24 February 2007

Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2000-0130 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 20s Wind Humidity High Feels Like Cold When I arrived it was clear and very transparent. Around midnight a stripe of cloud moved across the sky quickly and a ring formed around the moon. Even high up Saturn would not take magnification. When I got to the subway I found the pages of the book I was carrying were warped from the moisture they had absorbed. Transparency Good becoming Fair Seeing II
Instruments	Teleport 10" Donsonisn reflector - Peter
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac Kin Lee

The kingly brilliance of Sirius pierced the eye with a steely glitter, the star called Capella was yellow. Aldeberan and Betelgeux shone with a fiery red. To persons standing alone on a hill during a clear midnight such as this, the roll of the world eastward is almost a palpable movement. Thomas Hardy

Target M81, Bode’s Galaxy, NGC 3031 Constellation UMa Category DSO: Gal Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070224.2015 EST Comments Peter was on the galaxies when I arrived. I easily saw M81.

Target M82, Cigar Galaxy, NGC 3034 Constellation UMa Category DSO: Gal Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070224.2015 EST Comments I had a lot of trouble seeing this one. Even at high magnification with averted vision it was only a hint.

Target Saturn Constellation Leo Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070224.2030 EST Comments Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 164.37°W Distance Light Time (from Earth) 8.24 AU 1h08m Distance (from Sun) 9.19 Au Angular Size 20.1"x17.8" Ring Angular Size 45.6"x11.4" Ring Inclination 14.43° Magnitude 0.0 Altitude 47.28° Saturn was looking good. The view was crisp and stable. I coule see the Casini division, more prominently to the west of the planet. The C ring was visible in front of the planet and planet shadow was visible on the rings close to the planet. We saw four moons and noted movement of the closest moons.

Target Moon Constellation Tau Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070224.2100 EST Comments Lunation 1041 Phase First Quarter +18h Age 7d9h45m Distance Light Time (from earth) 374,000 km 1.25s Elongation 99.48°E % Illuminated 58.2% Magnitude -10.6 Angular Size 32'2" Altitude 56.73° I noted the Altai Scarp and the Alpine Valley. South of Mare Imbrium I found a darkened area that looked like a couple of mitochondria surrounded by an arcing white line. Peter identified the line in one of his Palm apps as being Rima Hyginus, but we weren’t able to identify the hummocky feature. Unfortunately that area is on four different LAC plates and stitching even two of them is difficult. It appears that we were looking at the area around Boscovich and Julius Caesar. [3Mar07 Peter has subsequently advised that he had misidentified the feature and that it is really Vallis Shroteri which appears on the right and left edges of LAC charts 38 and 39 respectively. This identification does not stack with my description of the midochondrea being inside the white arc.] LAC plate 38 detail LAC plate 39 detail

Target M35 Constellation Gem Category DSP: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070224 EST Comments M35 looked huge, filling whatever eyepiece peter had in at the time. There were some color differences evident among the stars.

Target M104, Sombrero Galaxy, NGC 4594 Constellation Vir Category DSO: Gal Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070225 EST Comments Peter went after three galaxies that were fairly close together. I think M104 was one of them and the first one. It was a large galaxy that was much brighter at its core which was offset to the lower right of the FoV. At the top the

Target M94, NGC4736 Constellation CVn Category DSL: Gal Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070225 EST Comments This galaxy was a lot smaller than M104 and fainter. It formed a right triangle with two brighter stars.

Target Algieba, γ Leo Constellation Leo Category Double Star Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 2007 EST Comments Mag 2.3/3.5, 4.7” A close double that did not cleanly split.

Target Cor Caroli, α CVn Constellation Cvn Category Double Stars Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070225 EST Comments Mag 2.9/5.5, 19.3” A wide double; one star was white and the other yellow.