9 April 2005

Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	1730-2030 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	It was a beautiful day. Temperatures were in a comfortable range and the park was packed with people without jackets and in shorts or women in dresses. And there I am sitting in longjohns and a flannel shirt. But that was because I had checked the weather and expected it to be colder tonight than last night and planned to stay out observing. As soon as the sun started to get down near the Bearsford (I have previously been calling this building the San Remo but was corrected today by Ken) the air took on a decided chill and I had to put on my parka. The sky was clear but not a really deep blue. There was some boiling evident at the top and bottom limbs of the sun which increased markedly as the sun sank down the ecliptic in the NW.
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars with Baader AstroSolar filter film - Charlie Fujinon 10x70 binoculars -- Ben Teleport 10" Dobsonian Refractor - Peter Tacahashi 22x60 binoculars with #14 welder's glass - Peter 16x70 binoculars - Tom Spotting scope & binoculars - Ken Brown
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Ben Cacace Peter Tagatac Tom Clabough Ken Brown

The object of this early evening observing session was to try to observe the young crescent moon.

Target	Sunspots
Constellation	Psc
Category	Solar
Time	9Apr05; 1730 EDt
Comments	While waiting for the moon to become visible Peter and I observed the sun and showed it to some passers by. I had two Jewish guys looking through my binoculars and arguing, or at least hotly discussing, in Hebrew, how the sighting of the crescent moon was and/or is used in establishing the Jewish calendar. It was a very big Jewish day in the park today. There were two sunspots visible today. Again they are on a sharply inclined \ equator. 749 is even smaller than yesterday and is probably at about the limits of visibility. 750 appears to have split into two individual, but close, spots. It looked like there might be a faint wisp of something forming paralleling its trailing edge but as the sun was rapidly sinking toward the roof of the Bearsford I thought I was detecting a penumbra around that spot and if it is there that might be what I initially thought might be another trailing spot forming. It looked like the sun was setting noticeably north of where we marked it yesterday but we are a little farther north and west along the perimeter of the Great Lawn and that accounts for most of the difference in apparent setting location.

Target	Moon
Constellation	Ari
Category	Lunar
Time	1940 EDT
Comments	As soon as the sun went behind the Bearsford we started looking for the moon. I wanted to try to observe it naked eye before doing it with a viewing aid, the way the Arabs do it to set the beginning of their month. I quickly gave that idea up as the sky was very milky near the horizon and there is no way I was going to pick up a low contrast thin crescent Moon against it. Even with the binoculars I did not find it. We were looking in the wrong place. We estimated that it would be over the Bearsford but when Tom spotted it the Moon was actually to the right of the building and lower than I expected. After seeing it in his binoculars I was able to find it in mine. At age 1 day 3 hours and 8 minutes and 1.5% illumination. It looked like a big smile. The top edge was a little ragged where mare were darker than the rest of the Moon's surface. After locating it in the binoculars I was able to see it naked eye and once located it was easily recovered. But I don't think I would have noticed it in this sky if it's location had not been pointed out to me even though I was looking for it. Toward moonset we took a look at it in Peter's Teleport but without spending a lot of time at the eyepiece I didn't think the view was any better than my binocular view.

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2115-0430 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	After the moon went behind the trees from our observing position I left the park for dinner and put on another layer under my parka. It was chilly and my face appears wind burned now that I am home (it is probably sunburn from sitting on the park bench waiting for the sun to go down for 90 minutes) but it was not annoyingly cold or windy. There was some cloud or haze in the sky that made transparency very variable. There were times when stars would pop into sharp focus and times when you would blink and not be able to see what you were looking at before the blink.
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars - Charlie Fujinon 10x70 binoculars -- Ben Teleport 10" Dobsonian Refractor - Peter Tacahashi 22x60 binoculars - Peter Orion SkyView Pro 6LT EQ Reflector - Derrick
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Ben Cacace Peter Tagatac Derrick Rich Rosenberg

Naked-eye Limiting Magnitude Observations	No NELM estimations were made tonight although we did discuss a NELM chart I had prepared for the palm for the Polaris region.

This was a long night and a very good night, particularly considering how variable the conditions were.

I started off the night not feeling like I wanted to do any serious observing but to just look up and appreciate the stars. But in the end I did see quite a few deep sky objects and spent considerable time star hopping low on the horizon.

There was a lot of Park vehicle traffic around the lawn tonight but they didn't seem to be doing anything but burning gas. There were also a lot of police on the east side of the park and when we left there were lots of police vehicles towing cars from the edge of the park all the way over to Lexington Ave. I think that is in preparation for the Greek parade which is Sunday.

Star charts tonight were generated from a trial version of MyStars! 2.7.

Target	Jupiter
Constellation
Category	Planets
Time	9Apr05; 2128 EDT
Comments	Three of the moons were on the trailing edge and one on the leading edge. The two inner moons on the trailing edge were very close with one, probably the one preparing to go behind the planet, appearing to be higher than the other. Later during the viewing session they were much further apart.

Target	Saturn
Constellation	Gem
Category	Planets
Time	9Apr05; 2156 EDT
Comments	In the Teleport the Cassini division could be seen. That you were looking up under the rings was obvious and also that the back side of the rings were behind the planet. I could not detect the C ring.

Target	02 Pallas
Constellation	Com
Category	Asteroid
Time	9Apr05; 2200 EDT
Comments	Seen in Ben's binoculars.

Target	M40
Constellation	UMa
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	9Apr05; 2214 EDT
Comments	I tried it in the binoculars and could see δ UMa and 70 UMa but nothing where M40 should be. I found it in the Teleport. It isn't much brighter than the background tonight. There is no way I am going to see it in the binoculars unless I get to much darker skies.

Target	M13
Constellation	Her
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	9Apr05; 2225 EDT
Comments	A bright dense ball above the line between ζ Her and η Her. Confirmed by Ben.

Target	Fireworks
Constellation
Category
Time	9Apr05; 2228 EDT
Comments	We observed low fireworks among the buildings down in the neighborhood of Lincoln Center. There were lots of colored flowerbursts but no sound. It only lasted about 5 minutes.

Target	M48
Constellation	Oph
Category	Deep Sky Objects
Time	9Apr05; 2302 EDT
Comments	I saw a large downward-pointing triangle and a bunch of points of light above it. "Two stars horizontal over a shallow arc of three stars like a frown, the center star the brightest. To the right two stars on a shallow \ diagonal, one to the left of that and two very dim down to the right." Peter didn't think I was on it and Ben couldn't confirm it but Peter later located it in the same place in the Teleport.

Target	Libra, The Scales
Constellation	Lib
Category
Time	10Apr05;
Comments	I was able to see all the major stars of Libra naked eye. Star Magnitude Meaning Common Name Bayer Designation Brachium &signa; Lib 3.31 Zuben Elgenubi (Zubenelgenubi) α Lib 2.77 southern claw Zuben Elschemali (Zubeleleschamali) β Lib 2.63 northern claw Zuben Elakrab (Zubenelakrab) γ Lib 3.93 scorpion's claw   ν Lib 3.60   The stars of Libra were originally part of a larger, ancient Scorpius, hence there references to the scorpion's claws. Libra's genitive name is Librae.

Target	01 Ceres
Constellation	Lib
Category	Asteroid
Time	10Apr05; 2359 EDT
Comments	Almost stellar and to the upper left of a dim star. Ben and Peter said it had moved a lot from where they had seen it yesterday.

Target	08 Flora & 532 Herculina
Constellation	Gem
Category	Asteroid
Time	10Apr05; 0001 EDT
Comments	Not seen.

Target	M57, Ring Nebula, NGC6720
Constellation	Lyr
Category	Deep Sky Objects
Time	10Apr05; 0005 EDT
Comments	Not seen.

Target	M27, Dumbbell Nebula
Constellation	Vul
Category	Deep Space Objects
Time	10Apr05; 0015 EDT
Comments	Not seen. Ben says he needs to use a nebula filter to see it in Binoculars.

Target	Cygnus, The Swan
Constellation	Cyg
Category	Constellation
Time	10Apr05;
Comments	Cygnus has been breaking the horizon about the time we normally shut down but since we were here much later than normal tonight all but the end of the left wing was visible. Star Magnitude Meaning Common Name Bayer Designation Alberio β Cyg 3.10 corrupted over time   η Cyg 3.91   Sadr γ Cyg breast Deneb α Cyg 1.30 tail   ζ Cyg 3.22     ε Cyg 2.48     δ Cyg 2.89     ι2 Cyg 3.81     κ Cyg 3.79   The genitive name for Cygnus is Cygni.

Target	Coathanger
Constellation	Cyg
Category	Asterisms
Time	10Apr05; 0019 EDT
Comments	Peter and Ben say that it is a good asterism to use for assessing limiting magnitude because of all the dim stars around the asterism. Read Zorensky on binocular limiting magnitude on Cloudy Nights.

Target	Veil Nebula, NGC6992
Constellation	Cyg
Category	Dark Sky
Time	10Apr05; 0032 EDT
Comments	Not seen. Low surface brightness. Needs a scope and a dark sky.

Target	M39, NGC7092
Constellation	Cyg
Category	Deep Sky
Time	10Apr05; 0036 EDT
Comments	Triangular shaped.

Tonight was a rough technology night. First my PDA battery died; then the portable recharger battery died; then the PDA battery died again; and finally I maxed out the memory on my digital recorder at around 0130 EDT and didn't realize it until around 0400 so observations times between those two times are estimates and comments are remembrances after the fact.

Target	Cassiopeia, The Queen
Constellation	Cas
Category	Constellation
Time	10Apr05;
Comments	Cassiopeia was very low on the horizon just above the trees to the left of the police precinct down on the 86 St Transverse. This is the first I have seen Cas this year. Star Magnitude Meaning Common Name Bayer Designation Caph β Cas 2.29 hand Schedar α Cas 2.25 beast Cih γ Cas 2.49 whip Ruchbah δ Cas 2.70 knee Segin ε Cas 3.4   Cassiopeia's Genitive name is Cassiopeiae.

Target	Ophiuchus, The Serpent Bearer
Constellation	Oph
Category	Constellation
Time	10Apr05;
Comments	This appears to be a huge and complex constellation that I had a lot of trouble figuring out. What makes it worse is that Serpens is attached to it on both sides and it is even harder, even on the stick figures, to tell where one constellation ends and the others begin. The seeing is not great that low on the horizon. Star Magnitude Meaning Common Name Bayer Designation   ζ Oph 2.58     κ Oph 3.22   Rasalhague (Ras Alhague) α Oph 2.10 head of the serpent collector   72 Oph 3.75   Cebalrai β Oph 2.79 shepheard's dog   ν Oph 3.63 Sabik η Oph 2.45 unknown Ophiuchus' genitive name is Ophiuchi.

Target	M10
Constellation	Oph
Category	Deep Sky Objects
Time	10Apr05; 0320 EDT
Comments	Fairly obvious.

Target	M12
Constellation	Oph
Category	Deep Sky Objects
Time	10Apr05; 0330 EDT
Comments	Much easier to see than M10.

Target	M14
Constellation	Oph
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	10Apr05; 0335 EDT
Comments	Attempted but not seen

Target	M62
Constellation	Oph
Category	Deep Sky Objects
Time	10Apr05; 03:40 EDT
Comments	I saw it but no notes were made.

Target	M19
Constellation	Oph
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	10Apr05; 0346 EDT
Comments	I saw it but no notes were made.

Target	Sagittarius, The Archer
Constellation	Sgr
Category	Constellation
Time	10Apr05;
Comments	This is my first sighting of Sagittarius this year. I was able to see all the major stars naked-eye. Star Magnitude Meaning Common Name Bayer Designation   η Sgr 3.13   Kaus Australis &epsillon; Sgr 1.87 southern star of the bow Nash (alnasl) γ2 Sgr 3.01 (the point) Kaus Meridionalis (Kaus Media) δ Sgr 2.72 middle of the bow Kaus Borealis λ Sgr 2.83 northern star of the bow   μ Sgr 3.88     φ Sgr 3.19 Nunki σ Sgr 2.04 a proper name   τ Sgr 3.34   Ascella ζ Sgr 2.62 armpit The genitive name for Sagittarius is Sagittarii

Target	Robins
Constellation
Category	Fauna
Time	10Apr05; 0350 EST
Comments	At 0350 EST I realized that Robins all around us had started to sing and the sky wasn't showing any signs of approaching dawn yet. On a previous early evening viewing session I looked up just before sunset and the entire Great Lawn was covered with Robins. I have never seen so many Robins it one place before. It was really noisy with the all calling to each other around us.

Target	M22, NGC6656
Constellation	Sgr
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	10Apr05; 0405 EST
Comments	A faint glow in the middle of an isosolese triangle.

Target	, NGC6626
Constellation	Sgr
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	10Apr05; 0408 EDT
Comments	Attempted but not seen