31 May 2006

I had been stepping through June in Planetarium to see what might be good to look at and came up with a listing of conjunctions and alignments that are now in the targets list to the right. Today I found a link on SpaceWeather.com to a NASA story about the events. I am hoping to catch the Moon/Saturn/M44 event as well as a bright daytime Iridium flare tonight.

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Observing Location	Bryant Park There is a big stage set up here tonight that wasn't here last night. They are going to show the NY Yankees game tonight and give away free stuff. I am on the back side of it so can't see what is going on but my guts are vibrating from the bass. In the music videos.
Observational Period	1745-1830 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	It is sunny with light haze and low cirrus clouds. I can still see some blue in the sky. It. is cooler than I had expected based on the temperature this afternoon. It has also turned breezy - about 10 MPH. The sun is only about 15 degrees in azimuth away from the chunk of sky I need to see. I am not sure that the satellite won't be behind the phone company building right across the street. When I left the park the clouds moving in from the E were so low I couldn’t ( see the antenna on the Chrysler Building.
Instruments	Naked-eye observing
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Daylight Iridium 45 Flare
Constellation
Category	Satellite
Time	20060531.1820 EDT
Comments	Not Seen Iridium 45 was to flare at Mag -6.9. The sun had sunk below the buildings on Sixth Ave making observing a little more comfortable but that didn't do anything for the two layers of clouds that were moving through the area in different directions.

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2045-2315 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	It didn't look that bad out until I got up onto the subway platform. As long as I was there with all my gear I kept going in hopes that a hole in the clouds would appear in the right place at the right time. It looks like there might be some rain out to the NW though. The westward-moving clouds are hanging very low among the buildings south of the park. The air feels moist. I won’t be surprised if I get chased out by rain. Most of the clouds stayed south of the park and were thick enough and low enough that you could not see Citicorp or the Bloomberg building and I watched the top of the GE building disappear. The air turned very humid and it was chilly. The MONY building said 62° which is nearly 10° below the forecast low. By 2230 EDT the only things that could be seen naked eye were Object Mag. Vega 0.03 Arcturus -0.05 Jupiter -2.4 Spica 0.98 and a diffuse glow where the Moon was trying to shine through the clouds. Transparency Poor Seeing Fair
Instruments	Canon 15x50 IS binocular - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Kin Lee

The goal for tonight is to see the crescent Moon, Saturn and M44 in the same FOV.

Target	Moon, M44 and Saturn
Constellation	Cnc
Category	Lunar, Deep Sky Object & Planet
Time	20060531.2050 EDT
Comments	At first all I saw was the Moon and Saturn. γ Cnc is right below the moons. The terminator is going through Mare Tranquilitatis. Langrenus, Vendelinus and Furnerius were right on the terminator (this does not track with Grego who puts them well off the terminator yesterday). Through the clouds the ejecta blanket south of Mare Crisium appeared to be raised above the floor of Mare Crisium and Mare Fecunditatis. I eventually got M44 but it was not solid. It was easier if I moved the Moon out of the FOV. The Moon was moving away from Saturn and by 2200 EDT they were pushing the comfortable part of the FOV. The limb appears flat or possibly even slightly concave in the area of Mare Humboldtanum. [ I checked in Virtual Moon Atlas and the terminator doesn't look right when I set it up for 31May06. To get the terminator where I saw it I have to set the program for 30May06 which does not make sense. The most likely string of craters that I noted was Petavius, Snellius and Steninus. 3Jun06]

Target	Jupiter
Constellation	Lib
Category	Planet
Time	20060531.21:30b EDT
Comments	I can Europa and Calisto on the leading edge and Ganymede on the trailing. Planetarium says Io is close to the planet on the leading limb. Later in the evening it became visible and by 2230 EDT it was easily seen as it moved away from the planet. At the same time Calisto was moving toward the planet to begin a transit.

Target	Iridium 35 Flare
Constellation	Leo
Category	Satellite
Time	20060531.2301 EDT
Comments	Not Seen Again tonight I was not able to see the landmark stars except for a fleeting glimpse of what I thought was Denebola. The flares at this time of night all occur at the same place in the sky so I just looked in that direction and did not see anything. At Mag -1 the flare was brighter than the faintest star I had seen, but it was also much lower on the horizon.

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Summary of Observing Time for the Year to Date:

	Day			Night			Total
	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg
Jan	3.25	4	0.81	17.50	6	2.92	20.75	9	2.31
Feb	1.00	1	1.00	10.25	6	1.71	11.25	6	1.88
Mar	2.00	1	2.00	12.00	7	1.71	14.00	8	1.75
Apr	12.5	12	1.04	40.75	14	2.91	53.25	16	3.33
May	3.00	4	0.75	27.00	10	2.7=	30.00	10	3.00
TOTAL	21.75	22	1.04	107.50	43	2.44	129.50	49	2.54