5 May 2005

Observing Location	CSP
Observational Period	0310-0510 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	When I left the house at 0215 EDT all I could see was Jupiter and one star, probably Vega. But it was nearly three hours until the occultation and conditions might change before then so I went downtown anyway. It was partly cloudy, mostly where I was trying to see. There was a general haze but not so thick than I wouldn't have been able to have seen through it. But the clouds were thicker on the horizon from the east southward. North of east they were thinner and as dawn was approaching I could see a break in the thicker clouds there. It must have been moisture off the ocean that was being stopped there. The temperature was mild and I was over dressed for once. Transparency Poor Seeing Poor
Instruments	Canon IS 15x50 binocular -- Charlie I had all kinds of equipment with me to record the event. First I got out the short wave radio and turned it on but, despite having a set of batteries in it that had only been used a few hours during the 1Apr06 Pleiades occultations but found that they were too drained to run anything but the clock. I can only surmise that the radio had been put away turned on when I broke down in Staten Island and was not checked when I got home. That didn't present a problem as I had a bag with spares of all the batteries in all of the various devices. When I got the radio power up I found that I could not receive any time signals on either the US or Canadian frequencies. So I set all the electronics aside and periodically checked for a change in RF propagation. I heard a time signal on 5 MHz, the only frequency I ever heard anything on, after the 0335 Iridium flare and began setting up the rest of the equipment. I found that I was having trouble powering the external speaker when I split the audio from the radio between the speaker and the mixer. I decided to go with the radio's internal speaker although the audio from the larger, external speaker is richer in tone and easier to understand. On getting ready to wire up the MiniDisc recorder I found that I had forgotten to pick up the pouch containing the microphone and two necessary adapters. That meant that I would not be able to use the MiniDisc recorder so tore down the mixer and associated connectors and set up the backup Olympus digital recorder. This recorder is better in some respects but keys in on the loudest sound and sometimes misses time signals but it is generally adequate for the purpose. I fiddled with all the switches on the short wave radio and found that there is less static if it is set for local reception.
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Robins
Constellation
Category	Fauna
Time	20060505.0310 EDT
Comments	I could hear robins singing everywhere as I entered the park. They were still at it when I left two hours later.

Target	Iridium Flare
Constellation	Aqr
Category	Satellite
Time	20060505.0335 EDT
Comments	Moving S to N. Appeared from nowhere and brightened quickly then faded a little more slowly Iridium 43 Mag -2 Alt 15 Az 107

Satellite

Target	Iridium Flare
Constellation	Aqr
Category
Time	20060505.0345 EDT
Comments	Not Seen By this time I had received a time signal and was trying to get the recording gear all set up and forgot about the next flare. I was particularly interested in seeing this flare to see what direction it was going in since the Alt and Az were almost the same as for the prior one. Iridium 18 Mag -1 Alt 19 Az 108

Target	Venus
Constellation	Psc
Category	Planet
Time	20060505.0428 EDT
Comments	Venus has just become visible naked-eye. It is fairly bright, brighter than anything nearby, not that there is that much nearby right now. In the binocular it looks like a red ball in the glasses I should be setting up to start my drift but can't see any of Psc

Target	Occultation of 16 Psc by (7) Iris
Constellation	Psc
Category	Occultation
Time	20060505.0512 EDT
Comments	Not Seen The clouds were thick enough when I settled on &gamma, Psc that all I could see nearby were 7 Psc and 5 Psc. &lLambda; Psc drifted into the FOV then the clouds thinned enough a couple minutes before the occultation that I was able to locate the 16 Psc. But they quickly thickened again and I lost sight of it in the clouds and brightening twilight. 0845 UTC Drift star, γ Psc, is in the FOV 0847 UTC λ Psc should be coming into the FOV 0852 UTC Sky is noticeably brighter. I can see stripes of cloud. 0854 UTC I should have the last my guide stars (λ Psc) coming into the FOV right about now 0855:05 UTC I see it -- I see my star. 0856:46 UTC There's my guide star. 0857:45 UTC Recenter ... 0858:02 UTC ... if I can find it. 0858:18 UTC I've lost [behind clouds] the guide star now. 0901:08 UTC I've got a star. 0902 UTC Two minutes. This is when it is supposed to be. 0904 UTC That's it. [end of time tones and then recording]