Observing Reports
7 Minute Observing Session
by Ray Kaville
Jan.15, 2015
Hamden CT
10:30pm – 10:37
Temp: @ 18 degrees
Conditions: mostly clear with slight overcast, slight breeze, good MW, cccold
After sending a quick blurb onto Facebook about tomorrow morning’s lunar/Saturn conjunction and a second on comet Lovejoy c12014/Q2 I had to get out with the binocs and see the sky for myself.
Slipping out into the cold I set up my tripod and mounted the binocs while visually scanning the sky to get my bearings. I noticed a Jupiter rising in the east and just about clearing the trees. First time this season for me. Panning back I spotted Sirius in the trees and the other bright stars of Canis Major. Above that Orion and up and right Aldeberan. The other stars in the ‘V’ were visible with difficulty, and the Pleiades off to the right and up from there. A quick pan to follow the Milky Way which looked surprisingly good.
I had to relocate to evade the power lines and other obstructions. Very fortunate the students have not returned yet (school starts next Monday). I set up in the front yard and panned down from the Pleiades. Bang! There’s Lovejoy sitting in the SW just above the treetops! I was shocked it was so easy, and pleased at the same time. Been hoping to get a view of this comet for a while. Distinct large green fuzzy ball with a definite halo. No apparent tail, but these are 15×70 inexpensive binocs. I panned back up to the Pleiades and enjoyed the small cluster of bright stars for a minute, then paused briefly to ogle Aldeberan on the way back down to Lovejoy. As I watched I noticed the comet fading against the background, so I pulled back and looked at the sky conditions. A huge cloud front was rushing in from the west! Oh boy! I grabbed another look at Lovejoy as it disappeared and relocated up the lawn to check out Jupiter while I could.
The clouds were looming and really moving fast. I got a good view of Jupiter and three of the moons. Two spaced on one side and one as it came off the planet on the opposite side. I couldn’t be sure, but I may have seen the fourth nestled very close to one of the pair. It was getting hard to see at that point. No planetary detail that I could see, and that was basically it. I looked away for a moment to check the conditions just as the ominous alto/stratocumulus mass engulfed the planet.
That was it. Disassemble and stow the gear and get inside to warm up. Seven minutes, but it was fun and great to check out some heavenly bodies. I can now say I’ve seen Lovejoy, and I did it before it disappeared or burned up in the sun. A short session, but well worth the effort.
Getting Ready for Dinner
by Ray Kaville
Feb. 20, 2015
Hamden CT
@18:10 through 19:30
Temp & Sky: bitter cold sub freezing temperature, but only slightly overcast skies
Heading to the kitchen to rustle some grub, I stole a glance out the back door at the western horizon. Through the heavy branch laden woods I was grabbed by a beautiful slim crescent. To the left was a brilliant bright Venus in close conjunction. It was still bright enough to see the cyan background of the sky, but it was getting dimmer by the minute. I rushed downstairs to grab my Olympus pocket camera and proceeded to brace it against the grill outside. Wearing only a sweatshirt and some old sneakers (yes I had pants on too) I snapped off a few shots and opted to grab my heavy jacket and tripod from the basement. Arriving back I noted the sky had darkened considerably, but it was still not past twilight. I continued to shoot moving around between the branches to get the most complete image and totally forgetting that Mars was sitting up there somewhere as well. I had seen Venus and Mars nestled almost on top of each other last night.
The conjunction drifted into the heavy branches so I headed out to the front to see if I had any more views, leaving the little camera in the basement. Still in the trees there, but maybe enough to get a good view through the binocs. Not to be. Just touching the binocs was really cold on the fingers, and the tripod (both stored in my car) was so cold my skin was sticking to the metal. Not gonna happen. So I gave the lunar vista one last glance as I headed down the long icy driveway to grab the trash can. Turning at the end, there was the full monte! All three of these heavenly objects with a very visible red Mars and full Earthshine on the moon! Absolutely beautiful! I stood out in the street noting that all three were virtually sitting on top of my house with NO BRANCHES obstructing anything. Note to self, next time take a walk – and store the hardware in the house.
Of course, no camera and by the time I got it all set up and back out it would be a waste of time. Still we had about 8 – 12 images from the back so maybe something came out. Indeed it did! Of the bunch I found about three really beautiful images even with the branches. Two of them showed a vivid Mars (which I hadn’t even seen in the view screen) and distinct Earthshine. However, even though I could scroll through all the newly shot images, only two of the new images were showing in the icon page of the camera. The rest were older images that I thought I had deleted. Hmm. Well, I suppose if I erase the old ones again, maybe the new ones will show up. RIght? So without copying the old images off (because I already had them), I dragged them to the trash bin. “Are you sure you want to delete these?” Yah, sure. Ok. The old images are gone, and still only two out of focus images remain – just like before. Let’s scroll through the list and see if the others pop up again. Nope. Nothing left but the shards of a broken dream. CARP!
Grabbing the cheap little camera and the cheap little tripod I meandered over the ice back down to the street as quickly as was humanly possible to see if there was any way to undo this tragedy. As I reached the end of the driveway and turned I saw brief flash of Venus as it moved behind the heavy trees and a hint of the crescent with some Earthshine just barely visible. I can’t be sure, but I think the moon was laughing at me.
So back I go with heavy heart and hunched shoulders. Off to the NE I spotted a bright plane headlight approaching the radio towers and climbing along Cassieopeia. Several more steps and – No! Climbing and skirting right along Cassiopeia is one of the brightest ISS passes I’ve seen. I watched it pass directly overhead until it faded and disappeared just as it passed in front of Castor and Pollux. Very cool! Heavens Above lists it as -3.5 and it was all of that. Their Pass Details map shows it exactly as I saw it pass over me.
It’s never a bad idea to get out and observe. Who knows what you’ll see. One final nod to Orion and Jupiter as I moved into the garage rubbing the needles out of my now numb hands. It has to be me, but it looked like Jupiter was laughing too. Dang I’m hungry.