20 June 2006

18 June 2006

Observing LocationTotL
Observational Period2030-0100 EDT
Atmospheric Conditionsthere weren't any clouds but there was lots of haze. I didn’t notice any instability in the atmosphere. The wind picked up at around 2300 EDT. The temperature remained in the low 80s.
TransparencyPoor
SeeingGood
Instruments Canon 15x50 IS binocular - Charlie
Fujinon 17x70 binocular - Tom
Observing PartyCharlie Ridgway
Tom Clabough

TargetJupiter
ConstellationLib
CategoryPlanet
Time20060618.2039 EDT
CommentsThe planet was first seen naked-eye at 2039 EDT. In the binocular I could initially pick out two moons off the western limb. As the sky became darker the closer in moon resolved into two moons close together and the last moon became visible on the western limb.

TargetMercury
ConstellationGem
CategoryPlanet
Time20060618.2052 EDT
CommentsI found Mercury by setting my binocular in the approximate altitude and sweeping the nearby sky in azimuth. It looked bright orange. At 2115 I finally picked it out naked-eye is it was getting low over the trees.

TargetRed Sky
Constellation
CategoryAtmosphere
Time20060618.2115 EDT
CommentsThe sky in the south has a faint red tint.

TargetISS Visible Pass
Constellation
CategorySatellite
Time20060618.2148 EDT
CommentsA Mag -0.9 pass from the SW to the NE with a maximum altitude of 85°.

TargetCosmos 2237 Rocket
ConstellationSco - Cap - Oph
CategorySatellite
Time20060618.2209 EDT
CommentsWhile star hopping in Sco I saw this Mag 3.4 satellite passing through my FOV. I tracked it until it disappeared in the NNE

TargetAquilla
ConstellationAql
CategoryConstellation
Time20060618.2245 EDT
CommentsI was having trouble getting myself oriented and found that Deneb el Okab, ζ Aql (Mag 2.99) appeared brighter than Altair, α Aql (Mag 0.76)

Target75 Dra
ConstellationDra
CategoryDouble Star
Time20060618.2300 EDT
CommentsAn very easy double at 3.3°

TargetCosmos 2333 Rocket
Constellation
CategorySatellite
Time20060618.2311 EDT
CommentsA Mag 3.8 satellite going from the SE to NE with a maximum altitude of 42°

TargetIridium 84 Flare
ConstellationLeo
CategorySatellite
Time20060618.2316 EDT
CommentsA Mag 0 flare at 27° altitude.

TargetISS Visible Pass
Constellation
CategorySatellite
Time20060618.2325 EDT
CommentsA low pass in the north. It appeared bright from behind the bug tree in the NW corner and steadily faded. It was visible to azimuth 15-20°.

Target31 Dra
ConstellationDra
CategoryDouble Star
Time20060618.2343 EDT
CommentsEasily split at 30". Unequal in brightness.

Targetν Dra
ConstellationDra
CategoryDouble Star
Time20060618.2357 EDT
CommentsA very easy split at 1°. Fairly equal. The primary star is a double itself.

Target39 Dra
ConstellationDra
CategoryDouble Star
Time20060619.0001 EDT
CommentsVery unequal. About 1.5° separation.

TargetISS Visible Pass
Constellation
CategorySatellite
Time20060619.0102 EDT
CommentsNot Seen
This was a challenge object. The station was only shining at Mag 3.1 and was only at altitude 10°. And it was only supposed to be visible for 30 seconds.

posted by Charlie at 13:18

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This is my personal record of my astronomical observations. It was written for my personal reference. The only reason it is in a blog is that a blog is a very convenient way to get the records formatted more or less uniformly and they will, hopefully, have greater longevity at Google where the servers are backed up than on my hard drive which never gets backed up. I occasionally include copyrighted material in my posts. I do this to make it convenient for me to access things I think I might want to refer to again. I think of this like making a photocopy of something I read that I put in a file where I can find it when I want it. As I understand copyright law, as explained in the DVD series Copyright Compliance by Chip Taylor Communications, this use is allowed under the Fair Use doctrine since I am not making any money on this blog, I don’t publicize the blog, and only occasionally post small excerpts of copyrighted works.


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