29 September 2006

Observing Location	VP
Observational Period	1145-1245 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Mostly cloudy; humid; breezy; if felt chilly. I had to wait out the clouds for periods of clear sky. Transparency Poor Seeing Good
Instruments	Canon 15x50 IS binocular w/Baader AstroSolar filter film - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Vir Category Solar Time 20060929.1145 EDT Comments Heliphraphic Latitude (B0) +6.79° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 249.25° Position Angle (P) +25.86° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2048 After having seen nothing on my last two observations I was surprised to find two or three groups visible today. One of the groups is over near the western limb so is just developing or may be a group that is redeveloping.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 3 3 33 Total 3 3 33 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots) Group ? Heliographic Latitude -17° Heliographic Longitude 305° McIntosh System Axx This group is composed of a single spot a little way off the western limb in the southern hemisphere. I was about to pack up when I saw it behind a veil of cloud. Once I had found it I could see it when the entire disc was exposed. Group 913 Heliographic Latitude -16° Heliographic Longitude 189° McIntosh System Axx This is the largest spot and the first seen. It looked small not dark in unfiltered (by cloud) conditions. Group 914 Heliographic Latitude -6° Heliographic Longitude 182° McIntosh System Axx This may be the second half of the above group which could be bipolar, but they are a good distance apart so I am calling them separate groups until NASA tells me otherwise. The spot is faint and right on the limb where foreshortening makes it hard to tell for sure what you are seeing. It is best seen behind light clouds when there is less contrast. On an un-obscured disc it looks like a feat vertical line. I suspect that it is many spots which is another thing that causes me to say it is a distinct group. The SOHO image is showing my two spots on the southern hemisphere eastern limb and also one there in the northern hemisphere (912) where I did not detect anything. It is not showing the spot I clearly saw in the SW quadrant. There is a bit of plage there but it is closer to the limb than I remember seeing my spot. There also looks to be a spot closer to the meridian at about the same latitude as 912 which they have not numbered. Active Region Explorer is only showing spot 909 and has it on the eastern limb.

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Tonight is supposed to be the first public observing session of the semester, again, at Columbia University. They postponed it last week because of an unfavorable weather forecast. The AAA is also planning public observing tonight at CSP. The forecast is looking iffy and I will not be surprised if Columbia cancelled their session, and will be surprised if AAA does not cancel theirs. I am still hoping to go to Columbia.

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Observing Location	Rutherford Observatory, Columbia University
Observational Period	1900-2130 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	NoneLow Cloud Cover None Temperature Brisk Wind Humidity Feels Like Cool Transparency Good Seeing Good
Instruments	Canon 15x50 IS binocular - Charlie 16" SCT - Columbia 12" Dobsonian - Columbia !!" SCT - Columbia As I have noted before, most of the head students who run the public observing program don't have a lot of observational astronomy experience. They are very open to target suggestions and will even let you drive the scope if you sound like you know what you are doing. After I had looked at the moon a couple of times in the 16" I moved outside onto the roof to see what they were doing with the Dob and found they were just standing around it. I asked if we could out it in the Coat Hanger until something better came along and was told to go for it. I found it but didn't realize it because the magnification was too high for the object. Peter arrived while I was trying and I turned it over to him and he drove that scope and interpreted for the public for most of the rest of the session.
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac Neil and Cameron - Columbia University grad students Thud was a public observing session sponsored by the Columbia University Astrophysics Department

Target Moon Constellation Sgr Category Time 20060929.1910 EDT Comments Lunation 1036 Phase waxing Age 7d11g24m Elongation 83.96°E % Illuminated 44.7td> Alt. 18.90° Mag. -9.9 The Moon was almost completely filling the field of view of the 16" SCT. It was an uncomfortable view at that magnification level. I occasionally moved my eye around to see the limb but mostly concentrated on the terminator where it was passing through the Apennine mountains. The view crowded crisp to me. I like objects to have some breathing room in the eyepiece. It needed either less magnification to put the entire Moon in context or more magnification to isolate features. γ Sgr was eclipsed by the Moon at 2024:10. I saw it disappear behind the dark limb of the Moon with my binocular from inside the big dome.

Target NGC457, Owl Cluster, ET Cluster Constellation Cas Category DSO: OCl Time 20060929.1950 EDT Comments The stars of the cluster were bright and tack sharp, an excellent view. It reminded me of the Burning Man.

Target M31 & M32 Constellation And Category DSO: Galaxy Time 20060929.2045 EDT Comments I observed M31 and M21 in the 12" Dobsonian then went into the small dome where they were observing M31 in the 11" SCT. The image in the Don was far better. M31 was the usual cotton ball. And I did not spend a lot of time on it. To its easy was an isosceles triangle pointing away from M31. The single star at the point of the triangle will not resolve and is M31.

Target M57 Constellation Lyr Category DSO: Supernova Remnant Time 20060929.2055 EDT Comments In the 11" SCT M57 was very obvious and I even saw it a few times as a faint heat ring.

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	1000-1100 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Sensable Cloud Cover Clear Temperature Cool Wind None Humidity Feels Like Chilly Transparency Good Seeing Good
Instruments	Canon 15x50 IS binocular - Charlie Fujinon 7x50 binocular - Peter
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac

When we left Columbia we debated whether it was worth going over to CSP to check on the AAA observing session but decided that by the time we got downtown and then across town we would get there in time to watch them pack up. We ended up going to TotL but did more talking than we did observing.

Target Uranus Constellation Aqr Category Planet Time 20060929.2250 EDT Comments I had hoped to have seen this in one of the big scopes at Columbia where we could have used dome magnification on it but had to settle for 15x in my binocular where it just looks like a moderately bright star.

Target Neptune Constellation Cap Category Planet Time 20060929.2255 EDT Comments Not Seen Initially Peter and I both thought we saw it. I don't know what Peter's final verdict was, but I know I didn't are it.

Just after Peter and I had split up Kin arrived on his bike on the way home from an AAA observing session at Floyd Bennett Field. He said that it was dark and cool there but that the mosquitoes were still out and biting. They had 17" and 1" Dobs and a 3.5" MCT. The guy with the 10" didn't know what he was doing and the computer stopped working on the Mack so its owner packed up and left, so really they only had the 17". I didn't hear him say haw many members and how many public were there. It must be a short observing session as he had time to ride his bike back from there to midtown by 2330 EDT.