Observations by jcaggiano@mindspring.com

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Observations by jcaggiano@mindspring.com:

Moon (Moon, est. mag -1)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 30-mm other   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: good   Seeing: good
Time: Sat Jan 20 22:45:00 2007 UT   Obs. no.: 1615

On my way home from visiting my parents on Saturday, I noticed a very slim crescent moon only a few hours old about 4 West of Venus. I pulled over and took a snapshot with my 30mm camcorder. I zoomed in to about 25x. The picture is posted on my webpage.

Comet (Comet, est. mag -1)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: naked eye   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: severe   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Jan 10 21:45:00 2007 UT   Obs. no.: 1611

Leaving work today I spotted Comet McNaughton low in the South West around sunset. It was amazing! That's the first time ever I have viewed a comet while it was still bright outside. There is speculation that it will outshine Venus! I hope on its return voyage from the sun I have more oppurtunities to view and get pictures of it.

Saturn (Planet, est. mag 0.5, est. to be in Leo)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: none   Transparency: excellent   Seeing: excellent
Time: Sat Dec 9 06:30:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1596

Viewed Saturn late Friday Evening (actually Saturday morning) with my binoviewers. Conditions were VERY crisp and I let the scope sit outside for an hour before I viewed. The viewing was, in my opinion, perfect. No wind, crystal clear and extremely dark were the conditions I was favored with. I could easily see the Cassinni Division as well as a single obvious equatorial belt along the southern hemisphere. All this without even using any filter! I tried getting a picture of it with the LPI but my camera's USB connection started going bad. I had to wait until the following night to take pictures with new USB cables I bought that day. The atmosphere was nothing like the night before so I decided to pack it in for the night.

Sun (Sun)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: none   Transparency: excellent   Seeing: excellent
Time: Sat Nov 11 15:47:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1581

Viewed Sunspot # 923 this morning. It was the most massive Sunspot I have ever seen yet with my present telescope. I estimate it to be about the size of Neptune. Using a solar filter and the binoviewers, I viewed at 71x. The spot had a very clearly defined umbra and penumbra region that held detail at all magnifications. I managed a detailed shot of the sunspot and placed it on my webpage. I have also included a comparitive shot from http://www.spaceweather.com from the SOHO satellite from 4 hours earlier.

M29 (Open Cluster, in Cygnus)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 70-mm binoculars   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: good   Seeing: good
Time: Wed Sep 13 02:00:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1563

Cygnus was directly overhead while viewing. It was a cool night in the upper 40's and the atmosphere was still. I took in the vast star fields of the Milky Way that run right through Cygnus. Viewed stars through the binos probably down to 9th magnitude. A Beuatiful sight!

Other (Other)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: good   Seeing: good
Time: Mon Jun 19 13:30:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1547

On my previous log, I listed the wrong magnitudes for M16 and M20. In an attempt to addendum my error, M16 is listed as mag. 6.4 and M20 is listed as mag. 9.0.

M20 (Trifid Nebula) (Bright Nebula, in Sagittarius)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: good   Seeing: good
Time: Sat Jun 17 05:45:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1544

After having some decent luck with the UHC filter, I moved further south along "nebula row". Closer to the star Kaus Borealis (the top star in the Tea Kettle) I spotted M20. It was located approx. 6.2 NW of the star. Using the filter made all the difference in the bright southern sky. The nebula appeared as a roundish cloud with multiple bright regions around the edges surrounding darker lanes in the center. It appeared about twice as large as M16 though not as bright. Stars dotted the perimeter of the cloud. It is listed as magnitude 6.3.

M16 (Eagle Nebula) (Open Cluster, in Serpens)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: good   Seeing: good
Time: Sat Jun 17 05:30:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1543

Got my first really good night of observing in a long long while. No clouds, little turbulence and mostly dark. I tried for "nebula row" in Sagittarius. Using the very top star that forms the "Tea Kettle" I decided to try on the most northern nebula in the area, M16. Using a 25mm eyepiece and an Orion UHC (nebula) filter I spotted it about 12 NNW of Kaus Borealis. It was readily apparent as a hazy "checkmark" shaped cloud, despite heavier light pollution to the southern hemisphere. It appeared about a quarter as bright as Orion's M42. Viewed at 30x with the eyepiece and filter and then at 71x with the binoviewer and filter. I used the "blinking" technique also to see how useful the UHC filter was. By unthreading it and holding it to my eye, I moved it in and out of view in front of the eyepiece. The difference is considerable and I am not sure I would have found it as deep as I did in the southern sky wihout the filter. The nebula is listed at 6.0 magnitude.

M56 (Globular Cluster, in Lyra)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Jun 14 03:11:30 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1541

Another night of turbulent atmosphere that turned Jupiter into mush made me decide to try and find something new to look at. The Cygnus region of the Galxy was rising in the East and was a pretty good way up above the horizon. I started with the Ring Nebula but the glow from that horizon pretty much drowned it out. working my way further east I spotted the globular cluster M56. At 30x it was very small (one of the smallest globulars I have seen) and was not too well resolved. It is rather distant at 33,ooo light years and has a visiual brightness of 8.3 magnitude, but with the conditions I was facing, light pollution, high level wispy clouds ect...it was probably just withing my scopes range. It is also rather small at 8.8 arcminutes diameter. I had mixed feelings about it. DIsappointment at it's lack lusterness yet proud that I found it in such lousy conditions. I will view again later on this year when it is higher in the sky.

Satellite (Satellite, est. mag 6, est. to be in Virgo)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Jun 7 03:11:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1538

Viewed the moon last night in order to get a nice picture of Copernicus. I succeeded in some nice detail to both craters Plato and Copernicus. While aligning the moon in my 6x spotting scope, I spotted a satellite heading due South that JUST missed the moon by less than a single degree to the west. I followed it for about 20 seconds before it disappeared again.Both shots were through my 6" newt, a 2x barlow to slow down the scope. Taken with the Meade LPI.http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/plato.jpghttp://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/copernicus.jpg

Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.4, est. to be in Libra)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Jun 1 02:30:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1536

First time in over a month to really view Jupiter with some clarity. Using binoviewers, a 2x barlow and a planetary color booster, 4 bands easily appeared as well as both polar zones. Using a Jupiter Satellite program, I was able to tell that the GRS was not visible during my observation. What appeared as a smaller version of the Great Red Spot may possibly have been a festoon. Jupiter currently is still over 42" but will continue to shrink as it is passed its opposition early this month. I have posted some pics on my website.

M5 (Globular Cluster, in Serpens)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: poor
Time: Mon May 29 05:00:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1534

While viewing Jupiter I located M5. Viewing at 71x, it appeared as a round haze. I did not have enough aperature to resolve into individual stars though.

Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.5, est. to be in Libra)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: excellent   Seeing: poor
Time: Sun Apr 30 03:45:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1529

I got my first oppurtunity to view (and capture) a transition of Io in front of Jupiter. Starting at 10:45 on Saturday night, I noticed a small black dot that appeared on Jupiter at 250x. Seeing was not very good as there was turbulence in the atmosphere. Using a Jupiter Satellite program I have installed on my pc, it showed that Io had just stared a transit across Jupiter. I watched until alittle after 1:15 that morning, capturing shots along the way. Io itself could not be spotted as it blended in on the face of Jupiter. I could only see the small pinpoint shadow left by Io. It was my first transition of a Jovian moon. I have posted pics on my website. Hopefully the atmosphere will clear up as May 4 is Jupiter's opposition. It will span 44.7 arc-seconds.

Took a quick peek at the Space Weather site to see if anything was happening on the sun. Sunspot group 865 had grown in size quite considerably so I decided to view with my scope. It is the largest sunspot group of the year thus far. There is alot of speculation that the upcoming Solar Maximum will be the 2nd most active on record. Viewing with my White Light Solar Filter, Sunspot Gropu 865 reminded me of the Hawiian Islands. There is another smaller group named 866 trailing just behind. I have posted a picture on my website.

Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.4)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: excellent   Seeing: excellent
Time: Sun Apr 2 06:00:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1519

The weather was touch and go all day long but the rain cleared out by early afternoon. I started observing with Saturn around 11:00 PM. With Saturn just starting to set in the West it was still pretty high up. Around midnight, Jupiter was high enough to start viewing. Conditions were excellent as the GRS was front and center on the planet's disk. I managed a couple of images throughout the session. As Jupiter continued to rise, the image quality became much better. Jupiter is a stunning 42.5 arcseconds right now and by the end of April it will measure a colossal 44 arcseconds.I have posted the pics on my website. Ended my session around 3:30 due to high winds wreaking havoc with my scope.

Saturn (Planet, est. mag 0.1, est. to be in Cancer)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: excellent   Seeing: excellent
Time: Thu Mar 30 01:00:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1516

Viewed Saturn last night during the first pristine night in a long long time. A very distinguishable cloud band was apparent as well as the Cassinni Division. Apparent disk size was 19.1 arcseconds. Following advice on how to stack images from another site, I successfully got a few shots with the Meade LPI. I was completely blown away! I have posted the shots. They are magazine quality.

Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.4, est. to be in Libra)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 70-mm binoculars   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: excellent   Seeing: excellent
Time: Sun Mar 19 06:00:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1511

Viewed Jupiter throughout the weekend. On Friday night into Saturday morning the clouds were pretty thick. Unlike Saturn, these actually helped me to attain a few nice pictures of the planet. The clouds acted as a natural glare filter against the brightness of the planet. Because of this, the disk was not white-washed and some detail was picked up without messing with a combination of different filters. Saturday night into Sunday morning was just the opposite. There were no clouds and extra filters were needed to draw out surface detail. I finally got a chance to "confirm" seeing the Great Red Spot. The planet is massive, currently measuring 42' across. Viewing was only so-so both days. Jupiter will continue to get larger as we head into it's opposition with the Earth. I have posted some pictures from both nights on my website.

Comet (Comet, est. mag 6)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 70-mm binoculars   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: excellent   Seeing: excellent
Time: Sat Mar 11 09:30:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1509

Woke up early so I could observe Comet Pojmanski. It was spotted from my upstairs window so I could see over the houses across the street. Waited a half hour or so in order to view from outside around 5:00AM. It looked like a faint star. Not nearly as good as Macholz was last year but at least I got to see it. Promptly went back to bed after 30 seconds of viewing.

M42 (Orion Nebula) (Bright Nebula, in Orion)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: excellent   Seeing: excellent
Time: Wed Mar 8 01:45:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1508

Nice viewing of M42 and M43 region. Using binoviewers at 71x and 142x and a Nebula Filter, the Great Nebula Region was huge! Long whisps of mist coiled around inside my FOV and the M43 cloud was also readily visible. The trapezium yielded 5 stars without the Nebula filter but only 4 stars with it on the eyepiece. The stars lose about a magnitude or so when using the filters in order to draw out more contrast for the nebula,s visibility.

Saturn (Planet, est. mag -2, est. to be in Cancer)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: excellent   Seeing: excellent
Time: Wed Mar 8 01:00:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1507

Beautiful conditions last night allowed me to view Saturn with excellent results. Through binoviewers at 142x, the Cassinni Division was visible. Though there was some turbulence, it remained for spurts of 5 seconds or so before disappearing for 2 to 3 seconds at a time. Also visible was a single thick equatorial belt and 5 moons. I was able to snap a series of pictures with my LPI and have posted the best one on my website. Though the equatorial belt is slightly visible, NO picture can ever capture the breathtaking views of the real thing.

Mars (Planet, est. mag 4, est. to be in Taurus)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 70-mm binoculars   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: excellent   Seeing: excellent
Time: Mon Feb 20 03:00:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1498

Viewed Mars and the Pleadies with the binos. At 15x they appeared in the same FOV. Mars ruddy red color was still very bright and I could just about make out that it was still a disk and not just a pinpoint (like a star). The Pleadies yeilded about 6 dozen stars tonight. Many more could be seen through the scope.

Saturn (Planet, est. mag -2, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: excellent   Seeing: excellent
Time: Mon Feb 20 02:30:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1497

Simply the best viewing of Saturn this season thus far! The Cassinni division stuck out like a sore thumb. Bright and crisp as I have ever seen! I caught glances of 2 equatorial cloud belts. Moons easily visible were Titan, Rhea, Iapetus, Dione and Tethys. Viewed at 71x, 142x and 203x. While viewing Saturn I took time to admire M44 nearby. At high power there appeared 3 trios of stars in the middle of the cluste. One trio appeared as a right triangle, the 2nd trio appeared as an eqalateral triangle and the last one was an isosoles triangle. All the stars were of similar magnitude. Never noticed them before because I never viewed on such high power.

Simply beautiful view of the Great Nebula. It was crisp and easy to view at any power (71x up to 203x). Made out 5 stars in the Trapezium. M43 appeared larger than usual due to the excellent observing conditions. Still have not been able to see any real detail to NCG 1973, 1975 or 1977 as of yet. Perhaps through time exposure I will have some luck.

M38 (Open Cluster, in Auriga)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 70-mm binoculars   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: excellent   Seeing: excellent
Time: Mon Feb 20 01:10:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1495

A tight dense cluster that appears similar to M36 except alittle bit larger. Located about 1 binocular field (2 Southeast) of M36 it was relatively easy to find. Appearing as a faint hazy mass it took on a small nebulas appearance.

M36 (Open Cluster, in Auriga)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 70-mm binoculars   Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: excellent   Seeing: excellent
Time: Mon Feb 20 01:10:00 2006 UT   Obs. no.: 1494

M36 appears similar to M38. A small, dense grouping os stars that appear faint and hazy, almost like a nebula at 15x. I needed to use the binos on this because it was directly overhead. I will try to pick more stars out in the future by using the scope at higher power.

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