31 October 2007

Observing Location	MetOval It was with some degree of trepidation that I went out tonight. In past years the kids around here have been big on throwing eggs on Haloween. It has been very quiet tonight and I only saw one broken egg on the sidewalk.
Observational Period	2200-2230 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 58° Wind Gentle Breeze gusting to 32 MPH Humidity High Feels Like Raw chill There are low ragged cotton ball clouds that are moving quickly across the sky to the NE. Occasionally there will be some thinner wisps of clouds too. It was difficult observing tonight. NOAA was saying observed conditions thought the City were partly to mostly cloudy and then went on to say predict that it would be mostly clear tonight. I often had to wait for the clouds to pass so that I could see both the comet and the comparison star at the same time. Transparency Good Seeing
Instruments	Naked-eye - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target 17P/Holmes Constellation Per Category Comet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20071031.2200 EDT Comments I think the comet has faded some since last night but with light clouds passing through it was hard to tell when I was looking through clear air. At one point I could hardly see the dimmer stars of Triangulum but subsequently found that α Tri was brighter than the comet. Star Mag. Brightness α Per 1.79 brighter β Per 2.09 brighter ζ Per 2.84 brighter γ Per 2.91 brighter β Tri 3.00 brighter δ Per 3.01 brighter ε Aur 3.03 brighter η Aur 3.18 equal δ And 3.27 ? ρ Per 3.32 dimmer ε Cas 3.35 brighter η Cas 3.46 brighter 17P/Holmes ~3.56   51 And 3.59 equal μ And 3.66 dimmer ζ Aur 3.69 brighter ζ Cas 3.69 dimmer η Per 3.79 dimmer ο Per 3.84 dimmer τ Per 3.93 dimmer ξ Per 3.98 dimmer φ Per 4.01 dimmer γ Ari 4.03 dimmer ι Per 4.05 dimmer θ Per 4.10 dimmer There is an obvious disconnect between a few of the stars that were judged brighter or dimmer than 17P/Holmes, which I attribute to the passage of thin cloud over one or the other of the objects at the time the estimate was made. They are marked in gray and were not used in my estimate of the comet’s magnitude. I had trouble deciding which was the brighter between 17P/Holmes and 51 And and my notes show “=”. 51 And is Mag .3.59 and I calculated 17P/Holmes to be Mag. 3.56.

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Sunspots Observed

I kept watching Space Weather and Active Region Explorer when the weather was clear but never saw a sunspot there and only went out once for solar observing all month. The last time I saw a sunspot was 29Aug07.

Observing Hours for the Year To Date

	Day			Night			Total
	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg	Hours	Days	Avg
Jan	4.25	12	0.35	7.75	9	0.86	12.00	16	0.75
Feb	3.50	14	0.30	20.75	5	2.04	24.25	15	1.17
Mar	9.25	16	0.40	36.75	10	2.76	46.00	17	1.71
Apr	4.00	14	0.38	22.50	7	2.83	26.5	16	1.70
May	11.75	16	0.45	31.00	9	2.97	42.75	20	1.80
Jun	7.00	15	0.46	18.50	8	2.86	25.50	18	1.74
Jul	5.75	18	0.43	30.00	10	2.88	35.75	19	1.76
Aug	8.00	13	0.45	42.25	14	2.91	50.25	19	1.88
Sep	2.25	6	0.38	44.50	15	2.97	46.25	16	2.89
Oct	1.25	3	0.42	20.50	11	1.86	21.75	14	155
TOTAL	57.75	127	0.45	274.50	98	2.80	331.00	170	1.95

I feel like there is still a problem in my spreadsheet with the way at calculates the yearly total but I haven't been able to see it. The numbers just don't look exactly right, but I don't think they are far off if there is a problem.