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Moon (Moon)
Observer: Doug Sample (e-mail: dougapril0126@cotswoldwireless.co.uk)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector Location: Fairford, UK
Light pollution: light Seeing: good
Time: Sat Mar 4 19:30:00 2006 UT Obs. no.: 1506
I went out tonight to try to catch a glimpse of Mercury. I went out about half an hour before sunset and began looking. I couldn't find it, so I turned my attention to the sliver of moon that was showing. I used my 20mm eyepiece for some spectacular views. As I was looking, I noticed something sticking out of the moon into space. I then went to my 12.5mm, then my 5mm eyepieces and finally put my 2x Barlow inline with my 5mm eyepiece. I'm sure I was able to see a lunar mountain sticking out from the horizon into space. I even took a few photos of the moon through my eyepiece. They weren't very good due to my shaking while taking it.
Moon (Moon, est. mag -5, est. to be in Pisces)
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: Wed Mar 1 23:45:00 2006 UT Obs. no.: 1502
This evening, my friend, Joe Cseh and I observed the two day old crescent moon. The earthshine was very bright. With our naked eyes, we were able to easily see the dark areas of the moon. The best earthshine occurs from March to June.
Moon (Moon, est. mag -3)
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 Feb 28 23:15:00 2006 UT Obs. no.: 1501
This evening, as my co-worker Helen and I were leaving work, we decided to try for the very young moon. After only 30 seconds or so, we spotted it very low in the western horizon. It was one of the slenderest crescents I have ever seen. Helen said she has never seen the moon like that before. Springtime is always the best time to go for the one day old moon.
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.
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 !
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.
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.
Moon (Moon, est. mag -8, est. to be in Aries)
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: Mon Dec 12 01:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1431
This evening, I observed the moon and Mars standing together just two degrees apart. That alone was great, but as an added bonus, clouds started to cover the moon and Mars which created a beautiful blue and red corona around the moon. The blue part of the corona surrounded the moon and the red part of the corona surrounded the blue part of the corona. Mars was inside the red part of the corona. This was one of the most beautiful astronomical sights I have ever seen.
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.
Moon (Moon)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Colchester, Connecticut, United States
Time: Sun Oct 16 20:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1366
Because the moon was nearly full and because we had an offshore wind at low tide, I was able to observe what is called a blowout tide. My friends and I were able to walk on areas that are constantly underwater, even at regular low tide. One of my friends thought that because the tide had receding so much meant we were going to get hit by a tsunami. These blowout tides will occur when a new or full moon combines with very strong offshore winds at low tide. Also I forgot. The sun being at equinox also helped create the blowout tide.
Moon (Moon)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-inch other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Sep 18 03:45:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1308
This evening, I observer the full harvest moon with my 127mm MAK. The moon's north polar region is favorably tipped in our direction. Because of this, I decided to try to observe a crater that can only be seen during this infrequent libration. Nansen is a crater in the north polar region that can only be glimpsed during a lunar libration. When I spotted the crater Nansen, I was able to see only its side wall. Because of the angle, I could not look into the crater. This was my first view of this crater.
Moon (Moon)
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: Wed Sep 14 00:15:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1307
This evening, my friends Mike Dzubaty, his son Mike, Steve Borer and I observed the moon with Steve's 6" dob. This week, the moon's north polar region is tipped favorably towards us. For the first time, I was able to observe Petermann crater which is located in the north polar region. The crater looks more like a small mare rather than a crater because we had to look at it almost sideways. Arnald crater is below Petermann crater and this crater is an old warn out crater. I was also able to get a good look at Neison crater. This is a very fine object and it looks to be one of the younger craters in the area.
Moon (Moon)
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: Thu Dec 2 03:00:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 1121
Tonight, I observed the crater Aristachus on the moon with my 127mm MAK telescope at 123X. An observer in the U.K. reported seeing variations in brightness in and around the crater. When I put my scope on the moon, I also saw the variations of brightness. As the moon climbed higher, it looked like the cause of the variations in brightness was a small thin ray of light that came out the opposite side of the crater that the bright lunar ray of Aristarchus comes out. Other members of the American Lunar Society are also studying this sudden appearance on the moon.
Moon (Moon)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: binoculars Location: Milford, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Thu Oct 28 03:10:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 1082
Last night, My friends Mike Dzubaty, Steve Borer, Joe Cseh and I Observed the total lunar eclipse with telescopes, binoculars and our naked eyes. At mid totality, the moon had a copper glow to it, although the northern edge looked brighter. Some areas of the moon were very dark. The copper color seemed to be a little less bright than last years total eclipse. As a result, I gave it a danjon rating of L= 2.1. The crater Aristarchus remained visable throughout the eclipse.
Moon (Moon, est. mag -1)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com)
Instrument: 70-mm binoculars Location: Horsham, Pa., USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: poor
Time: Thu Oct 28 02:15:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 1084
Due to heavy cloud cover I resorted to using my binos and tripod rather than set up the reflector. The eclipse had just started and, in the first 20 minutes or so, it actually looked really ominous with all the clouds with a deep orange color around it's halo. The clouds started moving in much heavier after 30 minutes or so. With the moon's visibility waning and deep cloud cover I pasked up the binos by 9:45 EST. At that point it looked little more than a crescent moon. That will be it until 2007.
Moon (Moon, est. mag -6)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector Location: Horsham, Pa., USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Mon Oct 18 00:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 1080
It was an exceptionally clear evening as I decided to take a peek at the thin crescent moon already very low in the west. There was only a short time left before it would set below the treeline. Gazing at 30x I noticed a white speck that appeared to be disconnected with the rest of the sunlit crescent just off the southern limb. Popping in my high power eyepiece it became evident that it was a mountain peak just off and over the horizon of the visible moon. I was actually seeing the tip of a mountain whose height had thrown it into the direct sunlight just like the lit side of the termination line. It was actually rather neat seeing something like that, knowing that it would be gone the next day due to the termination position changing.
Moon (Moon, est. to be in Taurus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Fri May 21 00:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 999
Tonight, my friends Dave, Steve, Mike and I got to view a very slender one day old crescent moon. It was quite a sight. As the earth shine set in, we were able to glimpse certain mares of the moon rather easily.
Moon (Moon, est. to be in Cancer)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 102-mm refractor Location: Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Wed Mar 3 03:15:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 958
I joined my friend Tony Donnangelo at his residence on Tuesday night to observe the Clausius Sunrise Ray (see http://www.lunar-occultations.com/rlo/rays/rays.htm for information on lunar light rays) through his 102mm f/8 Takahashi FS-102 apochromat. As it turned out the prediction time of 01:03 UT (8:03 p.m. EST) proved to be incorrect. Clausius was still on the dark side of the terminator hours after that time and so we never saw even the onset of the ray. But my trip was not far from wasted since Tony and I both discovered new lunar light rays! About 03:15 UT Tony noticed a short ray in the crater Mersenius P near Gasendi (Rukl chart 51). At 3:40 UT I came across a double ray near Schiller. One ray cut through Noggerah J at approximately 50.75 degrees north, 48 degrees west (Rukl chart 70). Another lay just to the south and east of the first and to the west of Noggerah H. With time these rays lengthened and were quite a sight to behold.As we were watching the progress of these rays the Moon occulted one field star and later another. I believe these stars were Omega Cancri (5.9 magnitude) and 4 Cancri (6.3 magnitude).We had a brief look at Jupiter and then turned the Tak back to the Moon before calling it quits at 05:00 UT. During the course of our observing session we used magnifications of 117 (7mm Nagler type 6), 158 (5.2mm Pentax SMC XL), and 234x (3.5mm Orion Lanthanum Superwide).Dave Mitsky
Moon (Moon)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 101-mm refractor Location: Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sun Nov 9 01:06:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 909
I observed Saturday evening's lunar eclipse from the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg's Naylor Observatory through a number of instruments including the ASH 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain, a 10" f/10 Meade SCT, the 5" f/5 finder scope for the 17", my 101mm f/5.4 Tele Vue refractor, a Celestron 80mm f/5 refractor, a Celestron 20x80 binocular, and a Celestron Ultima 10x50 binocular. Many other telescopes were in use including the ASH 12.5" f/6.5 and 10" f/7 Cave Newtonians. I took afocal shots through the 5" and my scope with a Canon digital camera and eyepiece projection shots through the 5" with my Pentax K1000 SLR and a 32mm Brandon.We had clear skies for most of the event. Clouds encroached during the partial phase but were gone before totality began. Temperatures dropped to the mid-thirties.To my eyes the moon was a pinkish orange hue during totality with a bit of brightness at the southern limb, perhaps an L of 3 on the Danjon Scale. During totality I showed some of the onlookers M45, the Double Cluster, and Stock 2.There were at least 100 visitors and many ASH members present. Two of the local television stations did broadcasts from the observatory. I was interviewed by a reporter from the Harrisburg Patriot and by a another reporter from a local television station that didn't bother to send an ENG truck.All in all it was a most enjoyable evening
Moon (Moon)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: binoculars Location: Milford, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate
Time: Sat Nov 8 23:30:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 908
Tonight, A group of us gathered together to observe the total lunar eclipse. With the naked eye and binoculars the moon looked rust colored during totality. The south polar region of the moon remained bright during totality. As a result, I gave the eclipse Danjon rating a 2.2. Finally, when I saw how curved the earth's shadow was on the face of the moon, I new right then and there I would have to scrap my plans to join the flat earth society.
Moon (Moon)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Time: Tue Sep 9 03:00:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 879
This evening, due to a favorable libration of the moon, I was able to observe Mare Humboldtianum on the extreme upper right edge at 200X. This mare is a small unremarkable dark patch right near the very edge. The libration will allow Mare Humboldtianum to be seen a couple of days before the full moon in October also.
Moon (Moon)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 101-mm refractor Location: New Germantown, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Jul 20 06:30:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 846
While observing Luna on Sunday morning from Camp Site 52, I noted what may be an unreported lunar light ray, and a triple one at that, in the moderately large walled plain Alexander (Rukl #13 - see http://www.astrosurf.com/cidadao/crater_alexander_01.jpg for an image). The narrow central ray was the longest. The two flanking rays were also narrow triangles. The visual effect of the three rays was striking and seemed almost gothic in appearance. At the time that this was taking place my friend Tony Donnangelo and I were also viewing three other craters in which rays were taking place (namely Curtius, Lilius, and Julius Caesar) through his 14.5" Starmaster Sky Tracker Dobnewt. Few sunset rays are known (the first of which was the Walter ray which I discovered in 1997) so seeing four was quite a surprise. The triple ray in Alexander was still progressing nicely when I turned in for the night.
Moon (Moon)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 4.5-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: poor Seeing: fair
Time: Sat Jun 7 03:05:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 822
On this particular Friday night I was fortunate enough to have five minutes of partially clear skies to observe the Mt.Blanc/Alpine Valley lunar sunrise light ray (see http://www.lunar-occultations.com/rlo/rays/alpvalley.htm for further information) from my residence before the clouds that have been almost omnipresent this spring returned. I had been trying out my new 3-6mm Nagler zoom eyepiece on Jupiter and the moon with my 80mm f/5 Orion ShortTube achromatic refractor and 114mm f/7.9 Celestron C4.5 Newtonian off and on earlier that evening between sessions with the Virtual Moon Atlas. At approximately 11:05 p.m. EDT (3:05 UT 2003/6/7) I detected the ray. It appeared as a very thin and somewhat dim shaft of light just east of the terminator and southeast of Vallis Alpes (the Alpine Valley). I used 112x (8mm Tele Vue Radian) and 150x (Tele Vue Nagler zoom at 6m) to view the ray. Within five minutes the moon was awash with haze from the approaching cloud bank that soon brought an end to my casual lunar observing session.
Moon (Moon)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: poor
Time: Fri May 16 02:00:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 811
Last night, a group of us gathered together to try to observe the lunar eclipse through increasing clouds. From 10:03 to 11:45 PM, we were able to watch the earth's shadow cover the moon about 50%. It then became to cloudy to do any more observations of the eclipse. However, during the partial phase we were able to make out some rust coloring on the darkened part of the moon before the clouds took over. That little amount of coloring would give it a Danjon rating of about 1.2. After the eclipse was over, the clouds then cleared out very nicely.
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