| Observing Location | VP |
|---|
| Observational Period | 1030 EST |
|---|
| Atmospheric Conditions |
| Cloud Cover | Scattered Clouds |
|---|
| Temperature | 30s F |
|---|
| Wind | Calm |
|---|
| Humidity | Low |
|---|
| Feels Like | Cold |
|---|
There were some cottonball clouds around today but they didn’t interfere with my observations. It is cold. It wounds like winter has finally arrived.
|
|---|
| Instruments | SAR: Coulter CT-100 Newtonian reflector – Charlie
- Celesteon Omni 20mm
- Celesteon Omni 2x Barlow
|
|---|
| Observing Party | Charlie Ridgway
|
|---|
| Target | Sunspots |
|---|
| Constellation | Oph |
|---|
| Category | Solar |
|---|
| Time | 20061205.1030 EST |
|---|
| Comments |
Heliographic Latitude
(B0) | +0.32° |
|---|
Heliographic Longitude
(L0) | 85.91° |
|---|
Position Angle
(P) | +14.21° |
|---|
Carrington rotation number
(CR) | |
|---|
NASA says Group 928 has disappeared, either rotated off the disk or dissipated, and now there is a group, 929, on the eastern limb. I didn’t see it but when I look on the SOHO image it is huge. It is the one that emitted a major solar flare yesterday. I should be picking it up tomorrow.
After a couple of days of observing with SAR I am feeling the reduced magnification. I don’t feel that I am seeing as much in the spots. But SAR is going to be mainly a weekend and special event solar optic.
| | Groups | Spots | R |
|---|
| North | 1 | 1 | 11 |
|---|
| South | 1 | 3 | 13 |
|---|
| Total | 2 | 4 | 24 |
|---|
| R = (Groups * 10) + Spots) |
- Group 926
-
A southern hemisphere spot. The group does not look as complex today, but that may be a result of the decreased magnification. It is still composed of three major components. The two westernmost spots are the largest.
- Group 927
-
A northern hemisphere spot. This spot looks like it has grown. I think I see penumbra around it.
|
|---|
|
Now through the 15th Mercury, Mars and Jupiter will form a planetary trio, any three planets within a 5° circle. Information on the gathering is on Space.com. Unfortunately it is an early morning event.
Using the formulae for evaluating binoculars provided by Bishop in the Observer's Handbook 2007 I propared the following chart which compares the various optics owned by Peter, Kin and I. Adding in the scopes stretches the usefulness of the comparison somewhat. For them I have assumed a long focal length eyepiece.
| Optic | Magnification | Diameter | Relative Brightness | Performance Index |
|---|
| My Optics |
|---|
| Brunton compact binocular | 8 | 21 | 7 | 168 |
|---|
| Golden Gate binocular | 7 | 35 | 25 | 245 |
|---|
| Canon IS binocular | 15 | 50 | 11 | 750 |
|---|
| SAR: Coulter CT-100 Newtonian reflector | 21 | 107 | 26 | 2247 |
|---|
| Other Optics I occasionally look through |
|---|
| Fujinon binocular | 7 | 50 | 51 | 350 |
|---|
| Celestron binocular | 7 | 50 | 51 | 350 |
|---|
| Pentax binocular | 20 | 60 | 9 | 1200 |
|---|
| Takahashi binocular | 22 | 60 | 7 | 1320 |
|---|
| TeleVue Ranger | 32 | 57 | 3 | 1824 |
|---|
| Harry: 6" DIY Newtonian reflector | 32 | 150 | 22 | 4800 |
|---|
| Takahashi 102 refractor | 32 | 102 | 10 | 3264 |
|---|
| Teleport 10" Dobsonian reflector | 32 | 254 | 63 | 8128 |
|---|
| Observing Location | TotL |
|---|
| Observational Period | 2200-0130 EST |
|---|
| Atmospheric Conditions |
| Cloud Cover | Clear
becoming
Broken Clouds |
|---|
| Temperature | low 38s F |
|---|
| Wind | Light Air
to
Light Breeze |
|---|
| Humidity | Moderate |
|---|
| Feels Like | 23° F |
|---|
I was wearing plenty of warm clothes but felt a little chilly and my toes were very uncomfortable by the end of the night and I was ready to leave before Peter was.
| Transparency | Good to Fair |
|---|
| Seeing | II |
|---|
|
|---|
| Instruments | SAR: Coulter CT-100 Newtonian reflector - Charlie
- Celesteon Omni 20mm
- Celesteon Omni 2x Barlow
Takahashi 102 refractor - Peter
|
|---|
| Observing Party | Charlie Ridgway
Peter Tagatac
|
|---|
| Target | Moon |
|---|
| Constellation | Tau |
|---|
| Category | Lunar |
|---|
| Time | 20061205.2200 EST |
|---|
| Comments |
| Lunation | 1038 |
|---|
| Phase | waning gibbous |
|---|
| Age | 15D4h41m |
|---|
| Elongation | 164.77°W |
|---|
| % Illuminated | 98.2% |
|---|
| Magnitude | -12.4 |
|---|
| Altitude | 52.91° |
|---|
I think I spent more time talking with Peter tonight than I did observing. He was photographing the Moon when I arrived so we talked about that a bit then looked at some features down near the southern end of the terminator that we couldn’t identify at the time. I had Cherrington with me but wasn’t finding much useful information on any of the craters which peter could identify. I was able to see Schicard and Schiller in both scopes.
|
|---|
|
| Target | Saturn |
|---|
| Constellation | Leo |
|---|
| Category | Lunar |
|---|
| Time | 20061206.0015 EST |
|---|
| Comments | We ended the night observing Saturn as it rose above the trees. I could definitely see a dark stripe on the planet above the rings and thought I saw a gray one below the rings but I can’t be sure that that wasn’t my eye carrying the color across the planet where I know there should be a division between the planet and rings.
|
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