9 August 2004

Observing Location	TotL
Atmospheric Conditions	The seeing was very good, but there were bands of clouds that you had to see between. I saw things I have not seen before.
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Cassiopeia (The Queen)
Time	9Aug04; 2356 EDT
Category	Constellation
Comments	Cassiopeia was between bands of clouds so I was able to get a good view of it. I don't remember ever seeing ε Cas before even in the binoculars but it was there naked-eye tonight. I picked out NGC 457 over next to ψ Cas. It looked like it was about half a field across and had several bright stars in it. M103 next to δ Cas was not as bright and the stars did not seem as densely packed. NGC 663 was dimmer still and may have been a little more dense than M103

Target	Summer Triangle
Time	10Aug04; 0003 EDT
Category	Asterisms
Comments	The Summer Triangle was at the zenith. The air around it was very clear and it shone brightly.

Target	M 39, NGC7092
Time	10Aug04; 0003 EDT
Category	Deep Space Objects
Comments	I think I saw M39 tonight but the Summer Triangle was right overhead and it was too hard to hold the binoculars still enough at that angle to be sure. I was definitely in the neighborhood and the sky was clear there at the time.

Target	Ophiuchus (Serpent-bearer)
Time	10Aug04; 0006 EDT
Category	Constellation
Comments	I thought I was seeing Antares, the heart of the scorpion, through the clouds but now I see that Sco had already set so I guess I was looking at Ophiuchus. I suspect I saw η and ν Oph and thought I was working down the body of the scorpion. That would explain why I couldn't find the rest of the tail or Dschubba in the head. I had attributed it to lanes of cloud and proximity to the tower of light from Times Square.