13 April 2005

Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2030-0100 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	There were no clouds to speak of tonight but there was a haze and I noted at least once that I had to wait to view a particular starfield. The temperature got down to around 40 but it felt colder. There was some wind. There was a lot of boiling when we were observing the moon in the scope. Peter didn't feel he was seeing as deep as normal. I would say transparency and seeing were only fair tonight.
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars - Charlie Teleport 10" Dobsonian Refractor - Peter
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac

Target	Moon
Constellation	Tau
Category	Lunar
Time	13Apr05; 2045 EDT
Comments	The moon was sitting just off of &beta Tau tonight. I was going to try for M36, M37 and M38 nearby in Aur tonight but figured the glow of the moon would make them too hard to see since they are not easy for me anyway. I traced the path of the terminator and identified the following features: Feature Type Hercules crater Lacus Somniorum mare Lillrow crater Mare Tranquillitatis mare Maskelyne crater Mare Nectaris Fracastorius Piccolomini crater w/central peak Stiborius crater We spent some time with Peter's scope observing a crater at the top of Mare Nectaris [Fracastorius] that appears to have a broken wall and an arc of craters and maybe domes that ended up on the floor of Mare Nectaris. There was also an area that looked like domes or mountains diagonally across the mare.

Target	M67, NGC2682
Constellation	Cnc
Category	Deep Sky Objects
Time	13Apr05, 2137 EDT
Comments	The Atlas of Deep-Sky Splendors says the integrated brightness of 6.1 places it at the limits of naked-eye observability so it should be something I can see in the binoculars. I have observed here before and feel that there is something in the same location but it is difficult for me to resolve.

Target	Eskimo (Clown Face) Nebula, NGC2392
Constellation	Gom
Category	Deep Sky Objects
Time	13Apr05; 2209
Comments	A planetary nebula. Seen in Peter's scope. The voice recorder got bumped off so I don't have any notes about it.

Target	NGC5466
Constellation	Boo
Category	Deep Sky Objects
Time	13Apr05; 2223 EDT
Comments	I don't remember seeing this, and don't hear anything describing it on the voice recorder, although I was over it. There was, however, a dot and a label in my field drawing for the object. It is along the star hop up to M3.

Target	M3, NGC5272
Constellation	Boo
Category	Deep Sky Objects
Time	13Apr05; 2332 EDT
Comments	Very easy. Easier with averted vision but it also took direct.

Target	Ghost of Jupiter, NGC3242
Constellation	Hya
Category	Deep Sky Objects
Time	13Apr05; 2220 EDT
Comments

Target	Spindle Galaxy, NGC3115
Constellation	Sex
Category	Deep Sky Objects
Time	13Apr05; 2235 EDT
Comments	An isolese triangle of dim stars. The most distant of the stars doesn't resolve to a point. I didn't detect a shape.

Target	Leo Trio
Constellation	Leo
Category	Deep Sky Objects
Time	13Apr05; 2256 EDT
Comments	Three galaxies under Chort, M65, M66 and NGC3628. I sensed two areas where the sky felt funny but didn't actually see anything that looked lake a galaxy. Peter didn't see anything.

Target	Meteor
Constellation
Category	Meteor
Time	13Apr05 2323 EDT
Comments	This one was heading N to S so must be a sporadic.

Target	M95, M96, & M105
Constellation	Leo
Category	Deep Sky Objects
Time	13Apr05; 2330 EDT
Comments	Not seen.

Target	Serpens Caput, Head of the Serpent
Constellation	Ser
Category	Constellations
Time	13Apr05; 2345 EDT
Comments	Tonight was my first time seeing Serpens. It was over the trees and to the right of Corona Borealis. I could see a triangle of stars and follow a line out to the right and down into the trees. Star Magnitude Meaning Common Name Bayer Designation   ι Ser 4.54     κ Ser 4.11     γ Ser 3.87     β Ser 3.69     δ Ser 3.82   Unukalhai α Ser 2.67 serpent's neck   ε Ser 3.73

Target	M5, NGC5904
Constellation	Ser
Category	Deep Sky Objects
Time	13Apr05; 2348 EDT
Comments	A big fuzzy ball.

Target	Little Dipper
Constellation	UMi
Category	Constellation
Time	14Apr05; 0000 EST
Comments	We saw all the stars of the Little Dipper tonight. Star Magnitude Meaning Common Name Bayer Designation Polaris α UMi 2.00 pole star Yildun δ UMi 4.38 star   &epsilon' UMi 4.25     ζ UMi 4.34   Kochab β UMi 2.10 unknown Pherkad γ UMi 3.07 two calves   η UMi 4.97   Mag 4.27 UMi was easily seen but Pherkad Minor at Mag 5.04 was not.

Target	02 Pallas
Constellation	Com
Category	Asteroids
Time	14Apr05; 0010 EDT
Comments	Tonight Pallas appeared closer to the apex or the skinny triangle and on the left arm. That doesn't stack with the star chart below but it does agree with what Planetarium shows. I will need to check it again to see if I have misidentified a field star or if there is a problem with the software.