16 July 2006

Observing Location	South Oval
Observational Period	1130-1200 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	It Is hot, but nowhere near as hot as it is supposed to get, and crystal clear. There is a light breese so it doesn't feel too bad in the shade, but you don't want to be in the sun, which is just where you need to be to observe the sun with a binocular. Excellent Transparency Excellent Seeing
Instruments	Canon 15x50 IS binocular w/Baader AstroSolar filter film- Charlie I haven't gotten around to replacing the filter film yet. I did cover the area with black magic marker which is Baader's recommended procedure for dealing with pin prick holes. I am sure they didn't intend that anyone try to repair a hole the size of mine. I should at least cover it with electricians tape or something opaque until I get the new filter made.
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun

No offense to the English. The quote comes from a 1932 song by Noel Coward. I picked the hottest day of the year to go out for solar observing at noon.

MAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN From the musical revue "The Third Little Show" (1924) (Noel Coward) Noe Coward [sic]

In Tropical climes there are certain times of day
When all the citizens retire to take their clothes off and perspire
It's one of those rules the greatest fools obey
Because the Sun is far too sultry and one must avoid its ultry-violet 
rays

The natives grieve when the White Men leave their huts
Because they're obviously....definitely....Nuts!

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun
The Japanese don't care to, the Chinese wouldn't dare to
Hindus and Argentines sleep firmly from twelve till one
But Englishmen detest-a siesta

In the Philipines they have lovely screens to protect you from the 
glare
In the Malay States there are hats like plates which the Britishers 
won't wear
At twelve noon the natives swoon and no further work is done
But mad dogs and Englismen go out in the midday sun

It's such a surprise for the Eastern eyes to see
That though the English are effete, they're quite impervious to heat
When the White Man rides, every native hides in glee
Because the simple creatures hope he will impale his solar topi on a 
tree

It seems such a shame when the English claim the Earth
That they give rise to such hilarity and mirth
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Ho=ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho
He-he-he-he-he-he-he
Hm-hm-hm-hm-hm

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun
The toughest Burmese bandit can never understand it
In Rangoon the heat of noon is just what the natives shun
They put their Scotch or Rye down and lie down

In a jungle town where the Sun beats down to the rage of man and beast
The English garb of the English Sahib merely gets a bit more creased
In Bangkok at twelve o'clock they foam at the mouth and run
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun

Mad dogs and Englshmen go out in the midday sun
The smallest Malay rabbit deplores this foolish habit
In Hong Kong they strike a gong and fire off a noonday gun
To reprimand each inmate, who's in late

In the mangorve swamps where the python romps there is peace from 
twelve till two
Even caribous lie around and snooze for there's nothing else to do
In Bengal to move at all is seldom if ever done
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday sun

Found on International Lyrics Playground

Hear it sung by Noel Coward

I heard an alarm go off on my PDA this morning. The PDA was in the living room while I was in bed. And it hadn't gotten hot enough in the apartment for me to get up so I ignored it. Around 1100 it was hot enough that I needed to think about buttoning up the apartment and heading for somewhere where there is air conditioning. That is when I discovered that the alarm had been an early warning for an ISS pass across the Sun. I gathered up the minimum gear and raced up to the nearest oval where I would have seating and a clear sight line to the sun.

Target	Sunspots
Constellation	Gem
Category	Solar
Time	20060716.1130 EDT
Comments	I had looked at Space Weather this morning and knew that group 900 was there but wasn’t able to see it on their hi-res image even using a magnifying glass to search for it at the pixel level so was surprised when I saw it in my binocular. 900 This is a large group of four (probably more) small spots strung out in a diagonal line. The spots appear to me to be overlapping hyphens and have horizontal separation. There isn't a lot of density to the group but it does span a large area about half way from the trailing linb to the meridian. It is lower on the southern hemisphere than most of the spots we have seen lately.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 1 4 14 Total 1 4 14

Target	ISS crosses disc of Sun
Constellation	Gem
Category	Satellite, Solar, Alignment
Time	20060716.1149 EDT
Comments	Not Seen I picked this up from CalSky last week and because I was lazy this morning didn't get a chance to go back there to verify it so don't know if the ISS' orbit has changed enough that the time of the transit changed or if it didn't occur. I checked CalSky when I got home and they are still saying the event would take place at 11439:30 EDT. The closest point in the track, which ran W to E, was in Chinatown and the path width was 14.8km so I think it was visible from here. I was watching continuously between 1140 and 1155 EDT so should have seen it if it was visible with my equipment. I was also using the CalSky generic NYC Lat/Long so the event might not have been visible from up here in the Bronx. I didn't have the PDA with me so didn't know where the ISS was supposed to enter the disk and what direction it was supposed to be moving so had to try to look at the whole disk at once and hope to frtect movement. CalSky says it was supposed to be moving toward 1:59. I thought for a moment that I saw a big X-like shadow in the upper left quadrant of the sun, like a helicopter rotor, but it was only a fleeting impression and I don't have any confidence that I actually saw anything. I don't know how big the ISS is relative to the disc of the sun or how solid most of it will be. At 15x I was anticipating a gossamer shadow like a mosquito flying past a large light bulb. CalSky says ISS was 9.9 seconds across, just big enough for me to see with the 50mm binocular, and the sun is 30 minutes. So the ISS would only cover 0.55% of the sun or it would take 181 ISSs to span the disk of the Sun. Basically I wasn't prepared for this event.

As long as I was thinking about it I decided to patch the filter rather than risk my eyesight again because I haven't gotten around to making a new filter by the next time I want to go out observing. I dug out a roll of tar tape and cut a little patch of aluminum foil big enough to cover the area of the slit. I don't anticipate any visible, IR or UV light getting through the foil.

I packed all my gear into a grab-and-go bag and am heading out in search of AC. I will have dinner out and head home long enough to pick up my gear and get down to TotL in time for sunset and hopefully catch the planets one more time. The air is clear enough right now that I should have a good chance at it.

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	1945-0100 EST I had hoped to have seen Mercury tonight but didn't realize that it has sunk below the sun and I arrived just as the sun was setting behind the trees. Saturn will be down before it gets dark enough to see it and Mars will be low by the time it becomes visible. Until Venus moves into the evening sky we are down to Jupiter for planets and it doesn’t pay to arrive before astronomical twilight unless it is a young crescent Moon night.
Atmospheric Conditions	It was cooling off nicely as the sun set but was still warm. The air was dead calm though And the mosquitoes had a field day despite my citronella repellant bracelet which I had attached to my tripod I hate to add more weight to my gear bag but I guess I am going to have to start carrying my citronella candle. There were scattered stripes of cloud in the west to about 20° and visible haze right above the trees. Good Transparency Good Seeing
Instruments	Canon 15x50 IS binocular - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Jupiter
Constellation	Vir
Category	Planet
Time	20060716.2049 EDT
Comments	3 moons in a bent line to the right Io is right up against the planet

Target	Mars
Constellation	Leo
Category	Planet
Time	20060716.2112 EDT
Comments	I found Regulus about 10 minutes ago but wasn"t finding Mars which was nearly as bright and should have been in the same FoV. Regulus was looking a little orange and I initially thought it might have been Mars but if I assumed it was Mars I couldn't find the brighter Regulus to its upper lert. This didn't make sense as Regulus seemed to be at about thr right elevation so I went searching and found the real Regulus. I had been looking at Mars all along. To me there is no obvious since difference between Mars and Regulus. At 21:16 EDT Mars was visible naked-eye. From near the tree north of the #6 ball field backstop Mars came down close to the lamps on the right tower of the Bearsford and set behind the low angled roof that is just visible over the trees just to the right of the Bearsford which is at Alt 6° and Az 283°. From that location the North Star is just to the right of a small notch in the left side of the crown of the big tree by the trash cans. West is somewhere near the notch in the trees just to the left of the Bearsford.

Target	M4
Constellation	Sco
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	20060716.2145 EDT
Comments	Not seen but I saw a definite light source where it should have been. Using Peter's information scale I would rate it a 1, detected

Target	M80
Constellation	Sco
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	20060716.2151 EDT
Comments	I think I saw a little lightening where this one should have been but won't go so far as to say I detected it. If I had had SAR with its greater light grasp I might have gotten both of these tonight.

Target	NGC6231, Baby Scorpion
Constellation	Sco
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	20060716.2205 EDT
Comments	Just rising above the trees I saw six stars plainly, all at the same time.

Target	ζ Sco
Constellation	Sco
Category	Double Star
Time	20060716.2213 EDT
Comments	Just coming from behind the trees

Target	Tumbling Iridium
Constellation	Cyg
Category	Satellite
Time	20060716. EDT
Comments	I looked at the star chart on CalSky this morning and found that this satellite would drack along the body of Cyg so I thought it would be easy to spot in the binocular even though it was approaching Mag 6. I didn't see it. I did find a satellite screaming through the constellation farther to the south a little later but I don't think it was the Iridium.

Target	The Coathanger
Constellation	Vul
Category	Asterism
Time	2006. EDT
Comments	I heard a podcast that was talking about a double star in the hook of the Coathanger so gave it a try. The star is below my limiting magnitude in the binocular. There are some dim stars nearby so I decided to do a limiting magnitude assessment in the binocular. Star Magnitude HIP95291 7.11 HIP95340 6.4 HIP 95487 6.31 HIP95584 6.64 HIP95700 6.88 HIP95818 6.34 5Vul HIP95560 5.60 HIP95582 5.84 4 Vul, HIP95498 5.14 HIP95432 7.16 TYC1608-00455-1 8.82 TYC1608-00399-1 8.63 TYC1608-00850-1 8.34 TYC1608-00482-1 9.47 HIP95450 8.87 HIP95309 7.91 HIP95646 8.12 HIP95923 8.58 HIP96075 7.00 TYC1613-00754-1 9.08 HIP96153 7.79 HIP95389 8.67

Cassiopea was fairly high and I remembered that I used to hop to Kemble's Cascade from there so tried looking for it where I thought it might be. I don't have it marked in Planetarium and don't remember the number of the NGC in the bird's foot [NGC1502; RA 4:8.6, Dec 62.32°] so can't look it up. I think I was in the neighborhood but was very low over the trees and the sky was very bright there so I wasn't seeing many stars. From there I started hopping up through Cassiopeua looking for any deep sky objects marked in Planetarium.

Target	NGC457
Constellation	Cas
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	20060716.2325 EDT
Comments	Not seen I saw the stars beneath it and one of the ones above it! But not it

Target	M103
Constellation	Cas
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	20060716.2335 EDT
Comments	One bright star and two dimmer ones beneath it in an arc; a diagonal line of five dim stars begins about a degree above the cluster

Target	NGC633
Constellation	Cas
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	20060716.2339 EDT
Comments	I saw HIP8239 but that is all. This is another one that I probably would have seen more of had I been using SAR

Target	NGC559
Constellation	Cas
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	20060716.2344 EDT
Comments	Not Seen

Target	4 Cas
Constellation	Cas
Category	Double Star
Time	20060716.2353 EDT
Comments	Very tight double Not a clean split Secondary appeared to be at 5:00

Target	M52, NGC7654
Constellation	Cas
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	20060716.2359 EDT
Comments	I saw some faint stars where I think the cluster should be but don't know if I was seeing the cluster or not

Target	NCG7635, The Bubble Nebula
Constellation	Cas
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	20060717.0006 EDT
Comments	Not Seen

Target	NGC2155, The Cave Nebula
Constellation	Cep
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	20060717.0009 EDT
Comments	Not Seen

Target	δ Cep
Constellation	Cep
Category	Double Star
Time	20060717.0012 EDT
Comments	A loose double; very unequal; white and gray

Target	"Little Cassiopeia"
Constellation	Cep
Category	Asterism
Time	20060717. EDT
Comments	About 2° inside of zeta Cep on a line from &epsilon& Cep through ζ Cep, (RA 22:4.1, Dec +59.85°) is a small (7' long) grouping of stars shaped like Cassiopeia [18Jul06: I was talking with Peter about this asterism last night and joking that I should register it and he said that it had already been found and is listed on the web. I found a listing for a Little Cassiopeia (Kemble 2) at http://www.visualdeepsky.org/logs/msg03597.html and at http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/supp/d-names.html I found another reference to Kemble 2 which said it is also called the Mini Cassiopeia but it lists the RA as 18:35.0 and the Dec as +72.23° and yet another to Mini Cas/Kemble 2 at http://www.csastro.org/forums/viewtopic.php? p=4694&sid=c672336d899e8a55ba6ee0828d569ac4 http://observers.org/reports/2003.06.28.2.html Since these are the only references I can find to a little Cassiopeia and they reference the same Kemble object but it is not where I found my grouping I may indeed have found my own asterism. 19Jul06: Peter sent a link today to a post by Ben about us seeing the Mini Cassiopeia back in Jun04: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ guildofmanhattansidewalkastronomers/ message/2726 Again this is Kemble 2 in Draco and not what I was seeing in Cepheus. I did some searching in Cartes du Ciel to see if I could find out anything more about my asterism. Here is a chart showing the location of my asterism circled in yellow down in Cepheus and of the Mini Cassiopeia circled in magenta up in Draco. Here is the location of Little Cassiopeia relative to the stars of Cepheus with Flamsteed names. And here is a tight view of the asterism itself, embedded in Lynds Bright Nebula 482 which I haven't been able yet to find out a description or any references. ]

Target	NGC7243, C16
Constellation	Lac
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	20060717.0031 EDT
Comments	Open cluster May have been detected, another one for SAR on a clear night At a very uncomfortable altitude for binoculars.

Target	8 Lac
Constellation	Lac
Category	Double Star
Time	20060717.0037 EDT
Comments	A close double, 22,4 second, but an easy split; unequal; white and blue.

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Observing Location	McGraw Ave & Metropolitan Ave, Bronx, NY
Observational Period	0200 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Warm, humid, still air, clear. Good Transparency Good Seeing
Instruments	Canon 15x50 IS binocular - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target	Moon
Constellation	Psc
Category	Lunar
Time	20060717.0200 EDT
Comments	When I got off the subway I noticed the Moon over my shoulder. It looked like it was at first quarter and was very clear. It looked like there was a notch cut out of the twilight side of the terminator near Mare Serenetatis so I dug out the binoculars to take a quick look before going upstairs. In the Binocular the Terminator still looked a bit concave so Last Quarter hasn't occurred yet [17Jul06 @ 1519 EDT.. The notch was where the terminator passed through the eastern portion of Mare Serenitatis. The Caucus Mountains were starting to show some nice detail. I wish I could have set up and spent some more time observing.