28 August 2004

Observing Location	Carl Schurz Park
Atmospheric Conditions	It was hot and very humid which meant there weren't many people in the park today. It was a little hazy but there were no clouds and there was no problem seeing the sun. There was some boiling from the fumes coming up from the FDR Drive which runs under the park and from heat being radiated by the walk.
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars wit Baader film filter - Charlie Orion 80 mm refractor with Orion solar filter - Tom 8" Celestron with Baader film in professional cell - Bruce Celestron NexStar 5 with Baader film filter - Alice
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Tom MacIntire Bruce Kamiat Alice Barner

Target	Sun
Time	28Aug04; 1255
Category	Solar
Comments	There are two small sunspots near the right limb today. One of them will have rotated off the earth facing side of the sun by tomorrow or Monday the latest. I can see a large patch without granularity beneath one of the spots but in Alice and Bruce's telescopes at higher magnification it looks much thinner and more complex. In Bruce's scope, at much higher magnification, I can see a small sunspot inboard of the large inboard sunspot. I am not seeing it in my binoculars or in Tom's telescope. In Bruce's scope I can focus the granularity of the sun but can't make out individual granules. It is more like thee texture of a piece of cloth which you can see but don't really see.

Target	Solar Filters
Time	28Aug04; 1300
Category	Equipment
Comments	Tom was using an glass orange filter he got from Orion. He had more magnification than I do with my binoculars but I was not able to detect the rice grain structure of the sun's surface or the lack of it near the sunspots. I think filters made of Baader film are better than the glass filters sold by Orion and Thousand Oaks.

Target	Canon 15x50 IS Binoculars
Time	28Aug04; 1300
Category	Equipment
Comments	Whenever I look at something large and bright like the Moon or Sun I can detect chromatic aberration in my binoculars. Initially I wasn't sure if it was the binoculars or the filter but since it is there when the moon is bright it has to be in the binoculars themselves. I am seeing a fringe of light green around the sun from around 4:00 over to around 9:00 where it is transitioning to pink which continues to around 2:00. The color is strongest around 12:00 and 6:00 and is absent at 3:00.