17 September 2007

Observing Location	Cross Bronx Expressway @ White Plains Road
Observational Period	1900-1915 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Isolated Clouds w/low haze Temperature 61°F Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Feels Like I didn’t really notice the weather other than the orange glow spreading through the haze on the western horizon. Transparency Good Seeing
Instruments	Naked-eye - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Mercury Constellation Vir Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070917.1900 EDT Comments Object Class Classical Planet Phase Waning Gibbous Elongation 25.5° E % Illuminated 66.9% Distance Light Time (from Earth) 1.06 AU ms Distance (from Sun) 0.459Au Angular Size 6.34" Magnitude 0.0 Altitude 6.2° Meridian graphic The sun was just setting when I got off the subway so I stopped off to see if I could find Mercury, I only knew that it should be above and to the left of the sun so looked out in that direction and did see a spot of light for a while, but again tonight it was possibly a plane that I was seeing. It went down into the area of haze and was never recovered, so it might also have been Mercury

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2015-0045 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Temperature 60° – 57°F Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Feels Like Cool but comfortable Toward the end of the night the air smelled moist but I don’t know if that was natural or an effect of the lawn sprinklers. My bags felt moist again tonight, particularly the tripod bag that was laying on the ground. Transparency Good Seeing II
Instruments	Golden Gate 7x35 binocular – Charlie Nikon 10x42 binocular - Kin
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Kin Lee

Target Moon Constellation Sco Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070917.2030 EDT Comments Lunation 1048 Phase Waxing Crescent Age 6d11h45m Distance Light Time (from earth) 402,451 km 1.34s Elongation 71.4° % Illuminated 34.0% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 345.3° Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 165.3° Libration in Latitude 7°36’ Libration in Longitude -4°15’ Magnitude -9.2 Angular Size 29'46" Altitude 9.4° Virtual Moon Atlas graphic I had to back Virtual Moon Atlas off to 1800 EDT to get the terminator to agree with what I observed. The terminator was passing down through Archimedes and Eudoxus. The western wall of each is lit up inside the terminator, while the floor of each is in shadow. Menelaus, Maurolycus, and something else big that I couldn’t identify without a map, which I didn’t have a good one of, are also on the terminator. I see a white stripe coming out from the terminator toware PA ~220 starting just above Maurolycus which I initially thought might have been the Altai Scarp but now appears to be just a ray emanating from Maurolycus. Grego says that I should be starting to see rays at this phase of the Moon but this is the only thing I saw that was anything ray-like. Virtual Moon Atlas graphic There is enough earthshine that I can tell that there is a dark side of the Moon, but I can’t tell anything about that side. Grego also says that I should be starting to see color variation on the floor of Mare Serenitatis, particularly in the west. I can see a dark stripe just inside the western wall which I interpret to be shadow rather than an actual difference in floor color. I don’t see any color change out around the Serpentine Ridge, now called Dorsa Smirnov. There is a chevron of white, more like a moustache, spreading out beneath Proclus but I can’t see either Proclus or Palus Somni. I didn’t see the dunce cap but Posidonus was detectable as a colored smudge at the top of Mare Serenitatis. Tthe Moon tracked down above the Time-Warner Towers and clipped the satellite dish refuge on the water tower of the ASCAP building. The dishes above the roof line looked like those topiary trees you see, or at least used to see, in front of the fancy stores on Fifth Avenue that have the two or three balls of manicured leaves spread out along an otherwise bare trunk. The proxcimity effect was very visible after the Moon got half way from the Time-Warner Towers to the ASCAP building. As it approached something it appeared to speed up and when it was not close to anything it appeared to slow down or stop.

Target Jupiter Constellation Oph Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070917.2115 EDT Comments Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 77.7° Distance Light Time (from Earth) 5.4 AU 44m58s Distance (from Sun) 5.29Au Angular Size 36.4"x34.1" Magnitude -2.1 Central Meridian I/II 137°/223° Altitude 12.2° Moons Starry Night Starter graphic I could see Ganymede to the west of the planet and occasionally see Io tight up against the eastern limb. Europa was in eclipse and I didn’t notice anything way out there where Callisto was.

Target Pherkad Minor Constellation UMi Category Double Star Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070917.2124 EDT Comments I thought I saw a faint spot of light beneath Pherkad and confirmed that it was Pherkad Minor with the binocular. Mag 5.02

Target Cassiopea Constellation Cas Category NELM Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070917.2126 EDT Comments η Cas and ε Cas were very subdued.

Target Perseus Constellation Per Category NELM Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070917.2128 EDT Comments Object Comment Mag. ρ Per I really had to work to see it 3.32 τ Per 3.93 γ Per was a bit easier 2.91 ι Per I didn’t see these two at all 4.05 κ Per 3.79 δ Per took some work 3.01 μ Per all I saw in the fishhook was μ Per 4.12

Target M32, Andromeda Galaxy, NGC221 Constellation Andromeda Category DSO: Gal Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070917.2134 EDT Comments I looked and couldn’t see it although Kin said it was right there. I could barely see μ And to hop out to where it was. Later (2318 EDT) I looked through his hand held binocular and it was easy. I looked then with my binocular hand held and also saw it, although fainter. His binocular, with more magnification, is more contrasty and the increased objective makes the objects brighter. My background sky is gray.

Target M15, NGC7078 Constellation Peg Category DSO: GCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070917.2209 EDT Comments Not Seen Peter thinks I should be able to see this object but I didn’t find anything where my atlas said it should have been.

Target Bianco 1 Constellation Scl Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070917.2121 EDT Comments Not Seen I went back here to see if I could see any more tonight but didn’t. I can pick out ζ Scl, which is in the cluster, (Mag 5.04) and HIP118277, which is just S of the cluster (Mag. 5.59), but nothing else anywhere near there. I went back there at 2340 EDT, when it was a little higher in the sky and a little farther from the street light. There were a few more stars visible in the area but none of them a part of the cluster. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target Uranus Constellation Aqr Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070917.2221 EDT Comments Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 171.6° Distance Light Time (from Earth) 19.1 AU 2h39m Distance (from Sun) 20.1 Au Angular Size 3.67" Magnitude -5.7 Altitude 27.4° Kin had a PDA so I had him look up the exact positions of Uranus and Neptune and used it to star hop to them. It took a couple of attempts but I eventually hopped onto φ Aqr and Uranus which we both were able to see. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target Neptune Constellation Cap Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070917.2250 EDT Comments Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 144.9° Distance Light Time (from Earth) 29.2 AU 4h03m Distance (from Sun) 30.0 Au Angular Size 2.29" Magnitude 7.8 Altitude 34.7° This one was easier to get into the FoV but a lot harder to see. It was very faint the the seeing popped and everything came into sharp focus and there was this one star that looked a little rounder than the rest but was fainter, a dusky gray. I saw it but Kin did not. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target Coathanger, Brocchi's Cluster, Collinder 399 Constellation Category Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 2007 EDT Comments I always start looking for this cluster about half way between the wingtip of Aquilla, ζ Aql, and the beak of Cygnus, the double star Alberio, β Cyg. It is a little bit off that line but roughly there. A finer locator would be about half way between the ends of Sagita and Vulpecula, but I rarely see Vulpecula and my landmark stars are easy to see. Cartes du Ciel graphic

Target M45, Pleiades, NGC1432 Constellation Tau Category DSO: OCl Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070917.2312 EDT Comments Kin said the Pleiades had broken the trees so I counted them and got 6 naked eye and 11 in the hand held binocular.

Target Mars Constellation Tau Category Planet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070917.0028 EDT Comments Object Class Classical Planet Elongation 90.1° Distance Light Time (from Earth) 1.05 AU 8m42s Distance (from Sun) 1.45Au Angular Size 8.95" Magnitude +0.1 Central Meridian 105° Altitude 11.5° I moved around a bit to get the earliest rising I could of Mars. It has now moved past ζ Tau, the bull’s right horn.

When Kin left he handed me his PDA, the power supply and software. It is a Sony Clié PEG-TJ25/U that has a slow processor but unlike my much faster Palm Tungsten C this machine responds to the stylus. It has a real nice menu system and Kin had a lot if astronomy reference programs loaded onto it. I don't know if Vista is going to like it, but even if all I can do is charge it from the wall outlet it will be handy since it has lots more information than my paper atlas and it rotates the sky to what I am seeing.