4 August 2006

Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	1900-0200 EDT Tonight was the first night when the temperature has been reasonable for a while. We packed up around 0100 and stayed talking until a police SUV came around the Lawn looking for people breaking curfew. We were headed out by the time they got up to TotL and they just slowed down to make sure that is what was happening.
Atmospheric Conditions	Hot, humid, mixed clouds and a light haze at the start. It cooled down nicely. There were clouds in part of the sky most of the night but, on the whole, conditions were better than usual. Transparency Good Seeing Good
Instruments	Canon 15x50 IS binocular - Charlie Takahashi 102 refractor - Peter Celestron 10x50 binocular - Kin
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac Kin Lee

Target	Sunspots
Constellation	Gem
Category	Solar
Time	20060804.1910 EDT
Comments	Sun sinking out of thin clouds. Light boiling was observed around the limb. No sunsots were seen. Some plage observed on the limb at 4:00. A plane passed over the disk. Where it entered the sun and where it left it the contrail could be seen over the disk. I checked the Sun’s Alt when the center of the disk was passing behind the trees and found it to be 6.15°.

There was a great sunset sky with the clouds at different heights being lit differently.

Target	Moon
Constellation	Sco
Category	Lunar
Time	20060804.2030 EDT
Comments	The terminator is just outside Sinus Iridim. Delisle and Diophantus on the dark side but the tops of the crater walls are lit up. The terminator goes right through Kepler and Gassendi. Vitello is just on the bright side of the terminator. Mee is in sunlight. The floors of Schiller and Clavius are dark. The inner western wall of Maginus is in deep shadow. Rays are visible from Tycho to and below Mare Nectaris. There is a very bright spot just outside of Mare crisium at about 8:30 in the neighborhood of Procul. It looks like three straight walls, canals or roads in Mare Imbrium above Montes Carpatus; a vertical one on either side of Lambert and a diagonal one to the right. There is a horizontal feature connecting Timocharis to Montes Archimedes. [Virtual Moon Atlas shows lots of darose in the area but none oriented in the direction I was seeing.] Antares is to the upper right of the moon but out of Fov. In Peter’s scope I noted some mountains below Gasendi Y and Gassendi J. Both Rukl and Virtual Moon Atlas show a lot of dorsae on the floor of Hare Humorum, mostly on the western side, but none of them are named. At the end of the night we watched it set into the top of the Time-Warner tower and come from behind on the side then set behind a building with a pyramidal roof and come out the side of it to disappear for good behind the antenna farm building on 65 St. I was supposed to be observing the area where the ESA satellite SMART-1 will impact south of Mare Humorum but was enjoying muself with the excellent views and forgot all about SMART-1. A new news story about SMART-1 can be found on Universe Today According to CalSky the satellite Intlst 805 Cnr (25372 1998-037-B) was supposed to fly by the Moon at 2047 EDT. I was looking for several minutes both before and after that time and did not see it. I was concentrating on the dark limb of the moon while it appears that the satellite passed on the bright limb. I think I had enough space all around the Moon for it to have been in my FoV. It is likely at at Mag 7.5 it wasn’t bright enough for me to pick it up in my peripheral vision against the glare of the 76% illuminated Mon.

Target	Jupiter
Constellation	Vir
Category	Planet
Time	20060804.2129 EDT
Comments	Io was off to the left and Europa and Callisto to the right, all easily seen. Ganymede was transiting.

Target	Baby Scorpion, NGC6231, Table of Scorpius, C76
Constellation	Sco
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	20060804.2156 EDT
Comments	Peter reminded me about this one. There were lots of stars visible with 5 being solid and at least 6 more twinkling.

Target	Meteor
Constellation	Cap
Category	Meteors
Time	20060804.2205 EDT
Comments	Heading straight sown next to the big tree in Mahgattan east. Planetarium lists the following meteor streams as being active: Stream Active Period Peak ZHR Pisces Austrinids 16Jul-10Aug 28Jul 5 Southern delta-Aquarids 12Jul-19Aug 28Jul 20 Alpha-Capricornids 3Jul-15Aug 30Jul 4 Southern iota-Aquarids 25Jul-15Aug 4Aug 2 Northern delta-Aquarids 15Jul-25Aug 9Aug 4 Perseids 17Jul-24Aug 12Aug 110 Kappa-Cygnids 3Aug-25Aug 18Aug 3 The trajectory makes it most likely an alpha-Capricornid. It was blue-white in color and seen over about 10° of sky.

Target	Delphinus
Constellation	Del
Category	Constellation
Time	20060804.2221 EDT
Comments	Stumbled on it while searching for the Coat Hanger and new it must be something based on its brightness but didn’t know what. It filled the eyepiece except for the tail star.

Target	M31, Andromeda Galaxy
Constellation	And
Category	Deep Sky Object
Time	20060804.2307 EDT
Comments	A very large group of bikers came through on the midnight ride. Peter got the Moon in his scope so I picked Venus. A couple of people saw it but then it dropped below the tree line. I considered going after the Coat Hanger but figured they would be gone before I found it and it was too high overhead for comfortable viewing anyway. The only thing I could think of was M31. It was easy for me to find and to see. Some of the bikers were able to see it; some of them weren't even able to see the stars.

Target	Little Cassiopeia
Constellation	Cep
Category	Asterism
Time	20060804.2330 EDT
Comments	I found my asterism again and showed it to Kin and Peter. Kin identified with it strongly pointing out that it is oriented in the sky the same was as Cassiopeia. Peter sees the likeness but pointed out the missing stars (η and ε) which I had also noted on first finding the asterism.

Target	Kemble’s Cascade
Constellation	Cam
Category	Asterism
Time	20060804/td>
Comments	I tried for Kemble's Cascade twice tonight but it was too low in the sky to pull it out. Stargazing: Astronomy Without a Telescope Patrick Moore says Camelopardalis is without doubt one of the dullest constellations in the sky, with no bright stars or objects of interest. It fills the triangular area bounded by Capella, Polaris and Epsion Cassiopeiae in the W. Very little can be made out; there are few stars between the fourth and fifth magnitudes, but even these make up no definite pattern. It has been said that if you come across an area of the sky with nothing in it, you will have located the Giraffe. But Kemble’s Cascade is there and is a great object. A line of stars that splays out at the end like a bird’s foot at NGC1502. Information on Kemble’s Cascade Finder charts