3 November 2004

Observing Location	Oval, Parkchester South Condominium, The Bronx, NY
Atmospheric Conditions	There is a nice blue sky overhead and to the north and east, but to the south and west there are clouds up to about 10 or 15 degrees. Unfortunately the sun is setting through them now.
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binoculars with Shade 14 gold welder's glass
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Sunspots
Time	3Nov04; 1545
Category	Solar
Comments	The sun is low enough at this time of day without Daylight Saving Time that I was having trouble seeing it through the leaves of the trees around the oval. I could not sit on any of the benches and see it so and there was nothing to lean against where I could stand and see it so I was very unstable with my hand-held compact binoculars. The sun was being filtered by the clouds. I was only able to see the two biggest sunspot complexes and only with magnification. 683 is huge and looks like two elongated lumpy blobs in a line below the equator and near the meridian. I am not seeing the central spot any longer. SpaceWeather.com is still saying that it is the size of Jupiter. 696 is over near the trailing limb and north of the equator. It looks like a couple of spots but I can't hold still enough to resolve it. I am not able to make out 691 or 695.

Observing Location	TotL
Atmospheric Conditions	Lousy. The atmosphere was a lot denser than it was supposed to have been. Peter had the Teleport set up and cooling down when I arrived and wasn't terribly enthused. I didn't even bother setting up my tripod and getting out the Golden Gate 7x35 binoculars with kluged tripod mount. I did hang the Bruntons around my neck but rarely used them. The sky was very gray although there was no clearly defined cloud for the most part. Occasionally, especially at the end of the night, we would see a band or sheet of cloud drift in. Mostly we talked and peter found a few things to look at. Stars were the most gratifying objects in that atmosphere. We packed it in about 10:00 and I was home in bed by 11:00.
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binoculars - Charlie 10" Teleport - Peter
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac

Target	Naked-Eye Observing
Time	3Nov04; 2000 EST
Category	Constellations
Comments	On first arriving and assessing the situation I made a quick all sky survey and identified the following constellations or, mostly, parts thereof: Cassiopeia Perseus α Per, Mirfak β Per, Algol Auriga Capella The Kids Pegasus The Great Square of Pegasus Home Plate, γ Peg, Algenib 1st Base, α Peg, Markab 2nd Base, β Peg, Scheat 3rd Base, α And, Alpheratz Taurus M45, NGC 1432, The Pleiades Aldeberan ζ Tau, The Hyades, Mellote 25, Collinder 50 Cygnus The Summer Triangle α Lyr, Vega α Cyg, Deneb &alpha Aql, Altair

Target	Double Stars
Time	3Nov04; 2100 EST
Category	Double Stars
Comments	α UMi, Polaris I didn't know Polaris was a double star. Even it Peter's scope it was not obvious to me at first. Polaris is not bright to begin with (Mag 2), but its companion is very much dinner (Mag 9) [Other names for Polaris: North Star, Tramontana, Alruccabah, Phoenice, Angel Stern, Yilduz, Navigatoria, Cynosaura, Lodestar, Mismar, Star of the Sea, Stella Maris There is a small telescope or binoculars asterism called the Engagement Ring of Polaris that is "just south of Polaris" and should be a target for another night. Engagement Ring photo. Also, the location of the companion star will change throught an observing session as it rotates around the stationary pole star and should be observed during another session.] More information on Polaris η Cas, Achird The primary is white and the secondary a little ruddy. Mag 3.4/7 ι Cas This was a nice double. Then Peter called my attention to the third star in the system. The primary and secondary are a wide double and the faint third star is close on the primary so was easy to miss. Mag 4/7/8