11 August 2007

Observing Location	HoS
Observational Period	0930-0945 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 69°F Wind Light Breeze Humidity Moderate Feels Like Perfect Seeing isn’t that great, but transparency is perfect. Riding out on the subway I could see the control tower down at JFK Airport, which I have never seen before. There are low clouds behind it out over the ocean. But the view in the eyepiece is wavering more than it is steady. Transparency Excellent Seeing III
Instruments	Canon 15x50 IS binocular w/Baader AstroSolar filter film - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

I set my alarm for Moonrise at 0416 this morning so I could catch the last crescent of this lunation but when I looked out the window there was only one rent in the curtain of cloud so I tried to go back to sleep.

Target Sunspots Constellation Leo Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070811.0930 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.013543 AU 8ms Angular Size 31'36.7" Altitude 40.8° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 6.44° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 39.98° Position Angle (P) 14.65° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2059 The Sun entered Leo sometime overnight. I can see one tiny spot   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 1 1 11 Total 1 1 11 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots) Group 966 Heliographic Latitude -10° Heliographic Longitude 78° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2059 Mcintosh System Axx This spot is small enough that it took a long time to find it since it kept fading out of focus.

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Observing Location	Seamen’s Church Institute, Water St @ Peck Slip, New York, NY Lat: 40° 42.502’ Long: 74° 0.142’
Observational Period	2130-2145 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 73° F Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Feels Like Very comfortable Transparency Good Seeing
Instruments	Naked-eye Observing
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Perseids Meteors Constellation Category Meteors Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070811.2130 EDT Comments Not Seen I was at the church for the monthly chanty sing and stepped outside onto the deck during the break to see if I could see any meteors. From a deck chair there I could see a stripe of sky about 25° wide by 90° long between the buildings. I was looking from zenith down to about 45° altitude from the NE through the SW. During that time I did not observe any meteors.

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A work in progress

Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2345-0330 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 74°F – 71°F Wind Calm Humidity High Feels Like A little cool There were a few minor stripes of cloud that passed through from time to time but they didn’t affect observing at all. My gear was starting to get a little moist by the end of the session. Transparency Excellent Seeing
Instruments	Canon 15x50 IS binocular (hand held) - Charlie 10” Teleport Dobsonian reflector – Peter 2" Pentax 40mm, 70° FoV, x 1.25" TV Plossl 32mm, 50° FoV, x 2" TV Nagler 17mm, 82° FoV, x 1.25" TV Nagler 13mm, 82° FoV, x
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac

I attended the monthly sea chanty sing tonight and said that I might stop off at TotL on my way home since Peter had said that he would probably be there. I figured I would arrive around midnight and we would be leaving around 0100 EDT as usual.

Peter had read my notes from my 4Aug07 session and came with a list of my targets with the intention of using it for his observing program tonight. He said that he arrived around 1900 EDT and immediately drew a crowd of passers-by before he even got set up and it got dark. By midnight all he had gotten to observe was Jupiter with some transit activity and the Andromeda Galaxy which is what he was on when I arrived. Shortly after I arrived the last of the public left and we started looking north.

The police drove past around midnight and it was a couple of young male officers who waved but didn’t stop. We decided to try to push the envelope a bit since it wasn’t women officers and usually we don’t get threatened by the male officers if they bother us at all. We were not bothered the rest of the night and it was 0330 EDT before we finally left. Peter thought this was a record for us but I think we were there until 0430 EST one night when Ben was observing with us. It is definitely a record since the precinct got their new captain.

Target M31, Andromeda Galazy, & M32 Constellation And Category DSO: Gal Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070811.2345 EDT Comments Andromeda is big and fairly bright. M32 is off to the side and looks like a small dust bunny. I thought there was another to be seen here but Peter says that we never see M102 from TotL. I was confused with a winter sky FoV that has three faint fuzzies in it that we have see in the 12.5” Dob at Columbia University.

Target M34, NGC1039 Constellation Tri Category DSO: Gal Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812.0000 EDT Comments Not Seen I remembered that there was another DSO on the opposite side of Andromeda and at roughly the same height above her feet as M31 and searched for it while Peter talked to one of the dog walkers. After I asked Peter about the object and he said it is a galaxy that we don’t see. That got us started looking for things in the north.

Target M57, the Ring Nebula Constellation Lyr Category DSO: PlNeb Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812 EDT Comments It popped right out and really looked like a smoke ring tonight.

Target NGC7789, Caroline’s Cluster Constellation Cas Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812 EDT Comments I located it at low power but needed higher poser to see individual stars. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target Kemble’s Cascade & NGC1502 Constellation Cam Category Asterism & OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812 EDT Comments Not as rich as the other night, but this is due in part to me hand holding the binocular.

Target M52, NGC7654 Constellation Cas Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812 EDT Comments A large, rich cluster. It looks to me like a carbon ring diagram with a chain coming off the upper right corner. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target NGC752 Constellation And Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812 EDT Comments A large, rich cluster. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target M34 Constellation Tri Category DSO: Gal Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070811 EDT Comments We looked at the galaxy in the scope and it appeared large and rich with about five levels of brightness.

Target NGC6939 Constellation Cep Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812 EDT Comments Small and dense. It looks to me like it is attached to a sparser cluster that trails off to the upper right. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target NGC6946 Constellation Cep Category DSO: SpGal Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812 EDT Comments Not Seen Cartes du Ciel graphic

Look as they rise, rise Over the line where sky meets earth Pleiades! Lo! They are ascending, come to guide us, Leading us safely, keeping us one; Pleiades! Teach us to be, like you, united. Traditional Pawnee Target Mars & M45 Constellation Tau Category Classical Planet & DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812 EDT Comments I saw five of the Pleiades. In a later count after the cluster rose a bit higher I counted seven. Names for the Pleiades in Other Countries Country Native Name Meaning Africa   hen and chicks Arabia Ath-thuravva the crowd Australian Aborigines Majars   Azted Tranquiztli the marketplace Denmark Aften Hoehen the eve hen England (medieval)   the hen with chicks Great Britan   the seven sisters Greece   the hencoop Greece (ancient)   The Clusterers India Kritka the seven nurses of Karttikiya, the god of war Japan Subaru   Sunsru the tortoise Maori, New Zealand Mataarki small eyes Navajo   the flint boys Pawnee Chakaa   Persian Soraya   Spain Las Cabrillas the nanny goats Russia Nasedha the sitting hen We also found as we were leaving that what we first thought was Aldeberan was really Mars Object Class Classical Planet Elongation ° Distance Light Time (from Earth) AU ms Distance (from Sun) Au Angular Size 7.4" Magnitude +0.4 Central Meridian 138.09° Altitude 16° The Moon is nowhere in sight but I can still tell that Mars has a lot of growing to do if it is going to be as big as the Moon by the end of the month like the email says.

Target Fishook Constellation Per Category Asterism Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812 EDT Comments I could only see two stars. Cartes du Ciel graphic Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target Mesarthim, gamma&sub2; Ari & gamma&sub1; Ari Constellation Ari Category Double Star Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812 EDT Comments Close double, easily split. In the binocular it looks like a bigger star than it should be for its brightness but if I didn’t already know it was a double I wouldn’t think anything about it. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target NGC1528 Constellation Per Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812 EDT Comments It looks to me like a pen at the botton of a wavy piece of paper. Six bright stars in a warped box with an arc of stars curving away from the upper left corner. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target Garnet Star, μ Cep Constellation Cep Category Star Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812 EDT Comments Very bright, golden red. There is a triple about 1.5° away and a double about 1.25° away on that same line off to the right. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target Stock 23, Pazmino’s Cluster Constellation Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812 EDT Comments Medium size cluster of mostly bright stars.

Target NGC1502 Constellation Cam Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812 EDT Comments An open cluster at the top of the bird’s foot (an asterism within an asterism) at the bottom of Kemble’s Cascade. It feels like there is a cloud around the faint stars that is more unresolved stars. The magnification was too much for me to make out the bird’s foot although it was all in the FoV. It was just too big and crowding the field stop. I like to have some breathing space around objects so I can see them in context. Cartes du Ciel graphic Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target NGC1501 Constellation Cam Category DSO: GCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812 EDT Comments Not Seen Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target Aldebeberan and the Hyades Constellation Tau Category Star and DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070812.0315 EDT Comments This time it is really Aldeberan and in the binocular I can see the Cyclops.

I saw one Perseid meteor just before 0100 EDT and possibly two more but one was way out to the side in my peripheral vision and the other was very faint so I can’t be sure of either of them.