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Sun (Sun)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 80-mm refractor Location: Lancaster, PA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Sat Oct 5 17:30:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 693
As part of the Celebrate Space weekend (http://www.northmuseum.org/calendar.htm) at Lancaster's North Museum members of the Astronomy Enthusiasts of Lancaster County held telescope clinics and conducted solar observing sessions lastSaturday and Sunday. I brought my trusty 80mm f/5 Orion ShortTube80, a Mylar filter, a "homemade" Baader AstroSolar filter, and two pairs of polymer solar eclipse shades along with photographs of the sun and other celestial bodies that I've taken over the years.On Saturday afternoon the AELC had a total of five telescopes set up to show museum goers the sun. In addition to my ST80 there was a 5.1" Astro-Physics Starfire with a Daystar 0.5 Angstrom H-alpha filter, a 105mm A-P Traveler, a 6" Orion Newtonian, and a 90mm Celestron C90 catadioptric spotting scope. The next day an 8" SCT and another 90mm cat stood in for the A-P Starfire and the Orion Newtonian.AR 10139 (Sunspot 139) was easily visible on both days through my eclipse shades. On Saturday Dan Good's H-alpha filtered A-P Starfire revealed dark filaments in the chromosphere and a couple of notable eruptive prominences. I was able to demonstrate to my fellow AELC members just how much better the Baader filter material is than Mylar by swapping filters on my ShortTube 80. On Sunday the Schmidt-Cassegrain gave us good close-up views of the large sunspot.Saturday afternoon proved to be an appropriate astronomical warm-up for Saturday night's Megameet at the Lehigh Valley Amateur Astronomical Society's Pulpit Rock Astronomical Park (http://lvaas.org/pr/main.html).
Asteroid (Asteroid)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch refractor Location: Lewisberry, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: poor Seeing: poor
Time: Tue Oct 1 01:40:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 689
Despite rather poor transparency I managed to observe the four asteroids that are prominent this month using the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg's 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at 162 (40mm U.O. MK-70) and 259x (25mm U.O. MK-70). I also loooked at a few deep-sky objects along the way (M34, M30, M2, and Eta Persei) as well as two planets. A very hazy southern sky prevented me from checking on the status of V4743. I started with 15 Eunomia (magnitude 8.2), which was located in Pegasus (p.82, Uranometria 2000.0 volume I, 2nd edition). The next, 7 Iris (magnitude 8.3), was situated in Aquarius (p.103, I) and formed a faux "double star" with a ~8.5 magnitude field star. Moving to Cetus (p.120, II) I tracked down 18 Melpomene (magnitude 7.8) ten minutes later. The fourth and final minor planet of the night was the very first to be discovered (by Giuseppe Piazzi on January 1st, 1801), 1 Ceres (magnitude 7.6), which was also positioned in Cetus (p.140, II). Ephemerides for these "vermin of the skies" can be found at http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/Ephemerides/Bright/2002/index.html. I finished the night with Neptune and Uranus at 259x.
NGC891 (Galaxy, in Andromeda, Est. RaDec 2h23m, +42d21' )
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 80-mm refractor Location: Cherry Springs State Park, PA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Sun Sep 8 04:20:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 683
Somewhat to my suprise I was able to detect the fairly low surface brightness (13.7 magnitudes per square arc minute), edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 891 as a small and dim streak with my Orion ShortTube 80 achromat, which has a clear aperture of something like 76mm, working at 21x (19mm Panoptic) and 44x (9mm Nagler type 6) under the very dark and transparent skies of the 2002 Black Forest Star Party. An image of this object is available at http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n0891.html
Other (Other)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Cherry Springs State Park, PA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Sun Sep 8 01:45:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 682
The 2002 Black Forest Star Party at Cherry Springs State Park (seehttp://members.aol.com/CherrySpSP/ andhttp://www.bfsp.org/starparty/about.cfm) in Potter County,Pennsylvania, was one of the very best of the many star parties I'veattended over the years, rivalling the 1995 Winter Star Party in manyways. I made the slightly more than three hour drive to the park onWednesday and stayed until Monday afternoon. Each night was clear although the transparency was a bit better in the latter nights while good seeing prevailed earlier.There were so many highlights that I don't have time to list them allat the moment but I will mention a few. Without a doubt themagnificent auroral display on Saturday night was the clear winner. As seen from the dark skies of CSSP the aurora was the brightest andmost lively that I've ever witnessed, although the red hues that werevisible were not as vivid as those of the April 2000 display. The shimmering curtains and blazing rays that resembled searchlights sweeping the sky painted a most compelling picture. The aurora borealis first appeared as an arclike band in the northern sky sometime after sunset. By 01:45 UT the display began in earnest and motion became apparent as curtains formed. Suddenly extremely bright rays erupted, reaching almost to the zenith and spreading westward and to a lesser degree eastward. There were occasional isolated patches in the east. The aurora almost merged with the Milky Way at times. Activity eventually diminished but there was a constant glow in the northern sky. Around 5:30 UT a second but lesser wave of activity commenced. Digicam images of the aurora from CSSP regulars Gary Honis and Nick Zeller can be seen at http://freepages.science.rootsweb.com/~astro/090702.htm and http://users.adelphia.net/~nzallar/ (CSSP Reports). Images from around the world are available at http://science.nasa.gov/spaceweather/aurora/gallery_07sep02.html.I caught a glimpse of the gravitationally lensed quasar known asEinstein's Cross thanks to Dave Barrett's vast deep-sky knowledge andhis 24" Tectron.Uranus was a relatively easy naked-eye target. I viewed it each andevery night and showed it to many other observers. I also added twomore naked-eye Messier objects to my list - M33 (finally!) and M35.I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Horsehead Nebula (B33) through fellowDVAA member Scott Ewart's 13.1" Coulter on Sunday morning. This wasthe smallest aperture through which I've logged B33. In all, I saw B33through Scott's scope, fellow ASH member Tony Donnangelo's brand new14.5" Starmaster, Frank Bov's award winning 20" ATM Dob, the 20"Starmaster belonging to Gary Honis (with and without a H-beta filter,believe it or not), and Dave Barrett's 24" Tectron.On Sunday morning the Merope Nebula in M45 was clearly visible througha number of different instruments and M42 displayed colors ofblue-white, green, brown, and muted pinks through several of thelarger Dobs.In closing, I must add that the views of the sun through DVAA memberJim Sweeney's binoviewer equipped 7.1" Astro-Physics Starfire and his new 0.2 Angstrom ASO Solar Spectrum H-alpha filter were simply unbelievable. Prominences near the limb took on a three dimensional appearance and filaments were displayed far better than I've ever experienced. A report on the BFSP which includes photographs is posted at http://www.wasociety.org/BFSP2002.htm.
Asteroid (Asteroid, est. mag 9-10, est. to be in Hercules)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: excellent
Time: Sun Aug 18 06:18:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 677
Things were not looking very good last night in south central Pennsylvania for a successful observation of the NEA 2002 NY40. However, my persistence paid off in spades as I was fortunate enough to have a hole in the overcast develop on Sunday morning around 6:00 UT. Using the ASH 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain, which is not the easiest instrument to do this sort of observing with by the way, I located 2002 NY40 in the constellation of Hercules at 6:18 UT and tracked it for over 20 minutes. Magnifications of 162 (40mm University Optics MK-70), 259 (25mm U.O. MK-70), 324 (20mm Meade Wide Angle), 381 (17mm Pro-Optics Ploessl), and 498x (13mm Tele Vue Ploessl) were employed. At 498x it was quite difficult to keep the asteroid in view for very long. :-) I'd observed the speedy NEA 1996 JA1 with the same telescope 6 years ago but 2002 NY40 was much swifter, the fastest natural object that I've ever seen through a telescope other than the occasional meteor. Afterwards a fellow ASH member put C/2002 O4 (Hoenig) into view using coordinates that I supplied to him. The transparency was not very good but the comet was nevertheless visible. At 118x (55mm U.O. Ploessl), 202 (32mm U.O. Koenig-II), and 259x Comet Hoenig did not appear to be appreciably different than my last view of it a week before at Stellafane. The coma was diffuse and poorly condensed. I also was able to observe a number of denizens of the deep-sky through the 17" (at 118x) and its 5" f/5 finder - M57, M92, Stock 2, the Double Cluster, the Alpha Persei Association, Almach, M34, M15, M31, and Gamma Arietis - before the clouds returned.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 9.5, est. to be in Cepheus)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 80-mm binoculars Location: Springfield, VT, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Sun Aug 11 03:25:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 671
I had some additional views of Comet Hoenig at the 67th annual Stellafane ATM converntion this past weekend. On Friday night I observed the comet through a fellow DVAA member's 13.1" Coulter and a 35mm Panoptic on the observing field near the McGregor Observatory. The diffuse coma seemed slightly asymmetrical but I could see no tail. The next night Comet Hoenig was easily visible through my Celestron 20x80's. I then proceeded to put it into view with a neighboring Tele Vue TV-85 refractor by sighting along the tube. Next I walked a few more feet to where Al Nagler's new binoviewer equipped TV-102i refractor was located. I asked Al if he'd like to see the comet and he indicated that he certainly would. I had the fuzzball in view in a jiffy with the help of Al's Starbeam pointer. The comet was still a rather undistinctive glow through the binoviewer and a pair of another new Tele Vue product, namely the 24mm Panoptic, despite the excellence of the optics involved. My final observation of C/2002 O4 (Hoenig) on Saturday night was through a rather expensive pair of 15x60 Zeiss Classics that Phil Harrington was evaluating. This was one excellent pair of binoculars and the comet and many other celestial objects, M31 in particular, were displayed in very fine fashion.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 6.5, est. to be in Orion)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 80-mm binoculars Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Thu Aug 8 08:20:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 670
I set my alarm for 4:15 a.m. EDT (8:15 UT) on this particular Thursday morning in order to have a peak at the new morning comet, C/2002 O6. I resorted to the most languid of observing methods, I merely stuck my Celestron 20x80 binocular out of my southern facing bedroom window. Orion was rising in the eastern sky. The comet was just to the west of the head of Orion and was quite prominent. However, it was also extremely large and diffuse, a huge fuzzball. I spent a few minutes on O6 and the Sword of Orion and then retired to bed. In a few hours I would have to start preparing for my annual pilgrimage to Stellafane.
Comet (Comet)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 20-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Wed Aug 7 02:40:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 669
I saw Comet Hoenig for the first time on Tuesday night, August 6th, from a friend's private observatory after trying unsucessfully on the previous Saturday and Sunday nights from two other locations. However, the conditions in south central Pennsylvania were superb on this occcasion and I was easily able to locate C/2002 O4 (Hoenig) in Cepheus (p. 34, Uranometria 2000.0) using a 20" f/10 classical Cassegrain. The comet, the first one discovered by a German amateur astronomer since 1946, appeared as a somewhat dim, diffuse glow with very little central condensation. The coma seemed to be slightly elongated but no real tail was seen. I used magnifications of 127, 159, 203, and 302x.
Other (Other, est. mag 15+, est. to be in Pegasus, Est. RaDec 23h28.5m,+22d25')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 18-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Cherry Springs State Park, Potter County, PA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Fri Jul 12 03:00:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 661
One of the more interesting objects that I observed under the very dark skies of Cherry Springs State Park last Thursday night was a recent type 1a supernova in NGC 7678, a 12.2 magnitude SAB(rs)c I-IIgalaxy located in Pegasus. With a magnitude of 15.1 to 15.5 SN2002dp was by far the dimmest exploding star that I have ever viewed. I could discern the supernova about 1/3 of the time with averted vision through an 18" Starmaster at high magnification. For a recent image of SN 2002dp see http://www.RochesterAstronomy.org/sn2002/n7678s3.jpg
Other (Other, est. mag 15+, est. to be in Pegasus, Est. RaDec 23h28.5m,+22d25')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 18-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Cherry Springs State Park, Potter County, PA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Fri Jul 12 00:00:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 660
One of the more interesting objects that I observed under the very dark skies of Cherry Springs State Park last Thursday night was a recent type 1a supernova in NGC 7678, a 12.2 magnitude SAB(rs)c I-IIgalaxy located in Pegasus. With a magnitude of 15.1 to 15.5 SN2002dp was by far the dimmest exploding star that I have ever viewed. I could discern the supernova about 1/3 of the time with averted vision through an 18" Starmaster at high magnification. For a recent image of SN 2002dp see http://www.RochesterAstronomy.org/sn2002/n7678s3.jpg
NGC104 (Globular Cluster, in Tucana, Est. RaDec 00h24.1m, -72d05' )
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 22-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Mon Jun 10 06:00:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 654
Last week two fellow Astronomical Society of Harrisburg members (Tony Donnangelo and Ted Nichols II) and I traveled to Bolivia to attend the Southern Skies Star Party at the Inca Utama resort on Lake Titicaca. Saying that it was truly an eye-opening experience doesn't begin to adequately describe the trip. Although dealing with the stress of travel, sleep deprivation, fatigue, cloudy nights, and the high altitude (almost 13,000 feet) wasn't exactly fun, the overall experience was a very positive one and included many personal observing firsts.In addition to our binoculars and a small refractor (my 80mm f/5 Orion ShortTube 80) we had access to 10 and 22" Starmaster Dobs from the Alapacha Observatory plus a number of Newtonians and a 90mm ETX brought by other star party attendees. Tony and I made heavy use of the 22" Starmaster.Highlights included locating the closest extrasolar star (Proxima Centauri), splitting Beta Centauri with difficulty and Antares with ease, seeing the Small Magellanic Cloud and the great globular cluster 47 Tucanae (NGC 104) for the first time, observing the Homunculus Nebula that surrounds the massive star Eta Carinae, and having simply superb views of NGC 2808, NGC 3132 (the Eight-Burst Nebula), NGC 3372 (the Eta Carinae Nebula), NGC 3532 (the finest open cluster in the sky), NGC 4038/9 (the Antennae), NGC 4945 (a fine edge-on galaxy located near Omega Centauri, NGC 5128 (Centaurus A), NGC 5139 (Omega Centauri), NGC 6302 (the Bug Nebula), NGC 6231 and the rest of the Table of Scorpius, NGC 6397 (a fantastic globular in Ara), M4, M7, M8, M16, M17, M20, M22, M24, M83, M104, B86 (the Ink Spot), Baade's Window, the Pipe Nebula (LDN 1773), the Coal Sack, and so very much more. Watching the Milky Way arch from horizon to horizon through the zenith was a truly majestic sight.NGC 104, the second largest globular cluster, was easy to see with the naked eye and like NGC 5139 (Omega Centauri) was impressive through binoculars and small aperture scopes. Through the 22" Starmaster this mighty stellar conglomerate's hallmark feature, its highly concentrated nucleus, was simply striking. Many observers prefer 47 Tucanae over Omega Centauri because of this condensed core but I did not until we employed a 5.2mm Pentax SMC XL (over 500x). At this high magnification the stars of the cluster completely filled the field of view and the core dominated the field. See http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n0104.html for further information on NGC 104.
Comet (Comet, est. mag ~5th, est. to be in Hercules)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Thu May 16 02:00:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 648
I motored to the ASH Naylor Observatory (http://www.astrohbg.org) on Wednesday night to help with the observing portion of the Spring 2002 Introductory Observational Astronomy class and to photograph the ongoing alignment of the planets. When I arrived I first had a look at Jupiter through the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at 202x (Venus and Mars followed a bit later) and then set up my Pentax K1000, 50mm lens, and tripod. At 01:02 UT I took a 20 second exposure followed by additional exposures about 20 and 40 minutes later. Prior to that I'd alerted the students and other ASH members about an upcoming Iridium flare. At 01:27 UT Iridium 74 unleashed its reflective brilliance, reaching a predicted seventh magnitude. (The flare center was only 4.9 kilometers to the west.) Hopefully, I was able to capture yet another flare on film. After the brief flash of light I followed the satellite briefly through another ASH member's Fujinon 16x70's. Using the 12.5" f/6.5 Cave Newtonian I showed some of those present the Lobster Claw (Crater Gutenburg). The crater was situated for the most part on the unlit side of the terminator but its crustacean outline was unmistable nevertheless. I returned to the French Dome and trained the 17" on Gutenburg. After everyone interested had seen it I moved on to what I call the Tomahawk or the Reflex Hammer, the peculiar lunar feature located near Mare Crisium, and then increased the magnification to 259x. Another ASH member asked me to confirm his tripod mounted 10x50 sighting of C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang). The comet was to the north of the Great Hercules Cluster (M13) and seemed to be at least twice M13's apparent size. Both were easily visible in the same field of view. Next I put Comet Ikeya-Zhang and M13 into view with the 16x70's. I turned the 17" to the comet. Both objects were visible simultaneously through the 5" f/5 finder scope. At 162x Comet Ikeya-Zhang displayed an oddly skewed coma but no hint of its now dim tail was seen. The big scope next collected photons from M13 (162 and 259x). Two more ASH members had arrived while everyone else had taken their leave. One was going to look at binary stars with the 12.5" so I suggested Gamma Virginis. The rapidly closing separation of this system and only fair seeing made a clean split impossible with the 17" at 259x. Using a 19mm Tele Vue Wide Field (340x) did the trick. I moved on to another Gamma double, the golden Gamma Leonis (340x). Soon just one ASH member besides yours truly remained. I had a peak at M13 through his 10" Meade SCT before returning to the dome where I finished the night with a few spring deep-sky objects - M104 (162 and 259x), M84 (162x), and M86 (162x). Although I didn't do nearly as much observing as I would have on my own, I did manage to impart some knowledge to the students and accomplished some paper work in the classroom building as well as a minor repair in the dome. All in all it was three hours very well spent.
Comet (Comet, est. mag ~5th, est. to be in Hercules)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 101-mm refractor Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Sat May 11 02:00:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 647
I spent most of Friday night and some of Saturday morning observingfrom one of the best "nearby" (a mere hour and a half drive from myresidence) dark sky sites. On the final leg of the journey mysignificant other and I stopped for a few minutes to view the closepairing of Venus and Mars through her Celestron Ultima 10x50's andthen drove up Little Knob to Camp Site 52. Tony Donnangelo, a fellowASH member, was already observing with his 10" LX6 Meade SCT when wefinally arrived.The night began with fair seeing and good transparency - a visuallimiting magnitude of perhaps a shade above 6.0. This was all tochange with the passage of time, unfortunately.Before too long I had my 101mm f/5.4 Tele Vue Genesis sdf refractorset up and trained on Jupiter at 193x (7mm Tele Vue Nagler type 1 and2.5x Tele Vue Powermate). (I had originally thought about bringing my12.5" f/4.8 Starsplitter Dob but since my friend Roger Studer had saidhe was going to come with his 15" Obsession I decided against it. Asit turned out Roger decided not to make the trip because of concernsabout the weather. Two other ASH members had also planned to come butan automobile accident thwarted them.) My next targets were M81 andM82. Both galaxies were easily visible through my 19mm Tele VuePanoptic (28x).I followed with Comet Ikeya-Zhang, which was to the east of the fineglobular cluster M92 in Hercules. The 60x view with Tony's new 9mmNagler type 6 was superb. Since Tony wasn't using the 9mm with his SCTI had a fine old time auditioning it. I was to revisit the comet anumber of times throughout the night and as it climbed towards thezenith its coma was clearly asymetrical although I could never quiteconvince myself that I could see a tail. The fifth magnitude comet wasjust on the verge of naked-eye visibility.During the course of the night I observed quite a few deep-sky objectswith the aid of only 4 inches of ground and polished glass. Theseincluded M101, M5, M13, M104, M65, M66, Gamma Leonis, M87 and otherVirgo and Coma Cluster galaxies, M3, Cor Caroli, IC 4665, Antares B, M4, M8, M11, and V Aquilae. The highly elongated "needle" galaxy sometimes known as Berenices' Hairclip (NGC 4565) was only a small streak of gray at 60x. Near the end of the session I had a fairly good view of NGC 7000 (the North American Nebula) using Tony's 48mm Lumicon O-III filter and my 35mm Panoptic (15x) despite its less than optimum placement.Through Tony's telescope I saw M51, NGC 4195, M81, M82, NGC 2976, NGC3077, NGC 3079, M97, M108, M109, M101, M94, M106, NGC 4631, M53, M84,M86, NGC 4435, NGC 4438, M3, and other celestial eye candy using a40mm Tele Vue Wide Field, a 22mm Nagler type 4, and a 17mm Nagler type4.Sometime after 06:30 UT the occasional horizon hugging clouds becamemore troublesome, spelling the beginning of the end as they began tocover increasingly large portions of the heavenly dome.The highlights of the night were seeing C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang) nearthe zenith through the Genesis sdf and later through the 10" SCT andviewing the classic edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 4565 at 28 and 60xthrough the refractor, as well as the heart of the Virgo Cluster (M84and M86) and parts of Markarian's Chain at 60x.
Venus (Planet, est. mag -3.9, est. to be in Taurus)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 80-mm refractor Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Mon May 6 01:30:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 645
I took some photographs of the massing of planets on Sunday evening (2002/5/6 UT), this time from a high vantage point very close to my residence. After I finished my shutterbugging I had the unique and memorable experience of viewing three planets (Venus, Mars, and Saturn) simultaneously through a telescope, namely my Orion ShortTube 80 at 13x (30mm Celestron Ultima)! Dave Mitsky Harrisburg, PA
Mercury (Planet, est. mag 0.3, est. to be in Taurus)
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: Sat May 4 01:15:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 644
On Friday evening (2002/5/4 UT) I had the good fortune to observe a very unusual event, i.e., seeing a planet and a comet at the sametime through a telescope. C/2002 F1 (Utsunomiya) and Mercury were visible in the same field of view using the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain (144 and 202x) at the ASH Naylor Observatory (http://www.astrohbg.org). The comet (magnitude 5.7) was approximately 5' away from Mercury (magnitude 0.3) at the time andhad a fairly bright coma that was similar to Mercury in apparentsize. I could see no hint of a tail but the sky was still fairly bright at the time and both objects were not far from the horizon so that was no surprise. (Comet Utsunomiya was barely visible through the 5" f/5 finder scope.) A number of fellow ASH members and I also saw what may have been a fuel dump from an Ariane 4 rocket that carried the Spot 5 satellite into a polar orbit shortly before 02:00 UT. A "cloud" appeared suddenly from nowhere near the head of Draco and began to expand. Another comet, C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang), was prominent at 162x in the general vicinity.The planetary alignment was a sight to behold and to photograph. I used my venerable Pentax K-1000 to capture the cosmic scene. Venus, Mars, and Saturn formed a compact triangle that easily fit into the field of view of my Meade 8x42's. Although the transparency was not ideal, numerous deep-sky objects were viewed through the 17" and the 12.5" f.6.5 Cave Newtonian. I showed some new members the galaxies of Markarian's Chain in theheart of the Virgo Cluster along with some of the better late spring globular clusters such as M5 and M80, some binary stars (the other Double Double - Struve 2470 and 2474 - was popular), and the carbon stars T Lyrae and V Aquilae. Magnifications employed ranged from 118 to 259x.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 3.5, est. to be in Andromeda, Est. RaDec ~00h49m, 42d11')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: poor Seeing: fair
Time: Fri Apr 5 00:40:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 636
I had what was undoubtedly my last evening view of C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang) on Thursday evening. Rather poor transparency, light pollution, and the comet's position made for a less than inspiring view, certainly inferior to Monday evening (2002/4/2 UT) when two other ASH members and I observed Comet Ikeya-Zhang C1 through the 17" classical Cassegrain, its 5" f/5 finder, my 80mm f/6.25 Apogee ED refractor, and Celestron Deluxe 20x80's. There wasn't much tail visible on Thursday and what little there was was best seen through a Celestron Ultima 7x50 binocular. A bright pseudonucleus and somewhat hazy coma were visible at 118, 162, 202, and 259x through the 17". To my great disappointment because of the poor conditions I could not detect M31 or M32 (which were within about 1.5 degrees of the comet) even with the 17" working with the aid of an Orion Sky Wizard DSC unit. We followed the comet until approximately 01:30 UT when it sank into the western tree line. Two different ASH members and I also viewed Comet Ikeya-Zhang through my 80mm f/7 Apogee achromatic refractor. I have observed the comet at every possible opportunity since 2002/2/6 UT with a variety of instruments (7x50's, 8x42's, four 10x50's, and two 20x80's; three different 80mm refractors, a 5" f/5 achromat, a 6" f/8 Dobnewt, and 17 and 20" classical Cassegrain reflectors) and have really enjoyed watching it evolve from a very condensed coma that resembled an unresolved globular cluster to a fine comet with a blue tinted coma, an excellent ion tail, and a bright pseudonucleus. Comet Ikeya-Zhang has been the best comet since Comet Hale-Bopp for northern hemisphere observers! Other objects observed with the 17" included M34, Saturn, Jupiter (the end of Europa's transit and the beginning of its shadow transit), and M48. With my 80mm Apogee I viewed Saturn and Jupiter as well as M45, M42, M41, M44, M67, M48, and other deep-sky objects.
Sun (Sun)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 10-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Tue Nov 13 13:45:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 596
On Tuesday morning from 13:45 to 15:15 UT I joined a fellow Astronomical Society of Harrisburgmember to view the sun through his 10" Meade SCT and Lumicon H-alpha filter. We used 32mm, 26mm, and 20mm Meade Super Ploessls, a 22mm Tele Vue Nagler type 4, and a 14mm Tele Vue Radian. The seeing was extremely steady and we were treated to the largest prominence thatwe both had ever seen. This monster eventually assumed a shape that was wider at its top than its base and thus resembled a huge anvilresting on the sun's surface. We saw sunspots and spicules galoreand many other rapidly evolving prominences and detached wisps. What a great morning in the sun!
Sun (Sun)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 114-mm equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: good Seeing: poor
Time: Sat Nov 10 17:34:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 591
Today I could see what I suspected earlier in the week, i.e. that there were 3 sunspots large enough to be seen with optical aid. Two of the spots (in actuality the immense AR 9690) were near below the center of the solar disk as seen through my eclipse shades. The third was near the preceding limb at about 3:00 o'clock. AR 9690 was reported to be as large as 10 earth diameters and may have been even larger by Saturday.
Other (Other, est. mag ~9th, est. to be in Perseus, Est. RaDec 4h12m, +47d09')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Lewisberry, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: poor
Time: Wed Nov 7 03:05:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 590
I spent a couple of hours at the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg's Naylor Observatory (http://www.astrohbg.org) on Tuesday night. I didn't see any auroral activity but I did catch glimpses of a few interesting solar system denizens and some deep-sky fare as well. Using the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain housed in the French Dome I warmed up by viewing two autumn Messier galaxies, M77 and M74 (widely considered to be the most difficult Messier object) at 162x. Then I tracked down asteroid 4 Vesta (162x), which was located to the southeast of Aldebaran (p.179, Uranometria 2000.0 Volume I). The minor planet formed a double triangle with what appeared to be eighth and ninth magnitude field stars. Another shallow-sky object came next, the so-called (and over-hyped) Christmas Comet, C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR). Like many comets this one may be a disappointment. It's brightness appears to be lagging behind predictions. (It certainly will not be a bright naked-eye comet in the northern hemisphere.) I estimated the comet at being ninth magnitude with a centrally condensed coma that was perhaps 3-4' in size. There was a hint of a fan-shaped tail. I used magnifications of 118, 144, 162, 202, and 259x to view Comet LINEAR WM1. At the time (~03:05 UT) it was located within a group of field stars southeast of 48 Persei at 4h12m, +47d09'. Another ASH member arrived with some friends soon thereafter. I showed them NGC 2169 (the 37 Cluster) and M37 at 162x, Saturn and four of its satellites at 162 and 202x, M42 at 162x, and M31 and M32 at 162x. Before leaving I returned to the French Dome and joined the others in looking at the moon and Jupiter.
Other (Other)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Lewisberry, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: poor
Time: Tue Nov 6 02:20:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 589
Location: ASH Naylor Observatory, 2 miles northwest of Lewisberry, PA, USA (40.15 N, 76.90 W) UTC Date/Time of Observation: 2001/11/06 ~02:20 to 3:20 UT Dimmest Stars Visible: ~4th magnitude Conditions: Transparency - 5 of 10, Seeing - 4 of 10 Estimated Intensity of Activity: High Elevation Angle of Activity above Horizon: 80 to 90 degrees Types of Activity Observed: Diffuse glows, discrete arcs, rays, curtains, zenithal, color-varying Light Pollution: Moderate Sky Conditions: Mostly clear (80%+) Estimated Lunar Interference: Moderate Comments: A prominent red auroral arc was noted in the west extending to Lyra at approximately 02:20 UT. This area waxed and waned in brightness with time. A green-white sheet gradually appeared in the northern sky reaching an altitude of more than 20 degrees and running from the NE to the NNW, where it adjoined the arc. (This part of the observatory's horizon is partially compromised by a stand of trees.) Around 02:40 UT the color of the western arc abruptly intensified and its extent expanded through Cygnus in a fingerlike apparition that reached almost to the zenith. Cassiopeia became awash in red tinted aurora and the presence of a coronal arc was suspected. Eventually a second patch of red bracketed the sheet. Somewhat indistinct curtains became apparent in the NNW and through the NE. At times white rays and spikes were noted. As the moon rose and the sky brightened the aurora naturally became less distinct but hints of activity remained well past 03:20 UT. This display did not match the ones I saw in April 2000 in intensity or March of this year for motion effects but was quite impressive at times. It did cause a bit of a stir in the Susquehanna Valley, with some people apparently fearing the light show was the work of terrorists. I was interviewed by telephone by the local NBC affiliate and hopefully helped to explain what had happened.
Mercury (Planet)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: poor
Time: Tue Oct 30 15:30:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 588
Brilliant Venus and speedy Mercury, the two inner planets, are at their closest (0.59 degree apart) during their 11 day long quasi-conjunction and made a stunning pair in the southeastern sky this morning at 10:45 UT. Mercury (-0.5 magnitude), which is beginning its best morning apparition of the year, is twinkling madly as I look upon it giving lie to the often heard, but untrue, saying that planets don't.
Sun (Sun)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 114-mm equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Tue Oct 30 15:30:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 587
Date: 2001/10/30 Time: 15:30 UT Location: 10 km east of Harrisburg, PA Conditions: Partly cloudy, good seeing, 11 degrees Celsius, 1023 millibars Instrument: 114mm f/7.9 Celestron C4.5 Oculars: 17mm Tele Vue Ploessl (53x), 12.5mm Edscorp orthoscopic (72x) The very large sunspot group continued to impress on Tuesday morning as it covered the center of the sun's disk. It was unmistakable to the naked-eye and formed an interesting Rorschach Test "inkblot". (Just what does it look like to you gentle readers?) One of its smaller, limbward companions was also easily visible without optical aid. http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/javagif/gifs_small/200110 30_2224_mdi_igr.gif
Sun (Sun)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 114-mm equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Mon Oct 29 18:40:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 586
Date: 2001/10/29 Time: 18:40 UT Location: 10 km east of Harrisburg, PA Conditions: Very clear, calm, 12 degrees Celsius Instrument: 114mm f/7.9 Celestron C4.5 Oculars: 17mm Tele Vue Ploessl (53x), 12.5mm Edscorp orthoscopic (72x) The sun featured three large sunspots today, the largest two of which I could see without optical aid through polymer solar eclipse shades and my Celestron Mylar solar filter. Two of the large spots were approximately on opposite sides of the sun. The largest complex of spots was near the center of the sun's disk. It reminded me somewhat of a polar bear's head with three large umbrae forming the bear's eyes and nose. OTOH, it also looked like a puppy dog. <g>
Meteor (Meteor)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Campsite 52 near New Germantown, PA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Sun Oct 21 06:30:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 585
The Orionid meteor shower is not a major one with a ZHR of 10 to 20 per hour but it was a bit disappointing nevertheless this year. I dida count from a dark site, with a limiting magnitude of ~6.0 or better, at Little Knob in western Perry County on Sunday morning from 06:30 to 07:30 UT and got a grand total of 8 (3 through Gemini, 3 through Orion, and 2 through Taurus). I saw 16 meteors throughout the night, the brightest two being approximately first magnitude. One notable Orionid left a momentary train while another was a slow mover that traveled from Orion to the horizon and was a dull orange in color.Throughout the night I did some 8x42 binocular observing logging numerous few deep-sky objects including Collinder 65 and 399, Kemble's Cascade, M27, M31, M33-M39, M42, M81, M82, NGC 253, NGC 7000, and NGC 7789 and some tough ones such as M74 and NGC 7293 (the Helix Nebula).No hint of the possible aurora that was forecast was noted that night. However, on Sunday night (2001/10/22 UT) while doing a bit of double star observing at the ASH Naylor Observatory Ted Nichols II and I saw a dull ruddy glow near Polaris and perhaps the slightest hint of green below it at ~02:35 UT.There were clouds in the northern part of the sky and a light dome from the greater Harrisburg area so the auroral activity was rather difficult to discern.
Other (Other, est. to be in Andromeda, Est. RaDec 23h11.4m, +38d13')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch other Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sat Oct 6 01:50:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 568
I spent some time at the ASH Naylor Observatory (http://www.astrohbg.org) last Friday night. My main goals were to photograph a favorable pass by the ISS and to observe the two multiple stars featured in Sue French's column in the November S & T.Beginning at 23:30 UT The space station crossed the sky from the southwest to the northeast in a 5 minute long pass. After photographing the pass I had a look at a nondescript and obviously gibbous Mars through the ASH 12.5" f/6.5 Cave Newtonian that another member was using. He had just bought a pair of Nikon 10x50's, which I took on a quick test drive to M8, M11, M13, and M31.Moving on to the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain in the French Dome I viewed Mars once again at 249x (26mm Tele Vue Ploessl) using Brandon magenta, orange, and light blue color filters. I thought I saw a hint of a dark area and perhaps some brightening at the poles. Then it was on to the deep-sky.NGC 7662 (the Blue Snowball Nebula) was my first DSO target using 25mm (162x) and 40mm (259x) University Optics MK-70's. To the southwest of NGC 7662 at 23h11.4m, +38d13' lies the multiple star Hough 197. Although colorless, I found it to be an attractive triple star since it formed a delightful isosceles triangle at 162x. Its components were 7.9, 9.7, and 10.2 magnitude and were fairly widely separated. My next stellar destination, h975 (22h55.7m, +36d21') to the southwest in Lacerta, was merely a binary but it was a brighter pair at 5.7 and 9.0 magnitude. It was also easily split at 162x. At this point the rising moon was whitewashing the sky rather effectively so after giving it a quick once over I went on my merry way.
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