10 July 2005

Observing Location	Parkchester South Condominium oval, The Bronx, NY
Observational Period	1745-1800 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	The skies appeared clear with no haze but after I went to dinner I was sitting on the benches reading and I noticed a plane flying over and it was very fuzzy from haze so it was there but below the perceptible level when looking at the sun through the filtered binoculars. It was hot with strong gusting wind but there was no evidence of boiling. Transparency Good Seeing Excellent
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars with Baader AstroSolar filter film - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Sunspots
Constellation	Gem
Category	Solar
Time	10Jul05; 1745 EDT
Comments	The sun seems to be settling down. The spots look smaller to me today than they did yesterday. 785 NW quadrant. The group is surrounded by a void area. There are a couple of larger spots but nothing large enough that a penumbra is obvious. The group seems to be dissipating. 788 SW quadrant. I am seeing one large spot with a smaller one right next to it. There is no penumbra or void. 789 NE quadrant. There are two dark spots here with no penumbra or void area surrounding them. The small smudge spot that was between them yesterday is gone today. Peter and I discussed this tonight and both had made the same observation.   Groups Spots R Northern Hemisphere 2 10 30 Southern Hemisphere 1 2 12 Total 3 12 42 NOAA Boulder Sunspot Number 142 R = 10 * Groups + Spots

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2045-0030 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	It started out clear then light clouds crept in for a while and ended up pretty clear again. There was no wind to speak of and the temperature was warm and comfortable -- probably in the upper 70s. Transparency Good Seeing Very Good
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars with Baader AstroSolar filter film - Charlie Tacahaschi 102 refractor -- Peter Audubon 6x16 monocular - Kin
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac Kin Lee

I didn't make any notes or recordings so this is a list of targets in rough order of observation but with no times or other details attached.

Target	Venus and Mercury
Constellation	Leo
Category	Planet
Time	10Jul05, 2045 EDT
Comments	When I arrived Peter and Kin were already set up and showing a large crowd of people Jupiter so I set up on Venus. Kin was at the eyepieces when Mercury finally became visible. I stayed with them until they dropped behind the trees.

Target	Jupiter
Constellation	Vir
Category	Planet
Time	10Jul05 ~2100 EDT
Comments	I got a look at Jupiter through Peter's scope and could see all four moons and the North and South Equatorial Bands. The Great Red Spot was just rotating onto the face of the planet at the right edge of the bottom (North) EB and that band was cut off at a / angle before the limb. The GRS looked khaki colored. In my binoculars Io was so close to the planet that it was hard to separate it at times when the seeing went soft.

Target	Moon
Constellation	Leo
Category	Lunar
Time	10Jul05
Comments	The moon was just below the belly of Leo near M95, M96 and M105, but I can't see these galaxies when there is no moon so there was no point trying to find them in the same field of view with the 4d12h, 17% illuminated crescent moon. The moon looked nice with afterglow to the naked eye but I don't remember it being strong enough to light up any features. All of Mare Crisium was visible and there was a prominent crater, probably Macrobius, visible just coming out of the shadow between Crisium and Mare Tranquillitatis.

Target	ε Lyrae, The Double Double
Constellation	Lyr
Category	Double Stars
Time	10Jul05
Comments	Vega was in a notch in the trees behind us so I got it and the Double Double in the field just to give people something different to look at. The double was very wide. I could definitely see a stripe of black between the components of ε 1 Lyr. I could only split ε 2 Lyr by throwing it slightly out of focus and then the secondary appeared to the 4:00.

Target	M57, The Ring Nebula
Constellation	Lyr
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	10Jul05
Comments	As long as I was in the neighborhood and the sky was fairly clear I swung down to M57. There were lots of stars visible but I am not sure that I saw it in the binoculars. I keep getting the sense that there is something there but northing I can point to. Peter got it in his scope and I saw it there at low power and when I was taking my eye away the whole in the middle of it popped into view beautifully just like a picture in a book but it was only a fleeting view. I wanted to compare the field stars around it in Peter's scope with what I was seeing in the binoculars but there were still too many people there wanting to see things to hog the scope long enough to make a drawing.

Target	ISS
Constellation	Cam, Cas, And
Category	Satellite
Time	10Jul05; 2149 EDT
Comments	Kin and I moved over to the official TotL observatory to get a low view to Manhattan North and saw the ISS pass over top of the police precinct through Cas. It was not all that bright but moved quickly across the sky covering nearly the entire distance visible between the trees. It seemed like it was later by my clocks than it should have been. This has been a recurring theme so I need to check my clocks with the Internet clock and see if I have drifted. My Eddie Bauer pocket watch seems to be the most accurate timepiece I have ever owned so I suspect that it is within 30 seconds of the correct time. With a Space Shuttle launch scheduled for this Wednesday I also need to check on visible passes for the 13-16 and see if there will be a chance of seeing the ISS and the Space Shuttle individually.

Target	NGC6???
Constellation	Cyg
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	10Jul05
Comments	An open cluster in the heart of Cygnus. Coming off of Sadr towards Deneb there are two fairly bright stars, Yale 7800 and Yale 7795 that show in Planetarium. The NGC is just to the tailward of these two stars. I saw it in Peter's scope but don't remember it and did not try for it in my binoculars.

Target	M22
Constellation	Sgr
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	10Jul05; ~0000-0015 EDT
Comments	M22 was easy to find working off the handle of the Teapot

Target	M28
Constellation	Sgr
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	10Jul05; ~0010-0020 EDT
Comments	I was having a lot of trouble finding to top of the Teapot. Sgr had just southed and was getting over into the geggenschein. I eventually got there by working off the spout and following the line of bright stars \ to the top. I don't remember which of the Ms I saw around there, I know I saw one and not another and don't remember which category M28 falls into.

Target	M24, Milky Way Patch, NGC6603
Constellation	Sgr
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	10Jul05; 0015-0030 EDT
Comments	As long as I was in the neighborhood Peter wanted my to try for M24 again since I had found it before and felt that what we had seen was much larger than what was depicted in Starry Night Starter. I found it without problem jumping off the handle of the Teapot's top to a shallow arc of three stars with a brighter star off to its lower left. Peter confirmed the identification. It takes up about 1/3 of the FOV when placed at the top of the field. Peter described it as looking like a genie's lamp with the handle to the left and the base at the bottom.