13 August 2007

A work in progress

Observing Location	BPO
Observational Period	1745-2030 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover isolated Clouds Temperature 80°F – 78°F Wind Gentle Breeze Humidity Moderate Humidity Feels Like Comfortable The wind is a bit of a problem here and I needed to turn on image stabilization in the binocular even though it was on the tripod. The wind made the temperature comfortable. Transparency Good Seeing II
Instruments	Canon 15x50 IS binocular w/Baader AstroSolar filter film - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Leo Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070813.1745 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.013153 AU 8ms Angular Size 31'38.1" Altitude 23° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 6.67° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 342.69° Position Angle (P) 16.16° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2060 Nothing seen.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

Target First CrescentMoon Constellation Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070813.1957 EDT Comments Lunation 1047 Phase First Crescent Age 1.04d Distance Light Time (from earth) 391,719 km s Elongation ° % Illuminated 1.1% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 227.7° Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 47.5° Libration in Latitude +0°19' Libration in Longitude +4°12' Magnitude -8.42 Angular Size 30.51' Altitude 4° Virtual Moon Atlas graphic I think the Moon was low into the clouds by the time the Sun had set.

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2130-0315 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature Wind 77°F - Humidity Moderate Feels Like Very comfortable It is even better tonight than it was Saturday night. There was no boiling and not much in the way of haze. The gegenschein was minimal tonight. Transparency Excellent Seeing I
Instruments	10” Teleport Dobsonian reflector – Peter 2" Pentax 40mm, 70° FoV, 40x 1.25" TV Plossl 32mm, 50° FoV, 68x 2" TV Nagler 17mm, 82° FoV, 90x 1.25" TV Nagler 13mm, 82° FoV, 120x
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac

The Canons are dead again.

Peter had arrived just before me and was setting up on the south side of the walk and I set up just west of him since we rarely look in that direction and me and my tripod would not be obstructing his view. He then moved to the north side of the walk and I asked if he was going to observe from there but he said that he was just finishing the setup. He needed to have the scope pointed low to sight in the finder and didn’t want to try to do it looking through the fence. If he had been planning to observe from there I would have moved to that side of the walk also so that we obstructed less walk for pedestrians, cyclists, rollerbladers, dogs, park vehicles, police and whatever else, but since I was expecting him back I stayed where I was. While he was there he looked at Jupiter and I left my equipment to take a look through his.

A couple of the dog walkers arrived and their dogs started getting rather rambunctious. I was at Peter’s eyepiece and heard one of the owners over near my gear trying to calm them down. When I looked up from the eyepiece I saw my tripod tipping over. The owner grabbed for it but couldn’t get it in time and the binocular it the ground.

Peter and I both checked the image after the event and Jupiter looked more like a Saturn to me and Peter said that all the stars were comets, like the view in SAR.

The owner who was trying to calm the dogs down feels very sorry about the accident and wants to see the binoculars repaired while the other owner disappeared.

The way I look at this, if I bring the equipment out into a public setting I have to and do accept the possibility that it will be damaged or stolen. I try to minimize that as much as possible by keeping track of the neck strap, hanging a flashing LED light beneath the tripod to warn people that it is there and watching what is going on around it. But I didn't do that when I left the binoculars unattended on one side of the walk early in the evening when there are lots of people, etc, around, while I was on the other side of the walk observing with Peter. Ultimately I have to be responsible for my own equipment. And it is only stuff which is replaceable if it is important enough to do that. It is not my only optics, although it is my best, so I don’t feel a strong need to invest in another repair. I am not dead in the water.

I looked at the binocular when I got home and there is a scuff mark on the front right hand corner but no damage to the lenses. The eye cup on the right side has two tears in. None of that would affect usability. The interocular distance device is damaged and the left eyepiece now moves independently of the right and sometimes you can hear the gears grating past each other. Kin is the only person who really uses that and I occasionally have to make small adjustments if it gets bumped so that would a be livable situation. But I noticed an electronic chirp when I turned the binocular over to take the batteries out which I think was really the guts moving around inside the tubes. I wasn't able to reproduce the sound in the morning but the apartment is a lot noisier during the day than it is at 0430 EDT and it was a faint sound. I also found that the diopter on the right eyepiece was way out of adjustment for my eyes which wasn't helping the image. I need to get them outside at night and see if that makes a difference, but I don't think it will. I think it was just too much of a jolt for the internals to deal with it, and it may have actually broken something in there free from its mounting. This does not sound like a cheap repair and I don't think it is worth sinking more money into them. If they were insured that would be another story.

Target Jupiter Constellation Oph Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070813.2145 EDT Comments Object Class Classical Planet Elongation ° Distance Light Time (from Earth) AU ms Distance (from Sun) Au Angular Size 40.1" Magnitude -2.3 Central Meridian I/II 356.99°/350.38° Altitude 23° Moons Starry Night Starter graphic The view of Jupiter wa excellent tonight. The NEB was strong and above it I could see three more thinner bands that were most solid toward the western limb. I could even see the south polar hood at the top of the planet. There was no noticeable boiling even though there was a lot of air movement down here on earth.

Target M57, Ring Nebula Constellation Lyr Category DSO: PlNeb Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070813.2200 EDT Comments A very easy object to see again tonight. Obviously circular with a hole in the center that liiks a little gray. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target M13, Hercules Cluster Constellation Her Category DSO: GCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070813 EDT Comments Really bright with a central core but no definite edge. Starry Night Starter graphic

Target M56 Constellation Lyr Category DSO: GCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070813.2245 EDT Comments Bright core, drops off quickly to a faint ring beyone. At 90x I am straining to resolve the stars. At 120x there are lots of stars there. The cord is displaced to the edge of the cluster and the fainter margin extends in all directions like the arms of an amoeba. While I was looking at it it “exploded” like a chrysanthemum ball firework with lots of individual stars becoming visible. This was a spectacular cluster tonight. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target η Lyr, the Double Double Constellation Lyr Category Double Stars Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070813.2325 EDT Comments The upper right stars looked like a dubbbell without the handle between the weights, like to snowballs mashed into each other but still showing a pinch between them. The lower stars were more like balls that were just touching. There was much more of a pinch between them and almost a complete split. Cartes du Ciel graphic When I looked at the stars in Cartes du Ciel I discovered that this is actually a Double Quadruple star system. There are four stars at ε1 Lyr and another four stars at ε2 Lyr. The star fields below are not to the same scale. Cartes du Ciel graphic Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target M28 Constellation Sgr Category DSO: GCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070813.2345 EDT Comments Faint and wispy. Just above the top of the teapot. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target Tr37 & IC1396, the Elephant Trunk Constellation Cep Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070814.0010 EDT Comments Large and sparse. At the base of the house of Cepheus just below the Garnet Star. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target NGC2132 [2132 was below the horizon - not sure what I saw] Constellation Category DSO: GCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070814.0015 EDT Comments I have a diagram in my notes that looks like it is supposed to be a bright star to the left then two faint stars and about three times that distance away a globular cluster. There is no text to jog my memory.

Target Stock 2 Constellation Cas Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070814.00## EDT Comments Large, sparse. Fills the eyepiece. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target NGC869/NGC884, Double Cluster Constellation Per Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070814.00## EDT Comments The large round cluster< NGC884 has a lot of stardust and red stars in it. The lower cluster, NGC869 doesn’t have shape but is much more dense with some closely spaced stars. Cartes du Ciel graphic Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target Tr 2 Constellation Per Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070814.0045 EDT Comments Just above the steeple of Per. Cartes du Ciel graphic I initially thought it looked like a big P but Peter says he thinks it is just the upright of the P, which has a small triangle of faint stars attached on the opposite side to the body of the P and looks like a pennant on a flagpole. The triangle is filled with faint stars. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target NGC1502 Constellation Cam Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070814.0130 EDT Comments The double star looks really nice surrounded by fainter stars.

Target NGC1501 Constellation Cam Category DSO: GCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070814.0040 EDT Comments I tried finding this but couldn’t. Peter got it and it looks more like an open cluster than a globular.

Target Mars Constellation Tau Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070814.0240 EDT Comments Object Class Classical Planet Elongation ° Distance Light Time (from Earth) AU ms Distance (from Sun) Au Angular Size 7.5" Magnitude +0.4 Central Meridian 128.46° Altitude 24° It is much larger and brighter than a star and orange like nearby Aldeberan, which hasn’t risen yet. There is no detail on the face of the disc.

Target NGC1528 Constellation Per Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070814.0220 EDT Comments Just off the barb of the fishhook of Perseus Cartes du Ciel graphic It looks like there are two or three levels of brightness. It looks to me like a little Lepus, with a lot more stars in the outline.

Target M103 Constellation Cas Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070814.0240 EDT Comments Just below δ "4" Cas. Cartes du Ciel graphic Looks like a dipper. While I was looking at it a Perseid meteor passed through the edge of the FoV.

Target Tr 1 Constellation Cas Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070814.0240 EDT Comments Also near δ ("4") Cas. Cartes du Ciel graphic A short row of four stars. The second from the bottom is a double. There is another shorter row of fainter stars a good distance away heading off at an angle. M103 & Tr1

Target NGC564 [I don't remember looking at any galaxies in Cetus] Constellation Cet Category DSO: Gal Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070814.0250 EDT Comments Sparse

Target NGC663 Constellation Cas Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070814.0255 EDT Comments Off the line and between δ Cas and epsilon; Cas ("5 Cas:) Cartes du Ciel graphic I see two lobes with a belt of stars through the center. The left lobe is circular and the right more lozenge shaped. There are two levels of brightness.

Target NGC659 Constellation Category Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070814.0257 EDT Comments Also between δ & epsilon; Cas and farthest from the line. Cartes du Ciel graphic No notes

Target Perseid Meteors Constellation Category Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 2007 EDT Comments Perseids were seen near the following times: 0010 EDT 0140 EDT 0200 EDT 0240 EDT I think there was one more late night meteor that both Peter and I saw that I didn’t document.

I naked-eye located the following faint constellations:

• Aries
  Starry Night Starter graphic
• Triangulum
  Starry Night Starter graphic
• Capricornus
  Starry Night Starter graphic
• Sagittarius
  Starry Night Starter graphic
• Equuleus
  Starry Night Starter graphic

Just before 0100 EDT a small group of young adults stopped off to take a look on their way to the east side. At that time a police cruiser came through and stopped telling them the park was closed. They stopped a little bit away from us and walked back and I figured since we hadn’t packed up right away that we had bought a ticket. It turns out one of them took astronomy in college and does a lot of reading about it on the Internet although he has never looked through a scope. We were on the Double Cluster at the time so they took a look at that and several other objects. While they were there they told us that there has been a rash of robberies in the park. It appears that there is a gang of youths who are working out of the upper west side who are stopping people with a gun and telling them to turn over everything. The number of robberies this month is already more than double the normal yearly total.