17 June 2005

Some Assembly Necessary took another step towards becoming a reality today. I am corresponding with one of the guys I worked on Wavertree at South Street Seaport Museum. He did some metalwork there so I asked him of he knew any shops that could make my rail for me. Along with a fairly long list of shops in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island he suggested that he might be able to do the work for me as long as it is not too complicated. We need to schedule a time to meet so he can see what I have and what needs to be done.

And last week Kin sent me a link to a place that sells nuts and bolts by the ones and twos. They don't have anything with big knurled heads but they do carry a line of Hex head bolts that I think will work for me. The hardest one to deal with is going to be the eyepiece retaining screw since I can't measure the hole. I will have to try to measure Peter's screw and do a thread count on it.

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Observing Location	Parkchester South Condominium Oval, The Bronx, NY
Observational Period	1730-1745 EDTEDT
Atmospheric Conditions	The sun was dropping through thickening clouds before I had finished my drawing. I occasionally had to wait for the clouds to thin enough to see the spots through them and waited for patches of clear air to make the drawing. I did not notice any boiling on the limb. I forgot to bring my field reducer with me but didn't need it today. If I had installed it in the filtr cell it would have caused a problem today as the natural attenuation from the clouds was more than enough. Transparency Poor Seeing Good
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Sunspots
Constellation
Category	Solar
Time	EDT
Comments	SpaceWeather.com is still listing 775 and 776 as being on the disk but I can't even see 775 in their high resolution photo. I do see a small, new spot rotating onto the face of the Sun just south of the equator that they haven't identified yet. 779 SW quadrant. This spot has grown considerably since I last saw it. It may be large enough to see naked-eye. It is just past the meridian and is composed of two concentrations of spots. The clouds covered the sun before I was satisfied with my drawing so I don't know if the leading concentration was surrounded by a void as the trailer was. Both had penumbras around their largest spots.   Groups Spots R Northern Hemisphere 0 0 0 Southern Hemisphere 1 6 16 Total 1 6 16 NOAA Boulder Sunspot Number 67 R = 10 * Groups + Spots

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Observing Location	Metropolitan Oval, Parkchester, The Bronx, NY
Observational Period	2000-2030 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	There were some clouds low on the horizon and higher on the horizon to the NW. The temperature was vry comfortable and there was a light wind. By 2025 EDT when I was getting the subway down to TotL the wind was picking up and a thunderhead was moving through from the NW. There were more low clouds out to the W. Transparency Good Seeing Good
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Moon
Constellation	Vir
Category	Lunar
Time	17 Jun05; 2010 EDT
Comments	I only observed the Moon briefly due to the upcoming Iridium flare and wanting to get downtown for an upcoming flare at TotL. The terminator was just east of Sinus Iridum and Gassendi.

Target	Iridium 84
Constellation	Boo
Category	Satellite
Time	17Jun05; 2016 EDT
Comments	This is the brightest flare I have seen as far as the magnitude goes and also the fastest. It was a Mag -8.4 flare in a daytime sky. I took my compass with me so knew where to expect it and it showed up close to where I was looking. It came from nothing to full brightness instantly. I took my glasses off while grabbing my binoculars from my lap and it was gone before I got them to my eye. I don't think the flare lasted more than a second. There was nothing else in the sky and it was so brief that it appeared to be stationary.

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2100-2300 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	When I arrived in the park there were some clouds but I could see Vega and Deneb through them so figured I would be able to see the Iridium flare. The sky cleared and the views were very nice until 2240 EDT when the clouds started to thicken and were covering most of the sky. Transparency Good - Very Good Seeing Good
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Naked-eye Limiting Magnitude Observations

N 4.11 E 4.17 Zenith 3.70 W 3.90 S 3.60 Star Magnitude Cygnus, The Swan Deneb α Cyg 1.27 Sadr γ Cyg 2.22 Gienah Cygni ε Cyg 2.48 δ Cyg 2.89 κ Cyg 3.79 Alberio β Cyg 3.10 Lyra, The Lyre Vega α Lyr 1.00 ζ Lyr 4.11 4.38/5.75 δ Lyr 4.03 5.60/4.32 Sheliak β Lyr 3.47 Sulafat γ Lyr 3.26 Bootes, The Herdsman Arcturus α Boo -0.02 Mufrid η Boo 2.70 Izar ε Boo 2.72 ρ Boo 3.60 δ Boo 3.49 Seginus γ Boo 3.05 Nekkar β Boo 3.52 Corona Borealis, The Northern Crown θ CrB 4.16 Nusakan β CrB 3.70 Alphecca α CrB 2.25 γ CrB 3.86 ε CrB 4.17 Scorpius, The Scorpion β Sco 2.52 2.64/4.94 ω Sco 3.39 3.98/4.34 Dschubba δ Sco 2.34 π Sco 2.91 Alniyat ο Sco 2.91 Antares α Sco 0.98 τ Sco 2.84 Leo, The Lion Denebola β Leo 2.16 Chort θ Leo 3.36 Zosma δ Leo 2.58 Regulus α Leo 1.37 η Leo 3.54 Algeiba γ Leo 2.63 Adhafera ζ Leo 3.46 Ras Eladed Borealis μ Leo 3.90 Ras Elased Australis ε Leo 3.00 Ursa Major, The Great Bear Alkaid η UMa 1.88 Mizar ζ UMa 2.29 Alcor 80 UMa 4.03 Alioth ε UMa 1.79 Megrez δ UMa 3.33 Phad γ UMa 2.46 Ursa Minor, The Little Bear Pherkad γ UMi 3.07 Kochab β UMi 2.10 Ophiuchus, The Serpent-bearer Sabik η Oph 2.45 ζ Oph 2.58 Yed Posterior ε Oph 3.26 Yed Prior δ Oph 2.76 Cebakrai β Oph 2.79 γ Oph 3.77 67 Oph 3.99 72 Oph 3.75 Tasalhague α Oph 2.10 κ Oph 3.22 Serpens (Caput), The Serpent (Head of) μ Ser 3.55 Unukalhai α Ser 2.67 Gemini, The Twins Porrima γ Gem 3.67 Spica α Ser 1.00

Target	Omicron 1 Cygni (30 and 31 Cyg)
Constellation	Cyg
Category	Double Star
Time	17Jun05; 2115 EDT
Comments	I stumbled across this beautiful wide double while hopping up to where the Iridium flare was going to occur. 30 Cyg is a Mag 4.85 turquoise star while 31 Cyg is a Mag 3.81 orange star. There is a much dimmer star to 31 Cyg's 4:30.

Target	Jupiter
Constellation	Vir
Category	Planet
Time	17Jun05; 2130 EDT
Comments	Callisto was alone in the east and inline with Io and Europa to the west. Ganymede was a little farther out and below the plane of the other moons. Io was close to the planet but could be separated and when I looked for it around 2210 EDT I could not find it at all. Starry Night Starter graphic

Target	Unknown Satellite
Constellation	Lyr
Category	Satellite
Time	17Jun05; 2145 EDT
Comments	While getting my binoculars on the location of the Iridium flare I saw a sattelite heading to the NE going past Vega. I could only see it in the binoculars. There is nothing listed in Heavens-Above.com going in that direction any time hear then.

Target	Iridium 80
Constellation	Lyr
Category	Satellite
Time	17Jun05; 2200 EDT
Comments	I picked up the satellite as it was coming through the pinions of Cygnus' right wing and swung the binoculars over to it. It brightened quickly and I switched to naked-eye observing. At it's brightest it was a huge ball of yellow light that seemed to be a little fuzzy at the edges, like a bright comet without a tail. The haze around it was lit up. After it faded from peak brightness I recovered it in the binoculars and watched it pass withing 30' below Vega and followed it until it faded before reaching Ophiuchus. Other than the Sun and Moon I can't remember ever seeing anything bigger or grighter.

Target	Unknown Satellite
Constellation	Lyr
Category	Satellite
Time	17Jun05; 2220 EDT
Comments	I observed a satellite pass through Hercules, Lyra and Cygnus. The only satellites appearing in Heavens-Above.com (Cosmos 1975 and Evnisat) begin their transits at 2223 EDT and both go through the W or NW while I was looking E.

Target	Hercules
Constellation	Her
Category	Constellation
Time	17Jun05; 2220 EEDT
Comments	I had a lot of trouble finding the square of Pegasus but eventually got it and found M13. M13 was farther from η Her than I remembered but it was clearly visible along with Yale 6157 and Yale 6222.

Target	Moon
Constellation	Vir
Category	Lunar
Time	17Jun05; 2240 EDT
Comments	The terminator passed just east of crater Sharp; down the border of Mare Imbrium just east of craters Herschel, Heis, Delisle, and Diophantus; east of crater Kepler; through Oceanus Procelum and east of crater Letronne; east of Gassendi and through the eastern edge of Mare Humorum and east of crater Doppelmayer. Some rays fron Tycho and more from Copernicus were visible. A strong ray left copernicus heading north over Mare Imbrium between the craters Lambert R and Timocharis. The strong ray going through the center of Serenitatis was also visible.

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Observing Location	Metropolitan Oval, Parkchester, The Bronx, NY
Observational Period	0015 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	I didn't even notice what the sky was like at home when I got off the subway. I looked out the window to see if I coould see anything bright but don't know if I was looking through the tree at sky or clouds.
Instruments	Naked-eye observing - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Iridium 84
Constellation	Lyr
Category	Satellite
Time	18Jun05; 0015 EDT
Comments	Not Seen I missed getting this one on my PDA calendar and didn't remember that it was going to flare again brightly. I was sitting at the computer at the time of the flare reviewing my calendar for Saturday and noticed it. I rushed to the window but didn't know exactly where to look so didn't see anything. This was to have been a Mag -8.4 flare from here.