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Saturn (Planet, est. mag 0.5, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: poor
Time: Mon Oct 31 06:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1388
This evening, I observed Saturn with my 127mm MAK. The view was not very good. Only for brief fleeting moments was I able to see the south equitorial belt and the Cassini division on the rings. Other than those brief moments all I could see was a featureless face on Saturn and a featureless ring. One fairly bright moon was close to Saturn. I think it was Titan.
Mercury (Planet, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Sriram.M.Gubbi (e-mail: sriram_gubbi@yahoo.co.in, web: http://dino.lm.com/artists/display.php?name=sriram_gubbi)
Instrument: 8-inch equatorial reflector Location: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Jul 3 19:35:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1264
Mercury was very close to venus and was easily found with the telescope. It appeared like a half moon but, a lot smaller than Venus. One interesting thing was that all the people liked the sight of Mercury more than Venus.
Venus (Planet, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Sriram.M.Gubbi (e-mail: sriram_gubbi@yahoo.co.in, web: http://dino.lm.com/artists/display.php?name=sriram_gubbi)
Instrument: 8-inch equatorial reflector Location: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Jul 3 19:30:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1263
This was the time when Mercury, Venus and Saturn were close together forming a right angle triangle. Some of my friends and myself brought an 8 inch f/8 reflector along with the heavy equatorial mount outside the planetarium and set it up. Venus appeared just like a gibbous moon, though the telescope was a bit out of collimation. This was just a casual observation done to show the people who had visited the planetarium to know whats up in the sky.
Mercury (Planet, est. mag -1.0, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Sat Jun 25 01:15:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1249
This Evening, My friends Mike Dzubaty, his son Mike, Steve Borer and I observed Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Jupiter. In Steve's 6" dob., Mercury looked almost 50% lit. There was a dark albedo feature in the southern hemishere at the terminator. Venus was about 90% lit. There were several greyish areas imbedded among Venus' white clouds. Most of the grey areas were in the southern hemisphere. Jupiter's moons were all lined up on one side of the planet. Both the north and south equitorial belts were prominent. Finally the view of Saturn did not show much since Saturn is rapidly receding from the earth.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag 0.1, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 18-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Milford, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Sat Apr 16 00:45:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1219
This evening, my friends Joe Cseh, Mike Dzubaty, Steve Borer and I attended a local star party. Since the moon was nearly first quarter we mainly observed Saturn, Jupiter and the moon with an 18" dob at over 300x. We used binocular viewers on the dob. On Saturn, we were able to easily see the south equitorial belt and also the south temperate belt. There is also a dark patch over the south pole. The Casinni division was outstanding. The Encke division was also seen without too much difficulty. We then observed Jupiter. There was a white oval adjoining the south equitorial belt. The moon at more than 300X was utterly great. The Craters jumped out at you. The Proclus and Messier bright lunar rays were outstanding. Finally, we observed a -2.5 magnitude earth grazing meteor whose color was blue white.
Satellite (Satellite, est. mag -7, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: naked eye Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Tue Mar 22 23:55:19 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1189
This evening, my friends Mike Dzubaty, Steve Borer and I went to the beach to check out a bright irridiam flare and the international space station flyover. The first satellite was a -7 irridiam flare. Even though the moon was nearby, the flare still looked dazzling. About 50 minutes later, the ISS passed directly over our heads. Its magnitude was -0.2. This turned out to be quite a doubleheader.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag -0.2, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Tue Mar 15 00:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1183
After we finished observing Mercury, My friends Mike Dzubaty, His son Mike and I turned Mikes 6" dob on Saturn. The view of Saturn was one of the best views I have ever seen. First of all, the planitary shading including the south temperate belt was very easy to see. The north polar cap continues to be much a much lighter shade than last year.The real shock was after we pushed the power to 200X, we could see the Cassini division very easily and even the Encke division without too much difficulty. A section of the ring was covered by the shadow cast by the planet itself. I doubt that I will ever see Saturn this well again.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag -0.1, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Mar 6 00:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1178
This evening, My friends Steve Borer, Mike Dzubaty and I observed Saturn at 133X. Now that Saturn is past opposition, a fairly large shadow has appeared on Saturn's rings. In a newtonian reflecter, the shadow appears on the ring on the right side of the planet. The shadow is fairly thick. Also, the south equitorial belt remains easy to see. The Cassinni division is also very easy to see.
Saturn (Planet, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Sriram.M.Gubbi (e-mail: sriram_gubbi@yahoo.co.in)
Instrument: 50-mm refractor Location: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Tue Feb 1 00:30:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1208
it's ring is clearly visible in any small telescope and with great difficulty,i was able to see it's satellite,titan through my telescope.the two stars of gemini(castor and pollux)along with saturn formed a bright arc.many times,the moon has passed through the arc but without occulting any of them.
M35 (Open Cluster, in Gemini)
Observer: Emil Neata (e-mail: forvert2000@yahoo.com, web: http://www.astroclubul.org/emilneata)
Instrument: 60-mm refractor Location: Craiova, Romania
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Tue Jan 25 00:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1149
A beautiful cluster composed of approximately 40 stars. Large and scattered.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag -0.5, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Jan 16 01:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1143
This evening, I observed Saturn with my 127mm MAK. With Saturn now at opposition, I noticed its south polar cap is not nearly as dark as it was during last year's opposition. However, the south equitorial belt looks the same as during last year's opposition.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag -0.2, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Dec 26 01:15:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 1135
This evening, after having Christmas dinner with my family, I observed Saturn and Comet Machholz with my 127mm Mak telescope and my 10X50 binoculars. The main thing that I noticed was Saturn's south polar hood looks fainter this year than it did last year. It fact, it looks much fainter. The south equitorial belt looks the same as last year. I then looked at Comet Machholz with my 10X50 binoculars. Even with a full moon nearby, I saw the comet quite easily. The steller point in the comet's head is still quite obvious. I estimate the comet's magnitude as 4th.
Meteor (Meteor, est. mag -2.5, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: naked eye Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Tue Dec 14 04:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 1129
In response to Al's previous report asking where I saw the meteor break up, I saw the meteor break up below Orion. I believe we saw two seperate meteors break up.
Meteor (Meteor, est. mag -2.5, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: naked eye Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Tue Dec 14 04:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 1127
Tonight, I observed the Geminid meteor shower. I saw 24 meteors between 8:00PM and 12:00AM. The colors of the meteors varied from yellow to orange to blue. They were very slow moving meteors. One of the meteors was a -2.5 mag fireball. It broke apart right over my head. I also took out my binoculars to observe Comet Machholz. It is about fifth magnitude and it still has a short stubby tail. All in all, a very enjoyable evening of astronomy.
Venus (Planet, est. mag -4.2, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Fri Sep 3 08:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 1059
Early this morning, I observed Venus and Saturn with my 127mm MAK. Venus looks like it has reached 50% lit. There still seems to be a hint of shading on its equitorial region near its terminator. With Saturn, you can now see that its rings are tipped less than they were last year. The rings are still good to look at though.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag 0.1, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: excellent
Time: Tue Mar 2 23:45:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 956
Tonight I observed Saturn at 133X. The seeing was perfect. It was as if I was viewing Saturn through either the Hubble Space Telescope or the Saturn bound Cassini spacecraft. The thing that really caught my eye was seeing the shadow being cast onto the rings of Saturn by the planet itself. The shadow can be seen on the back side of the rings where they seem to meet the planet itself. The south equitorial belt and the south polar hood really stood out. The rings were sharp and clear with the Cassini division a cinch to observe.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag -0.2, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sat Feb 21 23:45:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 943
This evening, I observed Saturn at 133X. The south polar cap seems smaller and dimmer than earlier this year. The south equitorial belt is still easily seen. Another belt, to the SEB's south, can also be seen. It is probably the south temperate belt. The casinni division is still a cinch to see. Although Saturn is receding from the earth, the views of the planet are still very good.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag 0.0, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Feb 1 23:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 934
This evening, I observed Saturn at 133X. It looks like Saturn's dark south polar cap may be shrinking in size. The south equitorial belt and the south temperate belt are still visible. As Saturn continues to recede from the earth, I expect the STB to be to hard to see. I noticed I could see Titan's disc very well when when I removed Saturn from my field of view. This is true of Jupiter's moons also.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag -0.5, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Fri Jan 9 01:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 928
Tonight, a thin layer of cirrus clouds allowed me to have a great view of Saturn at 200X. The south equitorial belt was showing quite nicely. There was another fainter belt a little futher south on Saturn's southern hemispere. The area between the SEB and the south polar hood seemed dark. The polar hood itself was very dark. In fact it reminded me of a beenie on a kids head. I think the SPH was a little more pronounced during last years apparition.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag -0.5, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Wed Dec 31 07:00:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 926
Saturn reaches opposition today (12/31/03) at 21:00 UT. In light of this fact I spent a good long time observing Saturn this morning using the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at the Naylor Observatory, which is located near Lewisberry, Pennsylvania.The seeing was very good, good enough that the Encke Minima was visible. At times the Encke Division seemed to be resolved as well. The C Ring was easy, of course. The southern hemisphere of the planet was covered with distinct bands and the polar cap was quite well defined and rather dark.Titan had a readily discernible ruddy color. I also viewed Tethys, Dione, Enceladus, Rhea, and, I think, Hyperion. I could not make out Mimas.Magnifications used ranged from 162 to 404x with 231, 249, 259 and 324x working very satisfactorily.I also caught Jupiter's GRS a bit before it transited the CM. It appeared to be somewhat more colorful than it has for some time, a distinctly pink color. The only extended deep-sky object that met my gaze was M42 and itlooked very good indeed at 162x with and without an Orion UltraBlockfilter. Six stars were visible within the Trapezium as well as anumber of faint stars that are not normally seen within thenebulosity.I had a look at a few multiple stars in Auriga before closing down.The best were 41 Aurigae, Otto Struve 147 (a very attractive triplestar with a yellow primary and twin blue secondaries), and thecharming Struve 928. The carbon star UU Aurigae shone a brightorange-red. The magnification for these observations was 162x.
Asteroid (Asteroid, est. mag 7.5, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Tue Dec 16 03:00:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 922
Tonight, I observered Asteroid Ceres at 200X. Ceres' disk was rather small. The disk color seemed to be either a very light tan or a very light orange. The disks of Jupiter's moons are much brighter looking. In fact, nearby Saturn's moon Titan's disk, while being much smaller than Ceres' disk, still looked brighter in the telescope.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag 0.0, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Tue Dec 2 03:30:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 918
Tonight, I observed Saturn at 133X. I was able to view the south equitorial belt very well. I also was able to see a second belt, possibly in the south temperate region. The south polar hood seems to not be as dark this year as it was last year. The Cassini division in the rings was very easy to see.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag -.5, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Wed Oct 8 06:00:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 889
Early this morning, I observed Saturn at 200X. The Cassini division was very easy to see. The south equitorial belt was easier to see than usual. The whole southern hemisphere of Saturn has a pale tan look with the region right over the south pole being very dark.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag .5, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Tue Aug 26 08:15:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 871
In the predawn hours, I decided check out Saturn at 133X. I was able to see the south equitorial belt on Saturn rather easily. The south polar region had a tan polar hood over it, with the darkest part of the hood being over the south pole. The cassini division was also very easy to see. Saturn's moons, Titan and Rhea, were also easy to see.
M35 (Open Cluster, in Gemini)
Observer: Matt Evans (e-mail: matt.larie@verizon.net)
Instrument: 10-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Plano, TX, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Mon Mar 24 01:55:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 790
I used Starry Night Pro to print out a star chart and practiced star hopping from the "ends" of Gemini. I set up my 10" dob in my backyard and found M35 in under a minute. I was impressed! =) Anyway, good seeing and it looked great. I could see down to mag. 11.6 (based on a drawing and comparing it to stars in Starry Night Pro).
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