20 May 2007

[Times in this post are all suspect as I found on Monday morning, 21May07, that the analog side of my watch, which is the only side that is big enough for me to read, was 45 minutes slow. This has happened before and the analog side eventually stopped altogether. A new battery got it working again but that battery isn't old enough that it should be run down already and I suspect that there is more wrong than just a battery. I can't remember when I got this watch or how many times it has fogged up in the shower so am not surprised that it is having problems.]

Observing Location	In and around Parkchester, Bronx, NY
Observational Period	8015-2045 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature Wind Calm Humidity Low Feels Like Pleasant Transparency Good Seeing
Instruments	Naked-eye observing - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

2015 EDT

I was sitting in the pizza shop munching on a slice and when I looked out the window I noticed the crescent Moon had just dropped below the shop’s awning. Venus was still lower to the right. I extended the line out toward where the sun appeared to be setting behind the buildings and trees but couldn’t see any signs of Mercury.

Conditions had been improving since I left the Hall of Science but I hadn’t heard if anyone was going to be at TotL so decided to walk around a bit and see if I could find Mercury. I started out at Metropolitan Oval where I got off the next bus but the apartment buildings around there are too high to see that low on the horizon. I moved over to White Plains Road and worked my way down to the Cross Bronx Expressway where I have the best view out to the west.

2038 EDT

Saturn became visible

2040 EDT

Mercury became visible north of the apartment building out on the horizon. If I stand at the phone booth at the end of McGraw Ave it is right above the tattoo sign kitty-corner across the street.

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Observing Location	Met Oval
Observational Period	2100-2245 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear with a few intervals of passing cumulus clouds Temperature mild Wind Calm gusting to Light Breeze Humidity Low Feels Like very nice Between the intervals of cloud the sky was fairly clear but there was constant boiling across the Moon. Transparency Good Seeing II
Instruments	SAR: Coulter CT-100 Newtonian reflector - Charlie ~24mm Kellner w/helical focuser (18x) Celestron Omni 20mm (21x) Celestron Omni 2x Barlow
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

When I got home I made one last check on the email to see if anyone had posted that they were going out and decided that it was getting too late to go all the way to TotL by myself. And the Moon would be getting low by the time I got there if I did go, so I decided to go out and observe locally.

Based on the orientation of the Moon and Venus I selected a location on the oval where I thought I would have a good view of the Moon until it passed behind the corner of one of the apartment buildings and came out again on its side.

Target Moon Constellation Gem Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070520.2100 EDT Comments Lunation 1044 Phase Waxing Crescent Age 4.23d Distance Light Time (from earth) 377,296 km s Elongation ° % Illuminated 22.5% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) Libration Latitude -4°15’ Libration Longitude 6°38’ Magnitude -11.12 Angular Size 31.67' Altitude 36°39’ Starry Night Starter graphic I thought that I had read in one of my calendars that the Moon was going to be near M44 and looked for the cluster without success. It looks like I was a day early. The horns of the Moon appear very pronounced in the telescope. I could see Picard and Pierce on the floor of Mare Crisium but did not notice any dorsae. Outside of the Mare I identified Macrobius and Cleomedes. To the north Atlas was visible but Hercules was in the terminator. I found Endymion and Mare Humboldtianum. Down in the southern hemisphere Langrenus looked very white and Vendelinius looked like a ghost crater. The fiddler crab claw of Gutenberg was visible with shadow behind it and the highlands around Capella appeared depressed like a big crater just coming out of the terminator. I looked for but could not find Merrier, Messier A or their associated rays. The dorsae and rimae in the area of Lubbock are giving the impression of a large drowned crater whose peaks are just sticking up above the plain. Montes Pyrenaeus are right on the morning side of the. Picolomini has just come completely out of the shadow. Its floor is in shadow but the top of the central peak is in sunlight. Heading off toward the SE linb Vallis Snellius is very obvious. Twilight has a ruddy tint to it.

Target Jupiter Constellation Oph Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070520.2245 EDT Comments Object Class Classical Planet Elongation ° Distance Light Time (from Earth) AU ms Distance (from Sun) Au Angular Size 45.3" Magnitude -2.56 Central Meridian I/II 1.04°/282° Altitude 12°19’ Moons Meridian graphic