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M41 (Open Cluster, in Canis Major)
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 01:00:00 2006 UT Obs. no.: 1493
A nice group of stars that filled up most of my eyepiece at 71x. Located about 4 S x SW of Sirius it was easy to locate. At least 6 dozen stars make up this loosely bound cluster.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag -0.2, 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: good
Time: Mon Jan 30 02:00:00 2006 UT Obs. no.: 1484
Viewed Saturn last night before the clouds rolled in. At low power, Saturn once again was beautiful right at the fringe of M44. Viewing at 203x it was harder to make out the Cassinni Division than it was a few nights ago. Also, no equatorial cloud belt could be seen. Though I should have been able to see 4 of Saturn's moons, I only saw 3. Titan, in a far orbit at about 5 ring diameters, was easiest. Rhea and Dione , much closer to Saturn, were on the opposite side as Titan. I took some pics w/ the webcam and I will post the best one later today (Monday).
Saturn (Planet, est. mag -0.2, 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: good
Time: Fri Jan 27 02:00:00 2006 UT Obs. no.: 1485
I just realized that my picture of Saturn has a storm that just started. As reported by NASA, a storm swelled up on January 27. Here is the report on it. The pic on my webpage was shot Jan 26, the night before.http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060127.html
Saturn (Planet, est. mag -1, 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: good
Time: Fri Jan 27 00:30:00 2006 UT Obs. no.: 1482
Viewed Saturn last night at 71x, 142x, 178x and 203x throughout the night. It was perched beautifully next to M44. At low power it appears in the same field of view as the Beehive. With binoviewers at 178x the Cassinni Division as well as a single tan cloud belt in the southern hemisphere showed up. 3 moons were also visible in a scattered array. I did not check my software or magazines to see which 3 they were because I was trying to get some shots with my webcam. I did manage a string of shots posted on my website.Ended viewing around 10:00 EST.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2)
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: fair
Time: Sat Jan 21 09:00:00 2006 UT Obs. no.: 1473
After viewing M81 & M82, I decided to pull out the scope to view Jupiter. The planet was just rising and had not yet cleared my house. I turned towards the waning gibbous moon. I admired the clarity of what I was seeing even in less then ideal conditions. Viewed with binoviewers at 71x and 142x. After about 30 minutes, Jupiter rose enough that I could view it. Heat waves from the roof of my house degraded the image. Only the 2 most prominent equatorial belts were visible. There were 3 stars in the same FOV with the 4 moons. I managed to snap some shots with my webcam taped to the eyepiece. The view has been degraded due to rooftop heat and high level wisps of clouds. The pic is posted on my website.
M81 (Galaxy, in Ursa Major)
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: fair
Time: Sat Jan 21 07:30:00 2006 UT Obs. no.: 1472
Viewed M81 & M82 early Saturday morning. Not too much detail was visible through the binos but at least they are visible from my back yard. There was also high level wisps of clouds.
Saturn (Planet, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 70-mm binoculars Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: severe Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Mon Jan 16 02:30:00 2006 UT Obs. no.: 1470
Last night I viewed Saturn near M44 (Beehive) cluster. At 15x Saturn was easily within the same FOV as the cluster itself. The nearly full moon was close by, partially drowning out all but the brightest stars of the cluster.
Moon (Moon, est. mag -5, 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: severe Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Jan 9 23:45:00 2006 UT Obs. no.: 1463
Tried to view the occultation of the Pleadies but missed it by about an hour. I did not realize that it would be going on about the time I got home from work (or even earlier). I know the Pleadies will be occulted at least one more time later on this year. I guess I will have to keep an eye on the occulatation alittle closer.
Moon (Moon, est. mag -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: fair
Time: Sat Jan 7 00:00:00 2006 UT Obs. no.: 1488
After the past week or so of heavy cloud cover the weather finally cleared up. I was limited to viewing the moon because of the havoc being wreaked by high winds though. Viewing the waxing gibbous moon at 71x through binoviewers and 125x and 250x through the Meade LPI, I posted some close-ups of Crater Clavius. This is a crater located on the terminator a day after first quarter. It is located near the North Pole and has a diameter of 70 miles. Inside are 2 smaller craters whose rims can just be seen at this phase. I also have posted a shot of the Lunar Appenine Mountain Range and the crater Archimedes nearby. This magnificent mountain range extends about 450 miles around the western portion of Mare Imbrium. The mountains peak at 14,000 feet. If the weather hold, maybe I will get another chance to view before the Full Moon.
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: Fri Dec 23 17:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1449
Used by binoviewers for spectacular 3d results on the Sun at 71x! The Sun's disc just barley completely fit into my FOV. Observed Sunspot Groups 837, 838 and 839. I replaced the binoviewers with the LPI to get some pics. I have posted them on my website with a comparitive view from the SOHO Solar Telescope.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag -1, 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: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Tue Dec 20 16:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1445
Viewed Saturn through new binoviewers (and moderate cloud cover). Using both eyes (hooray!) I could make out alot more detail than squnting. Through the clouds I spotted 4 of Saturns moons, Titan, Rhea, Dione and Tethus. The binoviewer gave the impression that Titan and Rhea were on the Earthside of Saturn and that Dione and Tethus were on the far side of Saturn (behind the planet itself.) Though this is not necessarily true in reality, the brain "perceives" the brighter objects close up and the dimmer objects further back. Thus the view is translated as 3d.
Moon (Moon)
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: Tue Dec 20 16:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1444
Got some new binoviewers yesterday in the mail. Decided to try them out. Cloud cover kept the viewing rather spotty (I couldn't view M31 or the Double Cluster in Perseus) but the objects I viewed were incredible. Though I viewed M45, Mars, Saturn and M42, the absolute all time best was the Moon. With the binoviewers, the mountains jumped out at me! You really do see a "3d" effect! It's like actually being in a lunar lander a few kilometers above the surface. Both medium and high power reveal the same effect. The craters actually have depth to them. The rilles appear to have a small subtle bit of height to them. And the view is like actually looking through an elliptical window on board a starship as the moon drifts by. Awesome !
Saturn (Planet)
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: Tue Dec 20 03:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1442
I went outside last night to brace Connecticut-like weather to view M42 and Saturn. The temperature was down to single digits and frost started forming on my primary mirror. (Maybe it's time to invest in a dew cap). The nebula looked like a blur through the frost on my primary. Come to think of it, so did Saturn. I caught a glimpse of the rings of Saturn and 2 moons before my breath condensated on the eyepiece and made things worse. My focuser froze in place after that. I miss summer.
Venus (Planet, est. mag -4.6)
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 Dec 18 22:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1441
Waited for Venus to "pop" into view around 5:00 PM. I was ready for it before it got blocked by my neighbor's trees. Using a Variable Polarity filter I viewed it for about 30 minutes or so. At first the filter was not really needed but as the sun set and it became darker, the glow of Venus at -4.6 magnitude called for a filter or the view was completely saturated. Using the filter at about 3% light transmission, I obtained a string of beautiful shots of the slim crescent as it set. I have posted the results.
Moon (Moon, est. mag -6, Est. RaDec Straight up)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: poor Seeing: poor
Time: Sat Dec 17 06:30:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1440
Clouds moved in after 10:00 PM and remained all night. Stepping outside at about 1:30 AM I saw a beautiful Halo extending around the Full Moon. I tried to get a picture of it with my digital camera, an old camcorder and finally, out of desperation, my webcam. None of my equipment was sensitive enough to pick up the phenomina. That was the most beautiful Halo I can remember seeing. I have only seen a halo that perfect maybe 4 or 5 times in my life! I wish I captured a picture of it.
Meteor (Meteor, est. mag -2, est. to be in Gemini, Est. RaDec high up)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Wed Dec 14 03:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1436
Spotted 2 meteors while searching Monoceros for the Rosette Nebula. No luck on the nebula (lots of light pollution from the moon) but I did spot the meteors. The first one was probably magnitude -2 and yellow in color. It was visible for almost 30 degrees as it streaked straight South. Time was about 8:00. The second was not as bright. Probably magnitude 0 and blue-white in color, it was visible for about 15 degrees as it streaked from Gemini to the Southwest (in the vicinity of the moon). Time was about 10:30.
Venus (Planet, est. mag -3)
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: Tue Dec 13 22:30:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1435
Got a few minutes of observing Venus in before the tall trees started obstructing my view. A beautiful crescent that was quite large at 203x. The air was steady and by using a polarizing filter I drastically cut down on the glare. Only got a few minutes in before the planet was blocked by the trees.
Moon (Moon, est. mag -4)
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 Dec 12 02:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1432
I viewed the Moon and Mars Conjunction last night at around 9:00 PM. Both were almost directly overhead. Mars and the Moon were seperated by what appeared to be less than 2 Moon diameters. Small clouds passed by the pair causing the moon to give off a halo. I took some shots with my digital camera just as the clouds had a small break in them so the halo was visible, but so was Mars.
M42 (Orion Nebula) (Bright Nebula, in Orion)
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: Thu Dec 8 04:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1428
Viewed the Moon and M42 last night. Started with the moon shortly after coming home from work. I was able to take a few pics of it with the LPI and have posted another mosaic on my webpage. About 5 hours later I viewed M42 with my 15x70 binos and a nebula filter. The view at 15x with the filter was amazing! The nebula looked completely different than what I am used to. Overall, it was about 1 1/2 times larger than usual. The filter really brought out subtle features that are invisible otherwise. The nebula took on a flame-shape with smaller nebulae being just visible above. (I believe this was NGC1973, 75 and 77). There was also a definite green hue clearly visible. On previous viewings through my scope I have picked up hues of pale green without having the filter. But with the filter, a much darker green is definetly visible even through much smaller aperature binos. I will target this nebula region with much more scrutiny this weekend if given the chance. We are due in for a major snow storm tonight through the weekend.
Moon (Moon, est. mag -4)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Tue Dec 6 22:30:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1427
Admired the beautiful crescent moon last night just as the sun was setting. The skies were crystal clear and Venus was not far off. A few days ago the moon and Venus were in conjunction but I did not have the oppurtunity to view. I viewed the moon at 30x, 125x and 203x. All views were beautiful as the atmosphere held steady into twilight. I was able to make a mosaic from 3 very well detailed pictures using the LPI. The pic is posted on my website. Also tried for Mars. Viewed at 203x and higher. Little surface detail was seen as the planet is fading quickly. It becomes harder and harder to see features as the angular size diminishes.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2, est. to be in Aries)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Fri Nov 18 01:15:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1402
My viewing of Mars last night was phenominal! Starting at 5:15 PM, I spied Venus still pretty high in the southwest but my neighbors trees (at about 100 ft. tall) still blocked it. I had to view through the branches. Venus was VERY bright and appeared in a Gibbous phase. Since I was waiting for Mars, I took a shot of it (again, through the trees so it looks like the image was chewed aroung the edges) and put it on my website. This is Venus at 203x. Afterwards I moved on to Mars. For 3 hours I viewed Mars and tried time and again to get a good shot of it. Frustration continually built with the neighbors and their backyard lights, another neighbors constantly barking dog and my telehpone ringing. Finally I went inside about 7:30 because the image was still low enough over my roof that it was still boiling. At 8:15 I came out and viewed. AWESOME is an understatement. I pushed the power up to 406x with a barlow lens and actually got a decent shot (also on my webpage). The South Polar Cap was visible, though fleeting. The whole Southern Hemisphere was again shrouded in a blue hood. Mare Cronium all the way to Margaritifer Sinus was visible including Protei Regio, Mare Erythraeum and Argyroporus as the dark regions. In the peach-colored Northern Hemisphere, I saw Mnemonia Tharsis, Tempe, and Tractus Albus. I waited 3 hours to see that view and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I now have the best picture of Mars I have taken for the next 13 years! Quite a memorable occasion. The pics can be viewed at HTTP://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/joeshomepage/index.html.
Saturn (Planet, est. mag -1.0)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Sun Nov 13 08:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1399
Had an incredible oppurtunity to view Saturn early Sunday Morning. At around 3:00 AM it was high in the eastern sky. Not only was it a treat at 203x, but using a barlow and a $39 webcam I acyually got some decent pics at 406x. I could not believe what magnification I could push. The Cassinni Division was easy as day and the whole disk was huge at this power. I am currently having problems with the LPI as the only really good pics I have are of the moon. I am starting to favor the webcam I am using b/c these pics were on my first try and they are infinetly better than the LPI (whose pic of saturn came out looking like a white diamond no matter how I had the exposure and other settings set). The pic can be viewed at http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/joeshomepage/index.html. This is a single shot with no processing and no stacking.
NGC7000 (Bright Nebula, in Cygnus)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com)
Instrument: 70-mm binoculars Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Mon Nov 7 00:45:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1395
Spotted the North American nebula just a few degrees off from Deneb. Using a nebula filter and my 15x70 Skymaster binos, I spotted the formation of stars that form what appears to be a sidewards "A" in the stars. It was so large and diffuse that I passed it numerous times before in my scope at 30x. In the binos it took up a great portion of my FOV. No wonder I could not spot it before! It appeared about as large as M42 appears at about 100x. VERY faint, at low power I can just make out the continental shape as well as the rift between it and the pelican nebula just next to it.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2, est. to be in Aries, Est. RaDec 40)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Thu Nov 3 02:45:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1392
Tonight's viewing was very crisp as Mars rose above the boiling atmosphere by this time. A blue hue still covered half the disk. No polar caps visible but small patches of albedo markings were visible. Once again I did not have time to check the martian atlas to see what the markings were but the view seemed similar as some of my previous postings.
Meteor (Meteor, est. to be in Cepheus, Est. RaDec 90)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Thu Nov 3 02:37:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1391
While looking for starfields and nebulae in the Cassiopia Region a small white meteor shot past. It appeared to be coming from the nearby Cepheus Region. Time was approx. 9:37 PM. It was not too bright and was very short (less than 5 degrees) heading due North. Approx magnitude may have been 0.
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