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Theta Ori (Trapezium) (Multiple Star, in Orion)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 6-inch refractor Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Wed Jan 3 05:00:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 541
Tuesday night was a cold, damp, and somewhat windy one in south central Pennsylvania. Nevertheless, I spent many hours in the great outdoors taking advantage of a number of interesting celestial events. I had planned on going to the ASH Naylor Observatory, which is located northwest of Lewisberry, close to moonset to observe theQuadrantids but a call from fellow ASH member Bob Pody concerning a lunar sunrise ray that he had noticed near one end of Rupes Recta enticed me to pay him a visit first. Bob has a roll-off observatory in his backyard that houses a 152mm f/9 Astro-Physics Starfire refractor. When I arrived Bob was observing M42. After I informed him about the eclipse of the A star of the Trapezium we decided that it was about the same brightness as the B star. A theta Orionis 1, which is not the primary star of the Trapezium, is an eclipsing binary with a period of 65.4 days and a magnitude range of 6.7 to 7.6. By the time we swung the scope moonwards the lunar ray was ebbing but still discernible. Bob said that when he first noted the ray it extended into the shadow cast by the Straight Wall towards the crater Birt. The moon was slipping towards the western horizon and the seeing was rather poor so we turned to the planets. After a period of cloudniness we had excellent views of Jupiter intermittently during the transit of the Great Red Spot. Fine detail could be seen within the GRS using 7 and 9mm Pentax orthos. I counted a total of 13 cloud belts and zones. The NEB displayed several areas of darker coloration and an embayment. The split in the SEB was apparent. Trying to resolve Sirius (~5") proved to be futile. The Pup just wouldn't come out and play. <g> Thanks to the finder chart on the DVAA web site (http://www.dvaa.org/Charts/NovaPup1.html) I had my first look at the probable nova in Puppis at approximately 06:00 UT. The "new star" seemed to be considerably dimmer than ninth magnitude, which was its brightness at the time of its discovery.
Theta Ori (Trapezium) (Multiple Star, in Orion)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 6-inch refractor Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Tue Jan 2 05:00:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 540
Tuesday night was a cold, damp, and somewhat windy one in south central Pennsylvania. Nevertheless, I spent many hours in the great outdoors taking advantage of a number of interesting celestial events.I had planned on going to the ASH Naylor Observatory, which is located northwest of Lewisberry, close to moonset to observe the Quadrantids but a call from fellow ASH member Bob Pody concerning a lunar sunrise ray that he had noticed near one end of Rupes Rectaenticed me to pay him a visit first. Bob has a roll-off observatory in his backyard that houses a 152mm f/9 Astro-Physics Starfire refractor. When I arrived Bob was observing M42. After I informed him about the eclipse of the A star of the Trapezium we decided that it was about the same brightness as the B star. A theta Orionis 1, which is not the primary star of the Trapezium, is an eclipsing binary with a period of 65.4 days and a magnitude range of 6.7 to 7.6. By the time we swung the scope moonwards the lunar ray was ebbing but still discernible. Bob said that when he first noted the ray it extended into the shadow cast by the Straight Wall towards the crater Birt. The moon was slipping towards the western horizon and the seeing was rather poor so we turned to the planets. After a period of cloudniness we had excellent views of Jupiter intermittently during the transit of the Great Red Spot. Fine detail could be seen within the GRS using 7 and 9mm Pentax orthos. I counted a total of 13 cloud belts and zones. The NEB displayed several areas of darker coloration and an embayment. The split in the SEB was apparent. Trying to split Sirius (~5") proved to be futile. The Pup just wouldn't come out and play. <g> Thanks to the finder chart on the DVAA web site I had my first look at the probable nova in Puppis at approximately 06:00 UT. The "new star" seemed to be considerably more dim than ninth magnitude, which was its brightness at the time of its discovery.
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