16 April 2005
| Observing Location | Parkchester, E177 St subway platform, The Bronx, NY |
|---|---|
| Observational Period | 0500-0530 EDT |
| Atmospheric Conditions | The sky appearedmilky. The big dipper looked verysubdued. There was lots of stray light on the subway platform and it was more annoying that it has been when I have previously used this location for planetary observations. I think I would have been better off this morning staying on the street but with little lead time for scouting out a suitable location I opted for the high ground. |
| Instruments | Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars - Charlie |
| Observing Party | Charlie Ridgway |
| Target | ISS and Soyuz TMA-6 |
|---|---|
| Constellation | |
| Category | Satellites |
| Time | 16Apr05; 0514 EDT |
| Comments |
Skywatchers in the Northeastern part of the US should set their alarm clocks for around 5 a.m. EDT on Saturday and head outside to get a view of International Space Station and -- as a bonus -- a Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft that will be carrying three astronauts up to the Space Station. From the Greater New York Area, the ISS should first become visible low toward the western horizon beginning at 5:13 a.m. It will move along a projected path that will take it from the west to the northeast in about four and a half minutes. The Space Station should appear as a whitish "star" with a slight yellowish tinge, moving with a steady speed across the sky. It should appear brightest -- perhaps magnitude -1 -- as it passes through the handle of the Big Dipper at about 5:14. A minute later it will closely pass by Polaris (the North Star) and begin to noticeably fade. Following a short distance behind the Space Station, another, smaller "moving star" perhaps about magnitude +1 or +2 should be visible. This will be a Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft which lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan late Thursday night. The Soyuz will be carrying the Expedition 11 crew to the Space Station. The Soyuz spacecraft is expected to dock with the ISS late Saturday night. This means that both Space Station and Soyuz will appear as two separate entities as they speed across the dawn sky early on Saturday morning. The three-man crew consists of: Roberto Vittori, from Italy, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, who is to be the Expedition 11 Commander on the ISS, and NASA astronaut John L. Phillips, who will be the Expedition 11 Flight Engineer. The track of the ISS on Saturday morning from 5:12 to 5:17 a.m. EDT will run from southern Indiana, to western New York and up into northern Maine and New Brunswick. Those directly under this track will see the ISS/Soyuz tandem pass directly overhead, but those within a couple of hundred miles of the track should also be able to see both vehicles move across their sky on a general southwest-to-northeast path. For other parts of the country, you can check to see if the ISS is scheduled to pass over your neighborhood by going to www.heavens-above.com. Note, however, that Heavens-Above does NOT provide a listing for the Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft! Joe Rao
I saw the ISS fly through the handle of the Big Dipper near Alioth but it was over two minutes early by the clock in my Palm. I started a timer and observed for over five minutes longer but did not see another satellite. I found two entries in my Palm calendar that were placed there when I imported data from CalSky in preparation for last night's observing session. The first shows:
|
| Observing Location | Palisades Mall, Nyack, NY
Lat: Long: |
|---|---|
| Observational Period | 0845-0915 EDT |
| Atmospheric Conditions | Clear and mild. No perceptible clouds |
| Instruments | Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars with Baader AstroSolar filter film - Charlie |
| Observing Party | Charlie Ridgway |
| Target | Sun |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Ari |
| Category | Solar |
| Time | 16Apr05; 0845 EDT |
| Comments | While waiting for the bus to Rockland Community College at the Palisades Mall I observed the sun. I could only make out sunspots 752 and 754 with my hand held binoculars. |
| Observing Location | Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF), Rockland Community College, Suffern, NY
Lat: Long: |
|---|---|
| Observational Period | |
| Atmospheric Conditions | |
| Instruments | Miscellaneous Hydrogen Alpha-filtered scopes - NEAF |
| Observing Party | Charlie Ridgway Public observing at NEAF |
| Target | Sun |
|---|---|
| Constellation | |
| Category | Solar |
| Time | 16Apr05; 1000 EDT |
| Comments | There were lots of big scopes set up in the court yeard of the college for solar observing. They all had hydrogen alpha filters on them. I think they should have had some white light filters also so people can see and appreciate the difference between the two technologies. Most of the scopes were big ones based on TeleVue optics with Coronado filters. They primarily used the same finder which looked like it was home made and very simple to construct. But they are attached to the scopes with velcro so I don't know who you align them, especially since the sun was spilling over the edges of all of the scopes. Some people were having a lot of trouble finding the sun so maybe this finder isn't as good as it looks. I looked through a bunch of scopes and saw the sun's corona and some filaments but no spectacular prominences. |
| Target | NEAF |
|---|---|
| Constellation | |
| Category | Star Party |
| Time | 16Apr05; 1000-1715 EDT |
| Comments | The vendor area seems to have expanded since I was last at the show a few years ago. I atended a good workshop on buying your first scope by Sky and Telescope and a lecture on celestial cartography by Wil Tirion. |
posted by Charlie at 14:38
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