9 May 2005

Observing Location	Parkchester South Condominium Oval, Bronx, NY
Observational Period	1500-1530 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	It was a beautiful afternoon. The sky was a deep blue with no clouds visible anywhere. There was no wind.
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars with Baader AstroSolar filter film- Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target
Constellation	Ari
Category	Solar
Time	9May05; 1500 EDT
Comments	SpaceWeather.com says sunspot 758 spans more than 15 earth diameters. NASA SOHO MDI image NASA SOHO MDI image

Target	Venus
Constellation	Tau
Category	Planets
Time	9May05; 1520 EDT
Comments	Not Seen I scanned where I thought the ecliptic was but may not have gone far enough up it to reach Venus.

Target	Moon
Constellation	Tau
Category	Lunar
Time	9May05; 1520 EDT
Comments	Not Seen

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Observing Location	Belvedere Castle, Central Park, New York, NY
Observational Period	0900-0920
Atmospheric Conditions	It was warm and clear. The sky was blue but white near the horizon.
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Venus
Constellation	1900
Category
Time	9May05; 1900 EDT
Comments	A set up on the plaza outside Belvedere Castle as the sun was dropping behind the trees to the west. After some searching I located a bright white spot in the white sky and observed it until it too dropped into the trees. I was not able to locate it naked eye.

Target	Moon
Constellation
Category
Time	9May05; 1900 EDT
Comments	Not Seen I looked above Venus but was not able to see any hint of the moon.

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	1930-2230
Atmospheric Conditions	It was warm and clear but the transparency was poor. I was seeing very little of Gemini and almost none of Orion. The air was moist and that made it feel colder than it really was (50º). It was breezier than forecast.
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Kin Lee

Target	Venus
Constellation	Tau
Category	Planets
Time	9May05; 1930 EDT
Comments	After some searching I recovered Venus low over the trees to the west. At 2005 EDT I finally saw Venus naked eye about 0.5º above the trees.

Target	Moon
Constellation	Tau
Category	Lunar
Time	9May05; 1955 EDT
Comments	I finally located a thin crescent of light in the binoculars. It looked like the moon was illuminated between 8:30 and 2:30. There was a lot of boiling evident in the air. Ten minutes later, at 2005 EDT, I looked up and could easily see the Moon naked eye. As the sky continued to get darker earthshine was evident across the entire moon but only sufficient to give indications of dark spots where the mare are.

Target	Jupiter
Constellation	Vir
Category	Planets
Time	9May05; 2100 EDT
Comments	Callisto, Europa and Io were leading Jupiter and Ganymede was trailing. There was one point of light way out to the right in line with the plane of the moons that I thought might be another moon. It appeared to be as bright as Yale 4837 but was not showing up in Planetarium. When I got home and checked Cartes Du Ciel I found that it was a star just beyond the reach of Planetarium. Cartes du Ciel image

Target	Saturn
Constellation	Gem
Category	Planets
Time	9May05; 2105 EDT
Comments	Saturn looked like a teacup suspended beneath a saucer on a 45º angle. The rings looked like a line and the planet itself a bulge attached to it. Titan could just be seen preceding the planet down the ecliptic. Cartes du Ciel image

Target	Cosmos 2333 Rocket
Constellation
Category	Satellites
Time	9May05; 2110 EDT
Comments	A Russian booster rocket. Kin spotted it while I was looking for M51. More information on Cosmos rockets.

Target	M51, Whirlpool Galaxy, NGC5194
Constellation	CVn
Category	Deep Sky Objects
Time	9May05; 2120
Comments	Not Seen

Target	PSLV DEB
Constellation
Category	Satellites
Time	9May05; 2110 EDT
Comments	Moving S to N. Not listed in Heavens-Above so, given its trajectory, it is probably a geosynchronous spy satellite. [This is an Indian rocket. PSLV is Polar Space Launch Vehicle and DEB is Defense Export Board (it could also mean debris). The DEB is an agency that is supposed to promote launching of satellites for other countries. It was established in 1995. Source: www.uga.edu/cits/documents/word/Worldaff4.doc]

Target	Cosmos 1093 Rocket
Constellation
Category	Satellites
Time	9May05; 2115 EDT
Comments	Specifications and a history of Cosmos rockets.

Target	SL-16 DEB
Constellation
Category	Satellites
Time	9May05; 2110 EDT
Comments	Moving S to N. Not listed in Heavens-Above so, given its trajectory, it is probably a geosynchronous spy satellite. [May be debris. I found a message posted to a SeeSat-L newsgroup in 1999 that indicated that this is a tumbling satellite that flashes. Followup posts indicate that the flash rate was decreasing at that time and it was expected to stabilize within a year. Speculation was that unused fuel had been vented rather than risk it exploding and that caused the tumbling. The catalog number provided by CalSky (22573) does not match any of those above, but whatever this is might have been found after the report I got that information from was written, although that is unlikely since it has a lower number.]

Target	PSLV DEB
Constellation
Category	Satellites
Time	9May05; 2132 EDT
Comments	Moving S to N. Not listed in Heavens-Above so, given its trajectory, it is probably a geosynchronous spy satellite. [Another Indian rocket.]

Target	Lacrosse 3
Constellation
Category	Satellites
Time	9May05; 2132 EDT
Comments	[This is a US spy satellite that uses synthetic aperture radar. It has 1 meter resolution and can track moving vehicles, locate bunkers 3 meters underground or submarines at periscope depth (40-50 feet).] More information on space-based radar imaging.

Target	Cosmos 1437 Rocket
Constellation
Category	Satellites
Time	9May05; 2153 EDT
Comments	Not Seen This one was supposed to be about as bright as the first satellite we saw tonight and to track near the zenith so should have been seen but we couldn't find it.

Target	ISS
Constellation
Category	Satellites
Time	9May05; 2236 EDT
Comments	Not Seen I forgot about this pass and was walking out of the park at the time it occurred. It would have been an interesting one as it should have gone just above the trees north of the Great Lawn.

Target	2 Pallas
Constellation
Category
Time
Comments	Not Seen

Information on observing satellites can be found at the Visual Satellite Observer's Home Page.

The following information on satellite orbits was gleaned from the Satellite Situation Report of 31Jan97 compiled by MISSION OPERATIONS AND SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT DIVISION, NASA/GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER:

Geosynchronous satellites have almost equal apogee and perigee, inclinations close to 0 degrees, and a period of orbit approaching 1,440 minutes. These satellites are located almost directly above the Equator because they orbit at approximately the same speed that the surface of the Earth moves in relation to the Sun. Elements for these satellite types vary little.

Communications satellites are usually geosynchronous. Although some are in geosynchronous orbit, most weather satellites have almost equal apogee and perigee, inclinations approaching 90 degrees, and a 90-minute period of orbit (they orbit the Earth once for each 22.5 degrees of Earth rotation).

Weather satellites are only one type of Earth resources satellite. Others in the Earth resources category map the location of minerals, water, and vegetation. These satellites may have apogees and perigees that are very divergent, and the period of orbit can range from 400 to 700 minutes.