27 October 2004

Observing Location	TPO
Atmospheric Conditions	As has been happening a lot lately, it started out a beautiful night then the clouds rolled in. At least they waited until near mid-eclipse so we got to see the moon go into totality and can imagine what it would have looked like coming out of it. The temperature wasn't too bad and it didn't feel too humid.
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars, Minolta X700 camera with 500mm catadioptric lens and 2x telextender - Charlie TeleVue TV76 - Ben Tachahachi 102 - Peter TeleVue Pronto - Rik refractor - Tom TeleVue 85 with binoviewer - Curtis Meade 14" SCT with CCD and TV monitor - Lincoln 20x80 binoculars - Tony
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Ben Cacace Peter Tagatac Rik Davis Tom Macintyre Ken Brown Curtis Lincoln Karim Tony Hoffman general public

Target	Vega, Cosmos 1222, Cosmos 1005 Rocket
Time	27Oct04, 1904 EDT
Category	Satellites
Comments	Cosmos 1222 and the Cosmos 1005 rocket were supposed to have passed each other going in opposite directions between Vega and Alberio. Rick and I were watching for them but didn't see any satellites around that time. They were both a little dimmer than Alberio so probably would have been seen but possibly not.

Target	Kemble's Cascade
Time	27Oct04, 2000 EDT
Category	Asterism
Comments	While waiting for the start of the eclipse I sneaked a look at the Cascade. I could find the bright guide stars and NGC 1502 but not the Cascade itself. The near full moon was washing everything out. I tried again during early totality and had trouble even finding the guide stars with the binoculars on my tripod. For diagonal slewing a ball head is definitely easier to use than my geared head. But for precise control I still like the geared head.

Target	Total Lunar Eclipse
Time	27Oct04, 2006-2300 EDT
Category	Lunar
Comments	P1 2006 The Moon has just entered the dimmer cone of the Earth's shadow formed by rays of light being bent as they pass through Earth's atmosphere and spilling into the shadow cone. There is no perceptible change in the brightness of the Moon at this time. 2050 2054 This is when the Web sites were saying the penumbral shadow would start to become visible. I think I saw a slight darkening a couple of minutes before this. 2100 2110 U1 2114 The Moon has just entered Earth's umbra, the darker cone of shadow behind Earth, and a bite of shadow is being taken out of the limb in the lower left near Schikard. I thought that I had detected a flattening of the limb in that area before 2114 by my watch and asked for confirmation from Ben who knows the moon well and had higher magnification but he didn't think U1 had occurred yet. By the time I was sure in the binoculars that it had happened the camera said I was too late to photograph it and I was probably right in my first assessment. The camera, with the catadioptric lens and 2x telextender, does not show the subtle shadings as well as the binoculars do. Things go black in the camera very quickly. 2123 2140 2153 2202 2205 The Web sites say the Moon is 75% in shadow now although it looks to be more. A reddish color has started to spread across the shadow from the limb. The color does not stand up to magnification. It is most evident naked-eye. I can see it in my binoculars. But I can't see it in my camera or in any of the telescopes I have looked through. I get the impression that the shadow is deepest near its edge deep onto the Moon's surface and that the area near the darkened limb, which is deeper into Earth's shadow, is actually brighter. This is probably just a contrast effect with the brightly lit surface of the moon. U2 2223 All of the Moon is in the Earth's Umbra now, totality is in progress. Now the clouds roll in and completely obscure the moon until late in the partial phase. Occasionally the clouds would thin out and you could see the moon through them but it was often hard to tell where the Earth's shadow was and where you were seeing thicker clouds. There was no color cast visible through the clouds. More information on the 27Oct04 total lunar eclipse.