12 December 2006

11 December 2006

Observing LocationVP
Observational Period1230-1245 EST
Atmospheric Conditions
Cloud CoverBroken Clouds
Temperature50s F
WindCalm
Humiditymoderate
Feels Likevery comfortable early fall day

I got email from CSC telling me that it would be clear with above average transparency from 1100 until 1600 EST. NOAA was saying it would be mostly clear this morning and turn mostly cloudy this afternoon through early tonight. It looks like they both got the speed of this frontal system wrong. I had to wait for patches of clear air or at least thinner clouds to make my observations. The air was very stable though.

TransparencyFair
SeeingI
InstrumentsCanon 15x50 IS binocular w/Baader AstroSolar filter film - Charlie
Observing PartyCharlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots
ConstellationOph
CategorySolar
Time
yyyymmdd.hhmm		20061211.1230 EST
Comments
Heliographic Latitude
(B0)		 -0.33°
Heliographic Longitude
(L0)		 19.47°
Position Angle
(P)		 +12.19°
Carrington rotation number
(CR)		2050

Yesterday I observed what I believed to be three spots in Group 930 and Kin said he believed he saw what I was describing. When I got home and checked the SOHO MDI image on SpaceWeather.com I began to doubt my observation. But today there are clearly three spots and I have even less magnification than I did yesterday.

 Groups SpotsR
North0 0 0
South1 3 13
Total1 3 13
R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

Group 930
Heliographic Latitude 10°
Heliographic Longitude 25°
Mcintosh SystemDho
A large spot with a flat or possibly indented bottom and a tall hunched back, surrounded by a broad penumbra that is elongated toward the equator. There is a smaller hyphen-shaped spot below and tangent to the penumbra but not included within it. There is a small p spot detached from the penumbra and of about the same shade of gray as the penumbra. The group is slightly west and south of the apparent center of the disk.


Observing LocationPier 17 Food Court, South Street Seaport, New York, NY
Observational Period1500-1730 EST
Atmospheric Conditions
Cloud CoverScattered Clouds
Temperature
WindCalm
Humiditymoderate
Feels Like

Transparency
Seeing
Instruments
Observing PartyCharlie Ridgway

Target
Constellation
Category
Time
yyyymmdd.hhmm		20061209.1500 EST
CommentsI was scanning the amateur UHF frequencies and found that KE2EJ was retransmitting Shuttle comms on 447.200 MHz. I listened until after the hatch opening and heard
  • Course Correction Burns
  • Rotational Pitch Maneuver
  • Final Approach
    Painfully slow at a maximum rate of 0.2 fps
  • Docking
When the two craft were within 600 feet and couldn't communicate directly, everything had to come back to earth and be retransmitted.
The Shuttle acknowledged their communications immediately while there was a considerable delay before communications for the ISS were acknowledged.

Target Sunspots
Constellation
CategorySolar
Time
yyyymmdd.hhmm		20061211.1530 EST
Comments
Heliographic Latitude
(B0)		 -0.35°
Heliographic Longitude
(L0)		 17.82°
Position Angle
(P)		 +12.14°
Carrington rotation number
(CR)		2050

 Groups SpotsR
North0 0 0
South1 4 14
Total1 4 14
R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

Group 930
Heliographic Latitude -5°
Heliographic Longitude 28°
Mcintosh SystemDho
I am again seeing a small spot in the NW edge of the penumbra. I think I am seeing it now while I missed it this morning because I am seated at a table upon which I am resting my elbows so am much more stable then I was with just my back supported. The smaller of the spots that this morning appeared to be tangent to but outside of the penumbra now appears surrounded by penumbra. Only the P spot is outside of the penumbra.

posted by Charlie at 14:59

Disclaimer
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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