28 August 2007

Observing Location	BPO Cross Bronx Expressway @ White Plains Road, Bronx, NY
Observational Period	0300-0700 0507-0550 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Broken Clouds Temperature 68°F Wind Calm Humidity High Feels Like A little cool but comfortable It was clear to the east but there were broken clouds to the west. At 0600 EDT NOAA was reporting Partly Cloudy for Central Park and LaGuardia Airport but Clear at JFK Airport. Transparency Poor Seeing I
Instruments	SAR: Coulter CT-100 Golden Gate 7x35 binocular - Charlie Nikon CoolPin 990 Digital Camera - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Total Lunar Eclipse Constellation Aqr Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070828.0349 EDT Comments Lunation 1047 Phase Full Moon Age 15.42d Distance Light Time (from earth) 367,822 km s Elongation ° % Illuminated 100% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 93.2° Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 273.2° Libration in Latitude +0°47' Libration in Longitude -4°56' Magnitude -12.81 Angular Size 32'49" Altitude 11° Virtual Moon Atlas graphic UT EDT Local Time Observed Time Event 0449 0049 0045 Moon transits 0753:39 0353:39 0349 P1 0842 0442 0438 Start of Astronomical Twilight 0851:16 0451:16 0447 U1 0858 0458 0454 D Grimaldi 0859 0459 0455 D Aristarchus 0904 0504 0500 D Kepler 0905 0505 0501 D Billy 0910 0510 0506 D Pytheas 0911 0511 0507 D Copernicus 0912 0512 0508 D Timocharis 0913 0513 0509 D Plato 0918 0518 0514 D Campanius End of Astronomical Twilight Start of Nautical Twilight 0922 0522 0518 D Aristoteles & Eudoxus 0924 0524 0520 D Manilius 0927 0527 0523 D Tycho       0927 Posidonius 0930 0530 0526 D Dionysius 0931 0531 0527 D Plinius 0939 0539 0535 D Proclus 0941 0541 0537 D Tarantius 0944 0544 0540 D Goclemius 0948 0548 0544 D Langrenus 0952:22 0552:22 0548 0548 U2 0953 0553 0549 End of Nautical Twilight Start of Civil Twilight 1022 0622 0618 Sun Rises End of Civil Twilight 1024 0624 0620 Moon Sets 1037:22 0637:22 0633 Maximum eclipse 1122:24 0722:24 0718 U3 1223:30 0823:30 0819 U4 1321:01 0921:01 0917 P4 Yesterday afternoon I had eMailed Peter and Kin that I would be arriving at BPO before P1 and staying through a solar observation. And so I intended to do. During the day I had reset the clock in my PDA and got it to within a second of the time broadcast on WWV. I did the same with my watch and got it to within a fraction of a second of the exact time. I sat outside a bit reading and observed a satellite and went home as I got chilled. I set an alarm on my PDA for P1 -2 hours to give myself 30 minutes to get dressed and collect equipment and 90 minutes to make an estimated 60 minute subway trip to the southern end of Manhattan Island. Then I took a nap. I slept lightly and fitfully waking up often and checking the time for fear that I had overslept. Each time I would grope for the PDA and my glasses since my arms aren’t long enough to read anything anymore. I always had time to spare … until I woke up and an alarm was going off. Unfortunately it was an alarm for a disappearance and not P1 -2 hours. Apparently I had fallen into a deeper sleep and slept through the alarm I most needed. I jumped into some clothes, grabbed the binocular and rushed downstairs to head down to the Cross Bronx Expressway where I have my best western horizon. When I got out on the street I was confronted with broken CS clouds in the direction of the Moon. Getting over a block to where I had a clear sightline I found the Moon partially in a hole in the clouds. That was the way it would be every time a feature big enough for me to see would disappear. At this time an alarm was going off telling me Copernicus was just disappearing but I couldn’t see it or Plato. I continued over to the corner at the expressway service road, McGraw Ave and White Plains road and arrived there as the alarm was going off for Plato. When Manilius was supposed to be disappearing a depending streamer of thin cloud was passing over that part of the Moon and I couldn’t make out the crater. I was able to see Posidonius get swallowed up by the shadow, but the Observer’s Handbook didn’t list a predicted disappearance time for that crater. I was able to see a small triangle of the southern cusp of the crescent shining through the clouds and it disappeared as I watched at 0545 EDT, right when I predicted that it should. But I don’t know if that was U2 or if it was just a denser patch of cloud passing over the still illuminated cusp. By that time the Moon was setting behind a row of newly constructed three family row duplexes (triplexes?) and would not be reappearing even if there was a break in the clouds later on. The ecliptic must be really far south then as it was over 10° from where I think west is. I might have prolonged my possible observing time a bit if I had gone up to the subway platform (or possibly not since the trees are in leaf and obstructing the horizon a bit) but that would have taken longer and I hadn’t grabbed money or my MetroCard. At one point a dump truck came up to the intersection and stopped well short of the stop line so that he would not obstruct my view. I got a few looks from people walking past but nobody stopped to ask what I was doing. It dawned on me that seeing just a part of the eclipse is nothing special, like most other moons we see. It is only when you can see the shadow of the Earth quickly moving across the Moon’s disc that it has any real meaning. It looked a little strange to see the shadow engulf the Moon from the top to the bottom. Even though I had watched the eclipse yesterday in Starry Night Starter and knew that would happen my mind wanted the Moon to sink into the shadow which would hide the Moon from bottom to top as it set. I did not notice any color on the Moon other than the normal gray and the black of the clouds covering it. By the time I got myself established most of the western limb was gone and I didn’t notice if there was any roughness there. The Moon had already set at the instant when it was full so I wasn’t able to see how long it takes for roughness to become apparent along the terminator. That is something to watch for on the night of 25-26Oct07 when the Moon is full at 0052 EDT. That Moon is also the largest full moon of the year, perigee (but not the closest perigee of the year) occurring only eight hours later. Perigee Date Perigee Distance km Angular Size degrees 22Jan07 366,926 32.53 19Feb07 361,436 32.81 19Mar07 357,814 33.79 17Apr07 357,136 33.08 15May07 359,390 33.72 12Jun07 363,779 33.26 19Jul07 368,528 32.29 3Aug07 368,891 32.20 27Sep07 359,419 33.53 26Oct07 356,753 33.50 24Nov07 357,194 33.61 22Dec07 360,815 33.21 The Moon is actually biggest at the time of perigee on 24Nov07 but that perigee is farther away from the Full Moon that month and the closeness of perigee and the instant of Full Moon is as important as the absolute distance of the Moon from Earth. Full Moon Date Full Moon Distance (km) Full Moon Angular Diameter (degreees) 3Jan07 382,294 21.26 2Feb07 388,473 30.76 3Mar07 400,681 29.82 2Apr07 410,794 29.09 1May07 406,942 29.36 30Jun07 393,790 30.34 29Jul07 378,633 31.56 28Aug07 368,969 32.39 26Sep07 363,475 32.88 26Oct07 351,803 33.97 24Nov07 358,958 33.29 23Dec07 359,082 33.28

---

Observing Location	Parkchester Library, Westchester Ave near Purdy St, Bronx, NY
Observational Period	1130-1200 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 81°F Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Feels Like Comfortable I had to wait for the clouds to move off the Sun a couple of times before I was able to be certain what I was seeing. Transparency Good Seeing I
Instruments	Brunton compact 8x21 binocular w/Welco gold welder's glass - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Leo Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070828.1130 EDT Comments Distance Light Time 1.010095 AU 8ms Angular Size 31'43.1" Altitude 50° Heliographic Latitude (B0) 7.12° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 174.34° Position Angle (P) 20.06° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2060 I can't see any more than yesterday, one lonely spot.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 1 1 11 Total 1 1 11 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots) Group 969 Heliographic Latitude -4° Heliographic Longitude 183° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2060 Mcintosh System Axx

---

Observing Location	MetOval
Observational Period	2345-0045 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Feels Like Pleasantly cool I can’t detect any clouds or haze although they may be obscured by the light-pollution around here. The air appears to be stable. Transparency Excellent Seeing I
Instruments	Bronton compact 8x21 binocular – Charlie Golden Gate 7x35 binocular - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

I have long felt that the Brunton compact binocular was harder to hold still than my larger optics although I have never had empirical evidence of that. Tonight the Bruntons are goind head to head with the hand held Golden Gate binocular.

Target Moon Constellation Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 2007 EDT Comments Lunation 1047 Phase Waning Gibbous Full Moon +~18 hours Age 16.2d Distance Light Time (from earth) 363,258 km s Elongation ° % Illuminated 99.3% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 102.7 Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 282.7 Libration in Latitude -0°10’ Libration in Longitude -3°05 Magnitude -12.83 Angular Size 32'90" Altitude 38° Virtual Moon Atlas graphic There is slightly more shake evident when using the Bruntons than the Golden Gates. This would be entirely erased by the Canons. The image in the Bruntons looks larger than that in the Golden Gates but that is probably due to the lesser field of view and the Moon taking up a greater percentage of that FoV. Brunton compact 8x21 binocular Golden Gate 7x35 binocular Angular Field of View 7° 10° Field of View at 1000 yards 367’ 525’ There appears to be a little more contrast in the Golden Gates and, due to their increased aperture, they are brighter. Brunton compact 8x21 Golden Gate 8x35 There is a little bit of lumpiness in the terminator just north of Mare Crissium I see lots of rays snaking their way up through lower Mare Imbrium emanating to the east of Copernicus. There appear to be three strong rays emanating from Tycho spaced ~120° like a Mercesez Benz logo. Langrenous Petavius Langrenous Vendelinius Petavius Mendelaus and Plinius Plato Archimedes Euler Posidonius Aristoteles both sides of Lacus Somniorum Proclus and Palus Somni Grimaldi Capella and Santbech Reinhold: crater and ejecta blanket Marulycus What little the Golden Gates lack in magnification the make up for in light gathering. The Bruntons are much more convenient to carry around, being small enough to fit into a pocket, but the increased size of the Golden Gates brings more aperture and more Field of View, which will both be useful in star hopping. The Golden Gates can be mounted on a tripod using an adapter that clamps around the center post. There is no way to mount the Bruntons on a tripod. The Bruntons are easier to hold the welder’s glass in front of for solar observing, while the glass is only just big enough to cover both objectives of the Golden Gates and care must be exercised to insure that it does not slip out of place and admit unfiltered light. Conclusion For solar observing use the Bruntons; For anything that is going to require looking away from the eyepiece (e.g. to refer to a star chart or Moon map) use the Golden Gates