20 December 2006

Observing Location	VP
Observational Period	1130-1145 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear light haze Temperature 50s F Wind Calm Humidity Feels Like Cool Transparency Good Seeing I
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Sgr Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20061222.1130 EST Comments Heliographic Latitude (B0) -1.60° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 248.27° Position Angle (P) +7.68° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2051 The sub is a uniform featureless disk again today.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

---

Observing Location	Battery Park, New York, NY I am liking this location for satellite work because they alternate between low eastern and low western horizons a lot and from here I can see from the SE through down through A and up to the NW. The major drawback is that it is hard to tell the satellites from the planes approaching and departing Newark Airport.
Observational Period	1600- EST
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 30s F Wind Moderate Breeze Humidity Moderate Feels Like Cold I went back to my source at NOAA for estimating wind speed but didn't find a listing for when blowing holiday decorations cause lamp posts to sway or when plastic bags caught in tree branches make loud snapping sounds. I think it is windier here than it is a lot of other locations around the City because there is so much fetch for the wind to blow across in all directions but to the north. Transparency Good Seeing I
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie Nikon CoolPix 990 - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

I achieved both of my objectives tonight: I observed the Space Shuttle and ISS in subsequent passes, and I made my first video of an Iridium flare.

Target Sunspots Constellation Sgr Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20061220.1615 EST Comments Heliographic Latitude (B0) -1.62° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 245.67° Position Angle (P) +7.58° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2051 The Sun was setting through a deck of stratus clouds that were showing nice striations from the effects of winds aloft blowing from the north. Surface winds, however, were variable but predominantly out of the SE. I was not able to get a good look at all of the disk but did not see any spots in the areas I could see.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

Target Venus Constellation Sgr Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20061220.1630 EST Comments Phase Waning Gibbous Elongation 13.34°E % Illuminated 97.5% Magnitude -3.9 Altitude 7.87° I picked Venus up right at sunset by scanning to the upper left of the Sun with the binocular. Once I had a landmark on the horizon I was able to pick it up naked-eye only a minute or two later. In the compact binocular it is still just a little dot, hardly bigger than the little dot I see naked-eye. I was able to photograph it.

1631 - Civil Twilight Begins

Target STS-116 Visible Pass Constellation Sgr-Cap-Aqr-Psc-Ari-Tau Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20061220.1641 EST Comments Not Seen Mag .-1.0

Target Iridium 84 Flare Constellation Sgr Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20061220.1644 EST Comments Not Seen Mag -5

Target ISS Visible Pass Constellation Sgr-Cap-Aqr-Psc-Ari-Tau Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20061220.1646 EST Comments Not Seen Mag -

Target Iridium 54 Flare Constellation Her Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20061220.1659 EST Comments Not Seen Mag -1

1702 EST - Nautical Twilight Begins

1736 EST - Astronomical Twilight Begins

Target Iridium 42 Flare Constellation Cet Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20061220.1801 EST Comments Mag -4 It was a bit farther east than I was expecting it so I did not see it until it had reached maximum brightness. I was able to get a picture of it and see it fade out which was the objective. The movie (Quicktime file - opens in a new browser) Next I need to set the camera up on a tripod pointing at the chunk of sky where the flare should be so it can be seen brightening and dimming as it travels across the frame.

1809 EST - Astronomical Twilight Begins

Target STS-116 Visible Pass Constellation Aql-Her Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20061220.1816 EST Comments Mag 0.8 I picked the satellite up well up over the North River as it was heading in over Manhattan and beginning to dim.

Target ISS visible Pass Constellation Aql-Her Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20061220.1821 EST Comments Mag 1.4 I spotted this one late also but earlier than I had Discovery. They appear to be becoming visible farther north than I was anticipating (maybe the ecliptic is farther south than I was assuming) and are not as bright as I think they should be. It is almost like they are coming straight at me out of the west then turning upriver. Checking Heavens Above in my AvantGo subscription, which was updated late this afternoon I see that the times for this pare of STS-116/ISS passes differ from what I got from CalSky yesterday by several minutes. I haven't compared the Max Alt.: times and may find that the discrepancy is that CalSky lists the time the visible pass behind and ends while Heavens Above only lists it after it reaches 10° Alt.

Comparison of CalSky and Heavens Above listings

CalSky	Heavens Above
STS-116 Visible Pass
Mag -1.0 Appears Time: 16:41:50 Height: Az: SW Transits Time: 16:46:26 Height: 47° Az: SE Disappears Time: 15:40:53 Height: 5.4° Az: ENE	no listing
ISS Visible Pass
Mag -1.6 Appears Time: 16:46:14 Height: Az: SW Transits Time: 16:50:57 Height: 54.4° Az: SE >Disappears Time: 16:54:21 Height: 6.4° Az: ENE	no listing
STS-116 Visible Pass
Mag 0.9 Appears Time: 18:16:58 Height: Az: W Disappears Time: 18:20:57 Height: 18.9° Az: NW	Mag 0.6 Appears Time: 18:21:46 Height Az: W Max elev Time: 18:20:59 Elev: 19° Az: NNW Shadow entry Time: 18:20:59 Elev: 19° Az: NNW
ISS Visible Pass
Mag: 0.8 appears Time: 18:21:46 Height: Az: W Disappears Time: 18:25:43 Height: 18.3° Az: NW	Mag: -1.0 10° elev Time: 18:21:09 Elev: 10° Az.: WNW Max elev: Time 18:25:51 Elev:19° Az: NW Shadow entry Time: 18:25:51 Elev: 19° Az: NW

---

Following up on my musing about the level of oversight NASA needs of all the goings on on the ISS and Space Shuttle (read: micromanagement), I did some calculations on what that would mean for the upcoming Mars missions.

• Planetarium tells me that Mars is 2.43 AU from Earth right now.
• Radio waves travel at the speed of light which is 8.3 minutes/AU - the time it takes light to reach earth from the Sun.
• So it will take 20.169 minutes for NASA's question to reach astronauts on Mars, another 20.169 minutes for the astronaut's reply to reach Earth, and another 20.169 for NASA's final instruction to reach the astronauts. That is a total of 1 hour for a simple exchange that doesn't require any clarification or anyone to think about the answer.

Clearly the crews of Mars missions will have to have considerable autonomy. Or we need to devise a method of communication that is faster than the speed of light, which reminds me of a conversation we had one night with Mark, the publisher, down at TPO.