Observing Reports
By Michael Amato
On April 4, I observed the area just below Tycho Crater with my 5.1″ Short Tube Newtonian Reflector. At low power, the area I was looking at looked like a city on the Moon. It was so fascinating to look at it. Of course, when I upped the power, I could see I was looking at some mountains head on. I then reduced the power again and there was the “city” on the Moon. I realized if I saw this scene 300 years ago, I would be announcing to the world I discovered a city on the Moon. I continued to look at this amazing sight for another ten minutes before I packed it in. If you catch the Moon at the exact right moment, you will also be amazed at what the moon has to offer.
On the night of April 19, I observed the total solar eclipse online from Western Australia. As the Moon’s shadow crossed the sun’s face, I saw it cover up two sunspots. I then observed Bailey’s beads and then at totality, the Sun’s corona exploded into view. If I was viewing this in person, it would be too risky on the eyes if I tried to see the sudden appearance of the corona. Some people on the chat said they thought looking online is better than viewing it in person. I don’t know about that, but I will be traveling to see next April’s eclipse to see it in person. Meanwhile, I will be viewing all other total eclipses online. Finally, it helped to have a Hi Def computer screen.
During the evening of April 23, my brother Anthony, our friend Joe, and I observed the aurora that the whole country was seeing. We were able to see a faint diffuse aurora in spite of West Haven’s world-famous light pollution. During the 45 minutes we viewed it, the northwest sky had a green haze that brightened and dimmed during the whole time. We also noticed the green was shifting to different parts of the sky. We also noted both a green beam and red beam appearing and then rather quickly disappearing. For us, the aurora was kind of disappointing, but we still were glad we went out to observe it. Hopefully, the next one will be more colorful.
The image below of the crescent Moon was taken on May 23 by Anthony as he, Joe, and I looked at it through the smoky skies caused by the Western Canadian wildfires. The Moon’s color was quite yellow as a result. At night, I have been pointing my infrared thermometer at the smoke to see how high it is. The temperature has been averaging 0 to 8 degrees meaning the smoke is way up there. One night in mid-May, we were getting whiffs of smoke and sure enough, I pointed my infrared thermometer up to it and it recorded 28 degrees. That means the smokes base was much lower on this one night which resulted in us smelling a little smoke. Needless to say, I think all of us are hoping the smoke clears soon.
On the evening of June 9, I was walking to my car after working my part time job when I came upon a rain curtain in front of me so before it got to me, I photographed it. It’s not too often when I get to see this occur, so I was quite happy to have a chance to image it.
By Chris Predom
On April 25 while viewing the Moon I saw the following. In all my years observing the Moon, I have never seen an arrow on the Moon. The picture is not the best. I just held my phone to eyepiece, so the image is not as sharp as it was by eye. But it looks like an arrowhead attached to a curvy shaft. I zoomed in on the picture to enlarge the image of the arrow.
