18 June 2007

Observing Location	CSP
Observational Period	0800-0915 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 73°F Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Feels Like Comfortable There might be a bit of haze there. It was starting to get warm by the time I left. Transparency Good Seeing II
Instruments	Canon 15x50 IS binocular w/Baader AstroSolar filter film - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Tau Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070618.0800 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.016026 AU 8ms Angular Size 31'32.0" Altitude 26.5° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 1.39° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 35.44° Position Angle (P) -8.46° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2057 Nothing seen   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

Target Venus Occulted by Moon Constellation Cnc Category Occultation Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070618.0840 EDT Comments Not Seen Venus was being occulted by the Moon just as it broke the horizon this morning. I played with my planetarium programs and it looked like Venus should reappear sometime between 0840 and 0900 EDT and I hoped that I would be able to see it. I set up on the Sun and observed it until 0840 EDT then panned left 18 degrees and up about 8 degrees above the horizon. I had determined from Cartes du Ciel that Venus would be about 19° north of the Sun and about 9° above the horizon at the time when it was to reappear. That location was slightly to the left and above the right support of the Hell Gate railroad bridge from Randalls Island (Wards Island) into Queens. I continued observing until 0915 EDT and did not see Venus. A couple of times when I was panning around searching I saw flashes of light but I could not recover them and suspect that they were planes. A major problem in this was focus. Unlike a camera where the focus distance is marked on the lens my binocular focuses on heavenly bodies somewhere in the middle of its range so it is hard to prefocus. I tried not to move the focus from what I had used or the Sun but even a small movement of the focus wheel or drift in the optics might be enough to mush out a low contrast object into oblivion.

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Observing Location	Metropolitan Ave @ Parkchester Road, Bronx, NY
Observational Period	2130-2145 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 70° Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Feels Like Cool With the humidity rising I think it is hazy up there. I didn’t notice any stars when I was sitting out in the well illuminated park or as I was walking back toward the house. The humidity is making the air feel cool. Transparency Fair Seeing
Instruments	Naked-eye observing
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Moon and Venus Constellation Cnc Category Alignment Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070618.2130 EDT Comments I had forgotten all about the Moon being close to Venus and as I was crossing the street I caught the Moon and a very bright star in my peripheral vision. Venus looked very nice shining brightly beneath the thickness of the crescent about three moon diameters away. There was a little bit of earthshine on the dark limb of the Moon.