15 December 2004

Observing Location	TotL
Atmospheric Conditions	I had a holiday party to attend tonight so was not dressed for observing, especially in sub-freezing temperatures. I stopped by TotL to say hello to Ben and Peter on my way home and to grab a quick peak. Three hours later Peter and I were finally heading home and my feet were frozen. The sky was very clear until just before we left at around 0045 EST. The predicted wind wasn't there which was fortunate with the low temperatures.
Instruments	Coulter CT-100
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac

Naked-eye Limiting Magnitude Observations	Star Magnitude Mirfak α Per 1.80 31 Per 5.05 29 Per 5.17 Yale 969 (Per) 5.05 Yale 1034 (Per) 5.00 ψ Per 4.25 Meissa λ Ori 3.56 ψ1 Ori 4.43 ψ2 Ori 4.11 Arneb α Lep 2.60 Nihal β Lep 2.86 ε Lep 3.21 μ Lep 3.33 Sceptrum 53 Eri 3.89

Target	Comet C/2004 Q2 (Machholz)
Constellation	Eri
Category	Comets
Time	16Dec04; 2330 EST
Comments	Peter found it in his scope but it is not visible naked eye, at least not from Central Park. It is down right on the edge of the "gegenschein" from Times Square and will keep moving in that direction as it brightens into early next month. It needs to be observed early in the evening when it is just rising and further in the east where the sky is a little darker. Around the time it will be at its brightest the moon should be near new which will be a help.

Peter had new and new-to-me optics tonight. I briefly tried his new Tacahashi 22x60 binoculars. Looking at the Sword of Orion I am not sure I could get it all in their limited field of view and I could not keep it there at all. Those binoculars have to be mounted on a tripod to be used. Mostly we used his Coulter CT-100, a 1980s vintage scope that he uses for travel. It is a very interesting instrument. It was called the "coffee can" scope because the rings that hold the primary and secondary are the size of a #5 coffee can. There is no optical tube. The metal bands are screwed onto a dovetail. Originally there was fabric that could be put around the rings to make a tube but Peter uses black paper. The whole thing breaks down into a 9"x9"x9" cube for transport. This is something I could get into since it is light and easily transported on a crowded subway. Unfortunately they are no longer made and none are available on AstroMart or eBay.