23 February 2006

Observing Location	VP
Observational Period	1230-1245 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds some lenticular clouds Temperature 34°F Wind Strong Breeze Humidity Moderate Feels Like very blustery It was so blustery I was having trouble holding still enough to make my observations. Transparency Good Seeing II
Instruments	Canon 15x50 IS binocular w/Baader AstroSolar filter film - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Aqr Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070223.1230 EST Comments Distance Light Time 0.989 AU 8m14s Angular Size 32'20" Altitude 39.21° Heliographic Latitude (B0) -7.11° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 111.78° Position Angle (P) -19.98° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2053 According to Acrive Region Explorer Group 942 is supposed to still be there but it is too small for me to see. A new group, 944, has rotated on to the disk in what appeared to me to be the northern hemisphere but Active Region Explorer is showing it in the south. I adjusted Helio to Altitude/Azimuth display and it more closely agrees with the location of the spot in Active Region Explorer.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 1 1 11 Total 1 1 11 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots) Group 944 Heliographic Latitude 49° Heliographic Longitude 132° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2053 Mcintosh System Axx The group appears to be a single spot without penumbra but with the wind conditions and it being way over near the eastern limb I can’t be sure of that.

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Tonight is public observing at Columbia University so I am planning to attend there and spend most of my time in the dome where the wind will not be a problem.

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Observing Location	Columbia University
Observational Period	1930-2230 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 24°F Wind Humidity Low Feels Like Bitter Cold It was clear through the slit in the dome until the end of the session when some clouds drifted over the moon. Even in the dome it was windy and the scope was bouncing. Early on there was poor seeing while the dome and the scope cooled down. It was what Peter calls seeing through water. Transparency Good Seeing III
Instruments	Meade 14" SCT - Columbia This scope seems to have some serious problems. The motor drive hasn't worked as long as I have been going to these sessions - 2-3 years mow) so it has to be reentered after every couple of people. It didn't want to focus either. I have no idea what eyepiece they had in it and what the magnification was but the FoV was down around .10-.25°. When you had to crank on the focus knob a long time before you saw any effect then you went past the focus spot and had to do the same thing in the other direction. You had to be real lucky to anticipate when you were about to go too far and get stopped at the sweet spot. With the small FoV things were moving out of the field quickly and if the focus was not a flat field it may have gone soft when it reached the center because I focused when it had some drift space in the eyepiece. Jun also complained about the difficulty focusing and several people said the views of Saturn were better in the Dob.
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Kin Lee Cameron - Columbia

I had my own scope to drive all night tonight. I had decided to spend the night in the big dome where I figured it would be warmest. Cameron left me there to manage the big scope while he went to the small dome and the other head student took care of the Dob out on the roof. Cameron had set the scope on the Moon so we stayed there for a while then went to Saturn and on to M42 before finishing out the night on the Moon.

We got a long line at the scope a couple of times and then about 2130 a teacher arrived with his class of 25 students and their parents so we ended up going into overtime before they all got a view. It was an interesting experience being responsible for the scope and having to field the questions of the observers.