moon I was in the parking lot at the north end of the Hall of Science. The moon was rising behind a modern statue of a plane making a very nice picture. 1822 EST The shadow was visible on the south limb and did not extend as far up as Tycho. 1849 EST At the time of maximum eclipse the moon was emerging from behind clouds. The snudge was as far up as Tycho. It was not very imressive and actuall looked better naked-eye. The smudge seems to be darker west of Tycho

Target	ISS Visible Pass
Constellation	Ari, Tau, Ori, Mon, Hya
Category	Satellite
Time	20060314.1833 EST
Comments	I moved from the parking lot behind the Hall of Science through an open fence into a grassed area and up a rise overlooking the Grand Central Parkway. From this location I could see very low to the horizon in all directions. The ISS was already high up when I first sighted it. It passed half way between orange Mars and orange Aldeberan, a few degrees above orange Betelgeuse and half way between white Procyon and white Spica. After it had pssed Procyon and was moving away it gave the appearance of continually reducing speed. Eventually it faded out above the aviary. This is the rough path of the ISS through Taurus, Orion and Monoceros. Annotated Distant Suns graphic The following finder chart from Heavens-Above.com shows the actual track of the ISS. Heavens-Above.com graphic This is more like what I saw in the sky (minus the ISS). Cartes du Ciel graphic This was hands down the best sight of the night.

13 March 2006

The other day I was checking out my Frappr! map for my occultations site and thought about astronomy blogs. I didn't see a Frappr map for astronomy bloggers so created one called AstroBlogger.
I tried to embed the map here but apparently Blogger isn't amenable to that.
So I have had to settle for a link to the map. I am the only person on the map right now. The idea of the map is that astronomy bloggers will post a link to their blog so others can find it. It would be like an astronomy blog ring. It is a little ironic that I should even create the map since I don't make my blog public because of some if the copyrighted content I include it it, which is there for my reference and I consider Fair Use. But the copyright holder and his/her lawyer might not agree with that interpretation.

[This is strange. Frappr! is based on the Google Maps API and when you go to the map that is what you see. But when you use their code to embed the map in your page it uses the new Yahoo Local Maps API.]

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Observing Location	NYC
Observational Period
Atmospheric Conditions	I think CSC has gone crazy. They have a block marked at 40% cloud cover and beneath it say that it is too cloudy to predict transparency. And the next block is also 40% cloud cover but transparency is supposed to be poor. Looking at tomorrow for the eclipse I see a block marked 40% cloud cover and it being too cloudy to predict transparency but the hour before the cloud cover is supposed to be 80% and they say the air will be transparent. Looking one square to the right it is alsp 40% cloud cover but is also transparent. I don't understand how you can predict transparency with 80% cloud cover when it is too cloudy to predict it when there is only 40% cloud cover. It is completely overcast here tonight. Since CSC was predicting 40% cloud cover I will say conditions are worse than predicted.
Instruments
Observing Party

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I have seen some early rumbles about the Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium device. It sounds interesting. You look through the eyepiece at a "bright" star and it will ID the star for you.

Tonight I saw an ad saying you can preorder it so I clicked on it to see what the cost is. This thing isn't even available yet and already everyone is discounting it 35% from the MSRP of $617.95 down to $399.00. (Do I smell price fixing going on? Maybe these dealers know that I am a good guy and all just want me to have this device for less that its true value and all, coincidentally, came up with the price of $399.00.) Celestron says it will start shipping in May06.

I wonder if it can do what they say it does. There is a database that is supposed to identify 6,000 stars. It uses GPS to figure out where it is and when it is, planetarium software to figure out what is out, and "3 axis sensors measuring gravitational and magnetic fields to determine the true orientation of the SkyScout to the earth". Celestron lists about a half-dozen awards it has received, but none of them from astronomy organizations or publications.

The specs tell you all about how many objects are in its catalog but neglect to mention how much magnification, if any, is in the optical system or how long the batteries last. One picture I saw shows a guy with it mashed right up against his eyeglasses and another in the same ad has a guy without glasses holding it about a foot away from his face. It looks like you look through it and there appears to be a lens on the front end. But all the Celestron specifications talk about is the resolution of its LCD screen, which might be the one on the side of the unit or could be some kind of heads up internal display. I am wondering if this is something you look at with one eye while looking at the sky with the other and your brain has to superimpose one image on the other.

12 March 2006

Observing Location	NYC
Observational Period
Atmospheric Conditions	CSC says it is supposed to be overcast tonight but I could see stars everywhere. There wasn't even much of a ring around the Moon. I would have to say conditions are much better than forecast. Clear Sky Clock graphic
Instruments
Observing Party

11 March 2006

Observing Location	CSP
Observational Period	0330-0530 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	Conditions were variable but sufficient. When I arrived I could see some areas of haze or cloud but they weren't heavy. A patch of denser colud passed therough and then it was primarily patches of denser haze that troubled me. The temperature wasn't terribly cold but it was a little moist so felt colder than it was, particularly when the wind gusted. Central Park Time Local Wind Dir Speed Gusts Vis Miles Cloud Cover Temp °F Wind Chill °F 0251 EST W 8 -- 10 Clear 52 -- 0351 EST NW 9 16 10 Clear 51 -- 0451 EST Vbl 6 -- 10 Clear 50 -- 0551 EST 0 -- 10 Clear 48 -- Wind chill is not calculated when the air temperature is above 40ºF LaGuardia Airport Time Local Wind Dir Speed Gusts Vis Miles Cloud Cover Temp °F Wind Chill °F 0251 EST N 12 -- 10 Mostly Clear 52 -- 0351 EST NW 17 -- 10 Mostly Clear 51 -- 0451 EST NW 17 -- 10 Partly Cloudt 50 -- 0551 EST NW 16 -- 10 A Few Clouds 49 -- Transparency Fair Seeing Good
Instruments	Canon IS 15x50 binocular -- Charlie Pentax 20x60 binocular -- Kin
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Kin Lee

Target	Jupiter
Constellation	Lib
Category	Planet
Time	20060311.0330 EST
Comments	I saw two moons to Jupiter's left (Io and Calisto) and one to its right (Europa). Later when we put Kin's binocular on my tripod I was able to see Ganymede almost touching the planet's rim on the right. Zuben Elgenubi and Zuben Elschemali were fairly easy to locate. Zuben Elakrab took a bit more work.

Target	Venus
Constellation	Cap
Category	Planet
Time	20060311.0415 EST
Comments	I saw Venus rising naked eye but didn't look at it until it was well up. By that time it was shining too brightly to be observable in the binoculars.

Target	Iridium Flare
Constellation	Cas
Category	Satellite
Time	20060311.0443 EST
Comments	Flare from Iridium 37 This is the first Iridium flare I have seen in a long time. It was a long flare and very bright.

Target	C/2006 A1 (Pojmanski)
Constellation	Del
Category	Comet
Time	20060311.0430 EST
Comments	When I first arrived I was able to locate Altair and Tarazed naked eye and star hopped in the binocular down to Delphinus which was low on the horizon to the right of the bridge. All of the bright stars of Delphinus were easily seen in the binocular but I could not make out any of the fainter stars to its left for sure. When Delphinus rose higher it got into a little clearer air and the dimmer stars started to become visible. I thought at one point that I might have seen the comet but can't be sure of it. Later we put Kin's binocular on my tripod and the view improved. His binocular provides a bit more contrast than mine so the fainter stars were more obvious. There was one star out there that just wouldn't resolve and I am sure that was the comet. We did not see any indication of a tail. I had looked up the ephemeris on a web site that posted it for several days during the month and put it in Planetarium. One of the days happened to be 11Mar06 so I should have had a good indication of the comet's location but it did not agree with where I found it. When I got home I looked the ephemeris up on a harvard site and it gave a different location which was right where we found it. I found that the Your Sky star charts (listed in the links) allow you to cut and paste the ephemeris data from anywhere into a form and will use it to plot the location of a comet or asteroid, and probably anything else you plug in there.

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I had to attend a meeting of the NY Map Society today at the NYPL. They have just renovated and reopened the map room so I visited their web site to see what it looks like. At the bottom of the page is a link to the Map Shop at the Library Shop so I checked that out and found several items of astronomical or related interest. They are all overpriced, but it IS a museum-type shop after all.

Sagittarius Globe	$65
Armillary Sphere	185
Map of the Heavens Poster	35
Constellation Globe	85
Crystal Globe	68
18th Century Atlas Armillary	525
18th Century Sundial and Compass	50

I think it is a tip off that this stuff is overpriced that all of the prices are in even dollar amounts ending in either 0 or 5 (except for the Crystal Globe which inexplicably ends in an 8). Anywhere else the Sagittarius Globe would be something like $64.95. This stuff is not priced to draw in the bargain hunter, or even the normal shopper. They are catering to the deep pockets clientele. This is one of those stores where if you need to look at the prices you don't belong there.

I asked the division assitant about any astronomical holdings they may have. In the stack area they have a small glove (~12-15" diameter I would guess) housed in a plexiglass cube and held to its base by wire rope. I was told that they don't have much in the area of astronomy but do have some Moon charts and a few other items. I will have to get back there to check these out. The library also has a book in the Rare Books room that you need a special access card to see. The card is painless go get and is used to reduce the amount of theft if historic materials that goes on in libraries everywhere (see The Island of Lost Maps : A True Story of Cartographic Crime by Miles Harvey).

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Observing Location	NYC
Observational Period
Atmospheric Conditions	CSC was predicting 60% cloud cover up until 2300 EST when it went up to 90%. I think they were optimistic again as I did not see any stars and the Moon was shining through a lot of atmosphere. I will be generous again tonight and say that conditions were only worse than predicted since they were calling for clouds anyway. Clear Sky Clock graphic
Instruments
Observing Party

10 March 2006

Observing Location	NYC
Observational Period
Atmospheric Conditions	It is mostly cloudy here today and at 1500 the temperature was 73ºF breaking the brevious high of 71ºF that has stood since 1955. We are supposed to have a cold front move through this afternoon and the temperature tonight will drop down to a frigid 48ºF. We are thinking about an expedition over to CSP around 0400 EST tomorrow morning to try for Pojmanski again. CSC and NOAA say the clouds will be breaking up overnight but the humidity is supposed to be high and transparency below normal. Clear Sky Clock graphic CDC is predicting the comet being at Mag 7.2 but the recent comet magnitudes site says that on 7.33Mar06 it was still at Mag 5.7 as observed from Brazil in a 20x80 binocular. Carted cu Ciel graphic When I arrived home at 2030 EST tonight I could see a few stars and the ring wasn't too bad around the moon so I am going to try and get some sleep and head down to CSP around 0230 EST tomorrow morning to give Pojmanski one more try. I think the conditions are a little worse tonight than CSC predicted.

9 March 2006

Observing Location	NYC
Observational Period
Atmospheric Conditions	CSC says it will be about 40% cloud covered at the start of the normal observational period and get worse as the night progresses while NOAA says cloud cover will be dropping over that same period and will begin to climb again after 0100. Either way it will be too cloudy and humid for observing. CSC says it will be too cloudy through noon on Saturday for them to predict transparency. Clear Sky Clock graphic NOAA graphic
Instruments
Observing Party	It was cloudy here all day today. Not real dense cloud, I could still tell there was blue up there but I couldn't see the sky. Instead of getting better like CSC had predicted it either stayed the same or got worse, it is hard to tell. But I could see the moon burning through the clouds tonight so it wasn't as bad as last night. It is warm but the humidity makes it feel a little nippy. I will give CSC the benefit of the doubt and say that the observed conditions tonight were worse than predicted.

8 March 2006

Observing Location	NYC
Observational Period
Atmospheric Conditions	CSC says tonight will be marginal with variable clouds and seeing and high humidity. Clear Sky Clock graphic NOAA isn't quite so optimistic. They are indicating 50% clouds already and building. Rain is expected to begin overnight and will preclude us seeing Pojmanski this weekend. NOAA graphics I couldn't find the moon behind all the clouds out there so I am going to have to say CSC wasn't even close tonight.
Instruments
Observing Party

7 March 2006

I just found this Space.com story about the proposed impact of the ESA orbiter SMART-1 into the Moon on 1-2Sep06. Spacecraft to Slam into the Moon They say the likely impact area is Lacus Excellentiae and that it will be in daylight at the time so ground based observatories can observe it.

I booted up Virtual Moon Atlas to find out where Lacus Excellentiae is then set the ephemeris to 2Sep06 and by advancing the time to just shy of midnight UT (1900 EDT) I found that the area is just on the daylight side of the terminator. Checking Planetarium I find that the Moon transits that evening at 2033 EDT so it should be high in the sky and not yet into the Gegenschein as viewed from TotL. 2Sep06 is a Saturday.

Virtual Moon Atlas graphic

I think I would have preferred it to have occurred a day earlier when Lacus Excellentiae will be in shadow and any explosion of the remaining fuel might be easier to detect. But there is a lot of slop yet in the actual target area and date.

ESA SMART-1 web site

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A bit closer in is this ongoing (I think) project to document world-wide light-pollution.

Globe at Night.

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I just heard about this on a hamr radio broadcast where they were talking about radio propagation. 6-10Mar06 is Solar Week. It is primarily aimed at educating school children.

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Another find on the ham radio broadcast is The Space Report. It looks like this is mostly podcasts of current space news. It also appears to be the source of the Universe Today news articles.

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2015-2300 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	CSC says it will be clear with worse than average to average seeing tonight, but they say the RH will be 60-80% which would adversely effect transparency. Clear Sky Clock graphic NOAA is saying that it will be clear and cold but the humidity will only be in the 45-55% range which, although not great, would not have as much of an effect on transparency. Clear Sky Clock graphic When I went downtown the sidewalks were all wet. It hadn't rained and the humidity wasn't high enough for them to be getting wet that way. I think it is because they are all covered with salt from the last snow storm and it is drawing any moisture out of the air. But the air is noticeably moist and it felt raw even though it wasn't terribly cold. The wind was a little bothersome when it occasionally gusted. There were no obvious clouds and no pronounced ring around the Moon, but I think there was some light haze up there. I didn't observe any boiling on the limb of the moon. I think conditions were a little better than CSC had predicted, which is what I was expecting. Transparency Good Seeing Good
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars - Charlie Tacahashi 22x60 binoculars - Peter
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac

I started out trying to observe the dimmer stars that I observed Sunday night and had trouble getting my bearings in Planetarium. I eventually got it figured out and located some of the stars but I just wasn't into it and never finished the task. I switched over to The Engagement Ring in UMi to identify the stars there and didn't finish that either. I looked at the Moon but didn't observe it. When I first got the binoculars out I noted a string of stars hanging below Mars (HIP 21341, HIP 21399, HIP 21442 and HIP 21436) but forgot to go back to them after I was all set up on the tripod and not doing any observing. Mostly Peter and I just talked.

5 March 2006

Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2015-2200 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	Both CSC and NOAA said it was going to be good tonight and start to cloud up around midnight. I think the clouds moved in a little early but it wasn't bad. When I got home I looked at the satellite loop and could see a band of clouds moving into the area that will be followed by some clearing before the major cloud gets here. Since the cloud and thin haze that was there didn't adversely affect my observing I am going to say that CSC was accurate again tonight. I was using my PDA almost continuously and that and the temperature drained the fully charged battery in about an hour which was when the clouds started to arrive. I stuck it out for another 30 minutes and as I was packing up some strong gusts of wind came through. During the time I was there I observed the tops of the trees to be in perpetual motion. The wind was out of the NW so was at my back most of the time and not a real problem. Time Local Wind Dir Speed Gusts Vis Miles Cloud Cover Temp °F Wind Chill °F 1951 EST NW 12 20 10 Clr 40°F 31°F 2051 ESt W 12 -- 10 Clr 39°F 32°F 2151 EST W 9 20 10 Clr 38 28 Transparency Good Seeing Good
Instruments	Canon IS 15x50 binocular -- Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Canon 15x50 IS Binocular Limiting Magnitude Observations

My goal tonight was to look into M45 and see how deeply I could see with my binocular and how that compares to the assessment I made with SAR. To do this properly I should be making the observations simultaneously so that the conditions match up all along the way. But since I only have one tripod that will not happen. Someday maybe I will repeat the process with both sets of optics on the same night but for now this will have to do. Star Mag. M45, The Pleiades Maia 3.87 Taygeta 4.30 Electra 3.72 Celaeno 5.45 Asterope 5.76 Sterope II 6.43 TYC 1800-1908-1 7.33 TYC 1800-1974-1 7.58 TYC 1800-1961-1 8.10 TYC 1803-188-1 8.11 TYC 1799-73-1 8.27 TYC 1803-486-1 8.06 Alcyone 2.85 TYC 1800-2201-1 6.27 TYC 1800-1607-1 8.19 TYC 1800-1567-1 7.28 HIP 17692 6.99 HIP 17684 6.98 TYC 1800-1630-1 7.76 TYC 1800-2192-1 7.79 Atlas 3.62 Pleione 5.05 TYC 1800-901-1 7.95 TYC 1804-265-1 7.52 HIP 17862 6.62 TYC 1800-985-1 7.53 TYC 1804-163-1 7.44 HIP 17832 6.47 HIP 17900 6.17 HIP 17923 6.73 HIP 17999 6.95 M44, Beehive Cluster 39 Cnc 6.39 HIP 42523 6.61 TYC 1395-2003-1 7.94 HIP 42578 6.83 HIP 42600 6.77 ε Cnc 6.29 HIP 42549 6.42 TYC 1395-2006-1 7.59 TYC 1395-1677-1 7.46 TYC 1395-1993-1 7.45 TYC 1395-2711-1 7.29 HIP 42497 6.59 TYC 1395-2003-1 7.94 HIP 42485 6.65 TYC 1395-1928-1 7.44 TYC 1395-2445-1 8.47 HIP 42673 6.90 HIP 42542 6.76 TYC 1395-2198-1 7.64 TYC 1395-2366-1 9.23 TYC 1395-2404-1 11.75 impossible TYC 1395-2311-1 10.71 doubtful TYC 1395-2210-1 8.03 TYC 1395-1721-1 7.93 TYC 1395-1886-1 8.42 TYC 1395-744-1 8.31 TYC 1398-50-1 8.99 TYC 1398-99-1 10.09 doubtful TYC 1398-266-1 8.15 TYC 1398-128-1 7.75 TYC 1398-75-1 9.22 TYC 1398-161-1 9.38 TYC 1395-814-1 8.14 TYC 1398-266-1 8.15 TYC 1398-158-1 9.99 doubtful Orion's Sword θ1 Ori 4.98 θ2 Ori 4.98 TYC 4774-934-1 6.20 TYC 4774-935-1 8.38 TYC 4774-849-1 8.44 HIP 26314 6.56 TYC 4778-1369-1 7.34 TYC 4774-809-1 8.06 Nair al Saif 2.75 HIP 26199 4.78 HIP 26197 5.67 TYC 4778-1358-1 7.14 TYC 4778-1350-1 8.26 TYC 4778-1370-1 7.44 HIP 26314 6.56 TYC 4778-1369-1 7.34 HIP 26258 6.75 45 Ori 5.24 42 Ori 4.58 HIP 26137 6.80 TYC 4774-925-1 7.31 TYC 4774-927-1 7.17 HIP 26233 6.57 HIP 26234 6.24 HIP 26257 6.56 TYC 4774-921-1 7.12 TYC 4774-917-1 7.54 TYC 4774-919-1 7.75 TYC 4774-65-1 7.58 TYC 4774-189-1 8.08 Faintest Star Observed Optics Mag. Binocular 9.38 Telescope I am having trouble writing here that I saw Mag 9 stars but the number of times they appear in the list leads me to believe that it might be so. The Mag 11 is probably me tapping the wrong star and the same for the 10s, but I don't think I would have tagged 7 stars wrong and all within the same cluster and none in the others. I just can't bring myself to claim anything fainter than 9.5 though. This needs further study.

Target	Saturn
Constellation	Cnc
Category	Planet
Time	20060305. EST
Comments	Saturn is still in the same FOV with M44, Praesape, the Beehive Cluster. Saturn looked very crisp and bright and obviously not round.

Target	Moon
Constellation	Tau
Category	Lunar
Time	20060305. EST
Comments	I could just fit the Moon and Aldeberan in the same FOV. The terminator was going down through the middle of Mare Serenitatis. Other than the marea, the main features of note were the triplet of craters slightly south of the equator and a way off the terminator, Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina. It appeared to me that Theophilus intruded into Cyrillus as far as the later's central peak. I did not note the smaller craters around the walls of Catharina that are depicted in the LAC atlas charts. There were a couple of craters farther south that were very dark with shadow on their floor. About 2145 EST a band of cloud passed over the moon. At that time it was in a halo of illuminated cirrus clouds. The outer edge of the illumination had a deeb red tinge to it.

Target	Mars
Constellation	Tau
Category	Planet
Time	20060305. EST
Comments	Mars was above the Cyclopse. It looked very bright and orange.