26 January 2005
| Observing Location | TotL | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Observational Period | 2045-2230 EST | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Atmospheric Conditions | It was cold and a bit windy but I was dressed warmly so wasn't bothered by either. When I was riding home on the subway I noticed my reflection in the darkened windows and my face looked very pink from windburn.
The air looked clear but at times it looked clearer than at others so there was obviously some haze up there which was only detectable by comparison. With nothing larger than Saturn to look at and only 23x magnification I could not assess seeing.
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| Instruments |
SAR: Coulter CT-100 - Charlie
SAR was fairly well behaved tonight. The objects in the center of the field exhibited much less coma than usual. Everything farther out to the edge still looked like comets. Celestron binocular - Kin Pentax binocular - Peter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Observing Party |
Charlie Ridgway
Kin Lee |
| CT-100 Limiting Magnitude Observations |
The main goal of the night was to repeat my CT-100 limiting magnitude test in M45 on a night without haze and a moon.
The dimmest star I saw in M45 tonight was Mag 8.52 which is 0.06 magnitude or 0.05 times brighter than the dimmest star I saw doing the same test earlier this month with noticeable haze and a near full moon. I think my limiting magnitude with this scope is going to be 8.5. |
|---|
| Target | Betelgeuse |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Ori |
| Category | Star |
| Time | 20060126.2130 EST |
| Comments | Betelgeuse looked very orange tonight to the naked eye. More so than usual. |
| Target | M42/M43 |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Ori |
| Category | Deep Sky Objects |
| Time | 20060126.2055 EST |
| Comments | I could see a little nebulosity in the scope but not a lot. The stars at the top and bottom of the sword had coma while the trapezium did not. |
| Target | Mars |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Ari |
| Category | Planet |
| Time | 20060126.2130 EST |
| Comments | Mars, while still bigger than a star, is noticeably smaller than it used to be. It still blazes orange. |
| Target | Saturn and M44 |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Cnc |
| Category | Conjunction |
| Time | 20060126.2145 EST |
| Comments | Saturn and M44 easily fit into the same 2.3° field of view tonight. The Beehive didn't seem to be as bright in either the CT-100 or the Celestrons as I remember it in my Canons. |
| Target | Alcor and Mizar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | UMa |
| Category | Double Star |
| Time | 20060126.2200 EST |
| Comments | I noticed a third, dimmer star -- TYC 3850-257-1 (7.59m), above and between Alcor (3.99m) and Mizar (2.23m), forming the ubiquitous triangle, that I have never remarked before. |
| Target | The Engagement Ring |
|---|---|
| Constellation | UMi |
| Category | Asterism |
| Time | 20060126.2215 EST |
| Comments | The ring was faint but the diamond bright. |
Kin had his monopod there so I tried it out with his Celestron binocular mounted to it. I have a predisposition to heavy tripods so it isn't surprising that I felt it was topheavy. How would it feel with my much heavier Canons on top of it?
The monopod did privide good up and down stability but didn't do anything for rocking or turning. Could I count sunspots with the Canons mounted on it? I am not sure the image stibilization would deal with that kind of movement. If I were using the monopod sitting down at my normal observing location a lot of that movement would be cancelled out by the back of the park bench.
The height of the monopod with ball head and binocular adapter was more than adequate for me to use standing while standing. It did not feel flimsy even with all seg segments extended.
Kin purchased the monopod over eBay and it came with a no-name ball head. He says that when he uses the head on a tripod he has to aim because the binoculars will sag backward after the head is locked and he releases them. This would not be a problem in monopod use since the position of the monopod is not fixed. He also says that the rubber grip on the azimuth adjuster appears to be loose over the screw head and just spins around the screw unless you grip it tightly. Although this should not be it would not present a problem in monopod use since you would just twist the monopod staff to look in a different direction.
Kin's Celestron binocular is individual occular focus and I found it a little cumbersome to try to focus one then the other while trying to keep the binocular on target. He says that once he gets the binocular focused it is set for the night so this isn't a problem. I find that I am constantly focusing my binocular while observing the sun and even stars. Also, when Peter and I were observing the Moon mext to M45 in my binocular in 2004 we found that we could not get both objects in focus at the same time. The difference in the distance to the Moon and to the stars is enough that it requires a slight adjustment in my binocular focus. Kin is planning to devise some sort of strap to keep the binocular from falling to the ground should he loose control of it while making adjustments. One of my concerns about a monopod for solar observing was what do I do with it when I need to sketch.
I can see a place for a monopod for grab-and-go binocular observing. It is small and light so won't encumber you. And it does increase stability and will lessen arm fatigue. But right now there are other items that are a little higher on my priority list.
posted by Charlie at 23:59
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