29 March 2007

Observing Location	SIBL
Observational Period	1215-1230 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 48&drg;F Wind Light Breeze Humidity Low Feels Like Cool Transparency Excellent Seeing I
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Psc Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070329.1215 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 0.9939361 AU 8ms Angular Size 32'" Altitude 52°4’ Heliographic Latitude (B0) -6.69° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 23.82° Position Angle (P) -26.02° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2054 Space Weather says 949 has rotated onto the disc and Active Region Explorer says that 948 is still hanging out on the western limb as well but I can’t see either of them. 948 is a southern hemisphere spot while 949 is a northern hemisphere spot. This is the first time there has been a northern hemisphere spot in a while and the first time in a long while there there have been spots in both hemispheres at the same time. Could cycle 24 be kicking in?   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

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Observing Location	MetOval
Observational Period	2145-2215 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 49°F Wind Light Breeze Humidity Low Feels Like Cool I only looked up at the Moon so if there was cloud down low I wasn’t aware of it. Transparency Excellent Seeing I
Instruments	SAR: Coulter CT-100 Newtonian reflector - Charlie Celestron Omni 20mm Celestron Omni 2x Barlow ~20mm Kellner w/helical focuser
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Moon Constellation Cnc Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 2007 EDT Comments Lunation 1043 Phase Waxing Gibbous Age 10.96d Distance Light Time (from earth) 395,549 km s Elongation ° % Illuminated 80.3% Magnitude -12.55 Angular Size 30.21' Altitude 60°39’ When I arrived the Moon was above Regulus and I could see them both in the telescope at 21.6x. An hour later I could no longer see Regulus naked-eye but could see it and all of the Moon in the FoV at 43.2x. I used the Moon Observer’s Guide as a reference tonight and saw most of the features it mentions. Philolaus was fully visible near the terminator at the north pole. Even larger J. Herschel was partially visible in the terminator. I picked out Harpalus in Mare Frigoris. The western flank of the Jura Mountains along Sinus Iridum down to Promontorium Heraclides was bright white and looked like a chalk palisade although I could not detect elevation anywhere along the Jura Mountains. There was a little bit of sjadow on the western side of Promontorium Laplace. I found Sharp and Bianchini on the outside of Sinus Iridum. I also picked up Mairan over towards the terminator but could not pick out Mons Gruithuisen γ and Mons Gruithuisen δ. I saw Lambert and Timocharis but don’t remember Archimedes and don’t know now if that is because there wasn’t sufficient contrast for me to pick it out or if it was because I was more interested in small features than big ones. Just on the dark side of the terminator the top of Aristarchus was starting to catch early sunrise light. I saw Delisle (25 km) but not Diophantus (19 km) I wasn’t able to see the Montes Carpatus in this light. From Copernicus I located Reinhold and lansberg which Grego doesn,t mention on Day 10. I could see Kepler but didn’t find the ray structure to be particularly strong and tge rays of Copernicous wewe nearly absent I didn’t pick out much more until reachinh Mare Humorum where I could see Gassendi, Gassendi A and Gassendi B. also in the wall of Mare Humorum I saw Agatharchides to the west of Gassendi and further around at the bottom of the mare in a clockwise direction, Promontorium Kelvin, Vitello and Doppelmayer. I may have seen Lacus Excellenriae, but am not sute of that. Schiller was right on the terminator and looked like a flying saucer. I looked for the Altai Scarp and saw something that might have been it but am not certain of that identification. I checked to make sure that Palus Somnii was still there.