30 December 2005

Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	1900-2145 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	The temperature was only down to freezing but it felt colder since it is humid. There was a light but bothersome wind blowing out of the N-NE. It started out clear with only a few small and widely isolated cumulus clouds passing to the east. By 2200 EST the clouds were startin to fill in from the west. The sky wasn't a (Manhattan) dark sky even though it is nearly new moon. I didn't notice any boiling but then the Sun and Moon are the only objects I normally detect it on. Transparency Fair Seeing Good CSC was predicting clear skies, average transparency and poor to average seeing. Clear Sky Clock graphic I think the afternoon forecast was optimistic and even the update I got when I got home doesn't show the clouds arriving to early tomorrow morning. CSC was predicting clear skies, average transparency and poor to average seeing. Clear Sky Clock graphic I think the NOAA forecast was a little better for today. But it doesn't look like there will be any stargazing for New Years Eve. NOAA graphic
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binocular - Charlie SAR: Coulter CT-100 - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	(213) Lilaea occults HIP 2482
Constellation	Cet
Category	Occultation
Time	30Dec05; 2114 EST
Comments	I arrived in the park at 1900 EST and spent an hour searching for the target star. Diphda was the only star I could see naked-eye in the gegenschein of Times Square and upside-down star hopping is still new to me so I still hadn't found the star by 2000 EST. But by then the sky had rotated enough that Deneb Kaitos Shemali was visible and the hop from there was a breeze. Next I started working on the short wave radio and digital recorders next. Everything had been tested out and was supposedly working but I guess the radio batteries were in marginal condition and couldn't stand up to another night of freezing temperatures. The radio would shut down after a few of seconds. And the pouch with all the spare batteries was at home. I compared my PDA clock with the digital clock on a building and my pocket watch ang got three different times. Since the PDA is supposedly synchronized with my desktop which is synchronized with a time server I figured it would be the most accurate and decided to start my observing run based on it. It was also the most advanced time. For the next hour I cranked on the geared head of my tripod every couple of minutes and still had the target star in the FOV at 2100 EST. I noted the time when my PDA clock and the building clock changed minutes on a digital recorder and started observing around 2110 EST. I figured I could back out a crude timeframe for the event and at least get its duration. Shortly I thought I saw the target star start to go dim. Then I realized all the other stars in the FOV were getting dim as well. After a couple of minutes of staring at nothing bur a dim HIP 2762 I gave up and checked the sky to find a layer of stratus covering the horizon.