8 December 2005

Observing Location	New York City
Observational Period
Atmospheric Conditions	It looks like a great day out there today although my desktop widgets tell me it is going to stay cold. And CSC says it is going to get lousy right about dark. Clear Sky Clock graphic NOAA says it is supposed to start snowing after midnight and we can expect almost 4" before it quits tomorrow afternoon. NOAA graphic The current NOAA synoptic chart shows us in a thin band of snow between no snow and a possible heavy snow areas. NOAA graphic It doesn't look like there will be any observing tonight. But maybe I can get a look at the sun before it clouds over.
Instruments
Observing Party

After my hard drive crash of 12Oct05, when I lost all updates to my observing statistics spreadsheet that had occurred since mid August, I have finally backed out the missing data as best I can. Below is the summary through the end of November.

Observing Statistics Year To Date

	Night			Day			Total
	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg
Jan	9.80	4	2.44	3.80	4	0.94	13.50	6	2.25
Feb	14.00	9	1.56	1.30	2	0.63	15.30	9	1.69
Mar	15.30	9	1.69	2.50	2	1.25	17.80	10	1.78
Apr	40.50	11	3.86	6.80	4	1.69	49.30	12	4.10
May	18.30	6	3.04	4.80	8	0.59	23.00	9	2.56
Jun	22.80	9	2.53	16.30	16	1.02	44.80	16	2.80
Jul	26.00	12	2.17	3.70	15	0.25	29.70	16	1.86
Aug	19.00	9	2.11	8.00	6	1.33	27.00	13	2.08
Sep	61.30	15	4.08	3.80	14	0.27	65.00	19	3.42
Oct	16.50	5	3.30	7.50	7	1.07	24.00	8	3.00
Nov	24.00	9	2.67	4.80	6	0.79	28.80	11	2.61
Total	269.20	97	2.78	63.99	86	0.74	339.94	129	2.64

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Observing Location	PSC
Observational Period	1415-1430 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	It is finally warming up to freezing before the temperature starts to drop as the sun goes down. The air looks clear and there is no wind. Transparency Excellent Seeing Excellent
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binocular with Baader AstroSolar filter film - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Sunspots
Constellation	Oph
Category	Solar
Time	8Dec05; 1415 EST
Comments	I saw this as three groups although I was expecting NOAA to say the two on the western limb were really one group. I felt that the spot on the limb was in one group and the other two spots were in another group. I had trouble figuring out where the equator was and eventually decided the lone spot near the meridian was in the northern hemisphere and all of the other spots were in the southern. I was surprised to find that the most recent image on the SOHO site is from yesterday and that is what is being displayed on the SpaceWeather web site with today's date. In that image only spots 826 and 830 are visible and these are the only spots that I have labeled on my field diagram. When I used Active Region Explorer I found that each of the spots had its own number. There are also some other areas identified by a lower case "p" number (p0823, p0827, p0829) which I assume indicate prominences. There was a lot of facula visible on the western limb and the major stripes are indicated in my diagram. The diagram also has a mark eastward of the third spot from the limb which was originally a sunspot that I decided was in the wrong place but couldn't delete since the drawing was made with ink. 826 SW quadrant. This spot looks like it is sitting right on the limb. I usually don't see spots this close to the limb so infer that this spot must be fairly large. Active Region Explorer indicates that it has been shrinking over the past 24 hours. There is faculae around this spot and extending back toward 831. 828 SW quadrant. I was combining this spot with 831 into one group. It appears to be a small spot that only became visible after I had been watching for a while. 830 NW quadrant. I couldn't tell where this spot was in relation to the meridian but decided that it was probably slightly to the west. I have a sense that it is a squat peanut shaped spot but in yesterday's SOHO image it looks circular and may have a penumbra. 831 SW quadrant. Another small spot that I had paired in a group with 828. The faculae between this spot and 826 were what lead me to suspect that I would find all three of these spots to be in one group. quadrant. Archive Region Explorer graphic   Groups Spots R Northern Hemisphere 1 2 12 Southern Hemisphere 2 3 23 Total 3 5 35 NOAA Boulder Sunspot Number R = 10 * Groups + Spots

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It did start to cloud up this evening about the time CSC said it would. About 1930 EST I could see cirrus clouds lit up around a subdued moon and there were heavier clouds down near the horizon.