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Venus (Planet, est. mag -4.1, est. to be in Pisces)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Seeing: good
Time: Mon Feb 23 22:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 948
Tonight, I observed the conjuction of the moon and Venus just before sunset. I wanted to see if I could see the gibbous phase of Venus in 10X50 binoculars. Since there was no glare from Venus this early in the evening, I was able to see the gibbous phase of Venus with little difficulty. I came out an hour later to view the conjuction in all its splendor. What a sight.
Moon (Moon, est. mag -11+, est. to be in Pisces)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 102-mm refractor Location: Hummelstown, PA, USA
Light pollution: severe Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sun Jan 12 01:30:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 763
On a bitterly cold Saturday night fellow ASH members Tony Donnangelo, Maura Smith, and I had a look at Ganymede and Europa after first observing the Hesiodus Lunar Sunrise Ray. We used Tony's Takahashi FS-102 apochromatic refractor at magnifications up to 234x. Prior to traveling to Tony's house Maura and I witnessed Iridium 54'sbrilliant -8th magnitude flare.The two Galilean satellites formed a very close pair separated by a few arc seconds at most. There were definite size and color differences between the two moons. After a much needed warm-up break we caught a glimpse of the GRS sometime around 2:30 UT as it approached the preceding limb. Early in the evening Tony observed a previously unreported triple sunrise ray in the crater Parry. Unfortunately, the event ended before Maura and I arrived at his residence. The Hesiodus Ray, bythe way, appeared similar to the several other times since 1994 thatI have seen it, i.e., as a slowly widening dim streak of light that gradually illuminated the floor of Hesiodus. Other lunar features were noteworthy. Rupes Recta was well displayed as were Tycho, Clavius, Plato, and several other craters. Eratosthenes wasstriking. Tony and I both noticed an unusual aspect of Alpetragius. The central peak was extremely prominent which made the crater look dimpled. Also eye catching were the many isolated peaks on the dark side of the terminator that were nicely illuminated. Tony and I also spent some viewing Saturn. The C ring was visible at the ansae along with a definite demarcation of the polar hood and two cloud belts. Before calling it quits at approximately 3:30 UT wemade a final check on the progress of the Hesiodus Ray.
Other (Other, est. mag 13.5p, est. to be in Pisces, Est. RaDec 1h16.4m, +33d27')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 14.5-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Tuscarora State Forest near Mifflintown , PA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Tue Oct 8 06:30:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 694
One of the many deep-sky objects that Tony Donnangelo and I observed while at this remote dark sky site was the dwarf spheroidal galaxy Andromeda II. Through Tony's Starmaster at 83 (22mm Tele Vue Nagler type 4) and 107x (17mm Tele Vue Nagler type 4) this member of the Local Group was small, round, and rather dim.
NGC524 (Galaxy, in Pisces, Est. RaDec 01h24.8m, +09d32.3')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 20-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Sun Aug 6 05:40:55 2000 UT Obs. no.: 536
SN 2000cx is this year's brightest supernova (reaching a peak magnitude of 13.1 to 13.2) and can be detected in apertures of as little as 8 inches. Its coordinates are 01h24m46s, +09d30'.5. The very luminous type Ia-peculiar supernova SN 2000cx was quite easy to discern through the 20" f/10 classical Cassegrain. Boosting the magnification from 127x (40mm Orion UltraScan) to 203x (25mm University Optics MK-70) and finally to 302x (16.8mm Orion MegaVista) provided excellent views of this exploding star. The supernova's parent galaxy, NGC 524 in Pisces, an 11.3 magnitude elliptical, was seen easily as a moderately large, circular glow.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.9, est. to be in Pisces)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu, web: http://www.ezonline.com/ash/obs.htm)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sat Oct 16 05:20:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 486
While observing Jupiter on Saturday morning I noted three small red spots (barges?) in the NEB. The most prominent red spot transited the CM around 05:20 UT. There were two others, one preceding this spot and one following it. The red color was verified by another ASH member. Observations were made at 202, 249, 259, and 324x using the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain located at the ASH Naylor Observatory. The festoons themselves were unmistakable and had a somewhat bluish tint. Early Friday night the seeing was rather poor and I used a 10" aperture mask. Later on the seeing became quite steady but it was rather variable.This was the second night that I noted these red spots during this year's Jovian apparition.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.2, est. to be in Pisces)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 4.5-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: poor Seeing: good
Time: Sun Jan 17 23:20:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 439
The Sunday night forecast was for rain but the skies stayed clear long enough for me to witness the reappearance of Io from eclipse. I used my 114mm f/7.9 C4.5 at 106x (17mm Tele Vue Ploessl with a 2x Celestron Ultima Barlow lens) and 134x (6.7mm Meade UWA) from my residence about 10 kilometers east of Harrisburg, PA. Prior to the event Ganymede was situated to the west of the planet and Europa and Callisto were to the east, fairly close and quite distant respectively. Because of increasing haze it was somewhatdifficult to see Io come out of Jupiter's shadow at 23:41 UT. By 00:30 UT (1/18/99) Io was directly north of Europa. As Io continued eastward (away from Jupiter) and Europa westward (to begin a transit of Jupiter at 01:51 UT) they assumed a more horizontal configuration as Jupiter disappeared into the western tree line.
Asteroid (Asteroid, est. mag 8.3, est. to be in Pisces, Est. RaDec 23h40m,-1.0d)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Fri Sep 11 02:10:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 395
The last celestial object that I viewed in a rather short observing session was the asteroid 2 Pallas (at 118x), which will reach opposition on the September 16th. This 570x525x482 km minor planet was located just north of Jupiter (page 259 Uranometria 2000.0). Pallas, the second asteroid to be discovered, was due east of a pair of field stars that formed an acute right triangle with a third field star. All three stars and Pallas (~magnitude 8.3) were of a similar brightness. Other objects logged: Epsilon Bootis, M3, M14, M10, M12, Nu Scorpii, M4, M80, M107, M62, M8, M23, M21, M24 and NGC 6603, M22, M28, Barnard's Star, and Jupiter.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag 0.5, est. to be in Pisces, Est. RaDec 02:02:27, 10:08:36)
Observer: Byung Hoon Kang (e-mail: astronist@usa.net, web: http://web.syr.edu/~bkang)
Instrument: 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector Location: Syracuse, NY, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Fri Jul 3 08:49:37 1998 UT Obs. no.: 359
Celestron Powerstar 8, 78x --- I can only see east sky at the porch of my apartment room. Tonight, there was the Saturn at east sky.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 8, est. to be in Pisces)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 51-cm equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Sun Feb 15 00:45:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 308
Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle has definitely grown brighter and more condensed since I last observed it on February 1st (and Comet 103P/Hartley 2 has grown more faint). Observations were made at 203x , the same magnification at which Abell 12 (Obs. no. 307) was observed. Other celestial objects logged included Saturn, M42, M43, NGC 2359 (Thor's Helmet), NGC 2360, NGC 1974 (a galaxy to the west of M42), M1, the close triple star Zeta Cancri (not quite resolved at 303x), h3945, NGC 2362, NGC 2169, Sigma Orionis, Struve 761, M46, NGC 2438, and M47.
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