1 November 2007

November

From the Latin word for the “ninth”, novem, since it was the ninth month of the Roman year, which began in March.

The Indian Summer That soft autumnal time Is come that sheds upon the naked scene Charms only known in this our northern clime, -- Bright seasons far between. The woodland foliage now Is gather’d by the wild November blast; E’en the thick leaves upon the Poplar’s bough Are fallen, to the last. The mighty vines, that round The forest trunks their slender branches bind, Their crimson foliage shaken to the ground, Swing naked in the wind. Some living green remains, By the clear brook that shines along the lawn; But the sear grass stands white o’er all the plains, And the bright flowers are gone. But these, these are thy charms, -- Mild airs and temper’d light upon the lea; And the year holds no time within its arms That doth resemble thee. The sunny noon is thine, Soft, golden, noiseless as the dead of night; and hues that in the flushed horizon shine at eve and early light. John Howard Bryant

I was browsing through the Observer’s Handbook 2008 again and on scanning the Deep Sky Challenge Objects list I find that there are some objects there that I have enough glass to see. But a lot of them require dark, clear skies and/or a nebulaa filter, none of which I have.

Object	Location	Min. Aper.	Qualifiers
NGC 1432/1435	Tau	100-150	transparent skies & clean optics
NGC 1499	Per	80-125 RFT	H-beta filter
IC 434/B 33	Ori	100-150	H-beta filter
Sh 2-276	Ori	100-150 RFT	nebula filter
NGC 5053	Com	100-200
NGC 5897	Lib	150-200
B 72	Oph	80-125 RTF
NGC 6822	Sgr	100-150	transparent skies
IC 1318	Cyg	80-150 RFT	nebula filter
IC 1396	Cep	100-125 RFT	dark sky & nebula filter

Hymn to the North Star THE sad and solemn night Has yet her multitude of cheerful fires; The glorious host of light Walk the dark hemisphere till she retires; All through her silent watches, gliding slow, Her constellations come, and climb the heavens, and go. Day, too, hath many a star To grace his gorgeous reign, as bright as they: Through the blue fields afar, Unseen, they follow in his flaming way: Many a bright lingerer, as the eve grows dim, Tells what a radiant troop arose and set with him. And thou dost see them rise, Star of the Pole! and thou dost see them set. Alone, in thy cold skies, Thou keep'st thy old unmoving station yet, Nor join'st the dances of that glittering train, Nor dipp'st thy virgin orb in the blue western main. There, at morn's rosy birth, Thou lookest meekly through the kindling air, And eve, that round the earth Chases the day, beholds thee watching there; There noontide finds thee, and the hour that calls The shapes of polar flame to scale heaven's azure walls. Alike, beneath thine eye, The deeds of darkness and of light are done; High towards the star-lit sky Towns blaze--the smoke of battle blots the sun-- The night-storm on a thousand hills is loud-- And the strong wind of day doth mingle sea and cloud. On thy unaltering blaze The half-wrecked mariner, his compass lost, Fixes his steady gaze, And steers, undoubting, to the friendly coast; And they who stray in perilous wastes, by night, Are glad when thou dost shine to guide their footsteps right. And, therefore, bards of old, Sages, and hermits of the solemn wood, Did in thy beams behold A beauteous type of that unchanging good, That bright eternal beacon, by whose ray The voyager of time should shape his heedful way. William Cullen Bryant

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Observing Location	PSC
Observational Period	1900-1930 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 54&def;F Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Feels Like Raw chill It feels a lot more humid than NOAA says it is and I had estimated it as being high. Transparency Good Seeing
Instruments	Naked-eye – Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target 17P/Holmes Constellation Per Category Comet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20071101.1900 EDT Comments I could see some stars when I got home so went up to PSC before going up to the apartment and estimated the comet’s brightness. I think it has diminished a bit since yesterday. Object Mag. Description &alpha Per 1.79 brighter α Ari 2.01 brighter &beta Per 2.09 brighter β Ari 2.64 brighter ζ Per 2.84 dimmer ε Per 2.90 brighter γ Per 2.91 brighter β Tri 3.00 brighter δ Per 3.01 brighter ρ Per 3.32 ? ε Cas 3.35 ? α Tri 3.42 brighter η Cas 3.46 brighter 41 Ari 3.61 dimmer 17P/Holmes ~3.69   ζ Cas 3.69 dimmer η Per 3.77 dimmer γ Ari 3.88 dimmer τ Per 3.93 dimmer γ Tri 4.03 dimmer ι Per 4.05 dimmer Date Mag. 25Oct07 2.55 30Oct07 2.96 31Oct07 2.99 1Nov07 3.69

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Observing Location	MetOval
Observational Period	2230-2300 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 51°F Wind Calm Gusting to Light Breeze Humidity Moderate Feels Like Chilly and a little moist It doesn’t feel anywhere as humid now as it did earlier in the night. Transparency Good Seeing II
Instruments	SAR: Coulter CT-100 Newtonian reflector - Charlie Celestron Omni 20mm (21x) Celestron Omni 2x Barlow
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target 17P/Holmes Constellation Per Category Comet Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20071101.2230 EDT Comments I read on Space Weather today that 17P/Holmes is 7 times (/) as large as Jupiter and still growing so I went back out with SAR to see if I could see the size difference. My initial reaction was that the comet was pushing 1/4 of the FoV of my Barlowed lens. I estimated that the 11 of the comets would fit across the FoV of my 2.3° FoV 20 mm lens making its diameter .21° or 12.55’. With the Barlow I estimated that 5 comets would fit in the ~1° FoV making its diameter .20° or 12.00’. I am calling the comet 12.28’ in diameter. Date Diam. 30Oct07 9’30” 1Nov07 12’17”