1559m 2014/10/07–08 05:40–06:35 EDT Foxmead W windows 3–8 ne 7x50b
Lunar eclipse
Sometimes it helps to have low expectations: you're pleasantly surprised! The weather prospects for the pre-dawn lunar eclipse were dismal, so I didn't even bother setting my alarm. When I woke up at 5:42 a.m. I was surprised to see the partially eclipsed Moon peeking through a sucker hole, low in the western sky.
The Moon soon vanished into a cloud bank, so I went back to bed. I got up 10 minutes later and the clouds were pretty solid except for one small strip. The Moon popped out again for a few seconds at 6:02, then was gone again.
Finally at 6:12, the Moon emerged into a clear patch, where it remained until I stopped watching at 06:32, by which time it was completely in the Earth's umbral shadow.
Those who were expecting a "blood Moon" will have been disappointed. The colour during totality was more a pale orange, verging on peach. As I said in my article this week on Space.com, there's no way of predicting the colour of a lunar eclipse in advance.
Temperature = 10°C
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Saturday, September 27, 2014
1558m 2014/09/26–27
1558m 2014/09/26–27 02:30–05:50 EDT Foxmead E window 8–3 ne
Checking hourly for aurora and zodiacal light. The transparency was poor, only down to about 4th magnitude. The Milky Way was not visible. When I checked last at 05:48 a.m., fog had set in so that Jupiter was the only object visible. According to The Weather Network, the temperature was steady at 10°C from 1 a.m. onward except for a drop to 8° at 4 a.m., which must have been what triggered the fog.
Temperature = 10°C (mostly)
Checking hourly for aurora and zodiacal light. The transparency was poor, only down to about 4th magnitude. The Milky Way was not visible. When I checked last at 05:48 a.m., fog had set in so that Jupiter was the only object visible. According to The Weather Network, the temperature was steady at 10°C from 1 a.m. onward except for a drop to 8° at 4 a.m., which must have been what triggered the fog.
Temperature = 10°C (mostly)
Thursday, September 25, 2014
1557m 2014/09/25
1557m 2014/09/25 05:30 EDT Foxmead E window 8 ne
I checked the sky, looking for aurora (predicted) and zodiacal light, but could see neither. I later checked in Starry Night and found that the Sun was 18.2° below the horizon, so full astronomical twilight had not begun. I had the impression that the sky was lighter than full dark, so there may have been generalized airglow from aurora.
Temperature = 8°C
I checked the sky, looking for aurora (predicted) and zodiacal light, but could see neither. I later checked in Starry Night and found that the Sun was 18.2° below the horizon, so full astronomical twilight had not begun. I had the impression that the sky was lighter than full dark, so there may have been generalized airglow from aurora.
Temperature = 8°C
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
1556m 2014/08/19
1556m 2014/08/19 05:00–05:30 EDT Foxmead E window 9 ne 10x50b
Observed Jupiter and Venus again this morning. They are now 1.2 degrees apart. Jupiter is moving away from the Sun and Venus towards the Sun, so the separation is quite rapid.
There are many nice pictures from yesterday morning, but my favourite is this one taken by my old friend Klaus Brasch in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Temperature = 8°C
Observed Jupiter and Venus again this morning. They are now 1.2 degrees apart. Jupiter is moving away from the Sun and Venus towards the Sun, so the separation is quite rapid.
There are many nice pictures from yesterday morning, but my favourite is this one taken by my old friend Klaus Brasch in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Temperature = 8°C
Monday, August 18, 2014
1555m 2014/08/18
1555m 2014/08/18 05:00–05:35 EDT Foxmead E window 8 ne 10x50b
Close conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. At 05:00 a large cloud covered the eastern sky, but this cleared away by 05:30. Jupiter could be clearly seen naked eye as a separate and much dimmer object. The view was improved in 10x50 binoculars.
Joe Rao has posted a list of similar conjunctions:
Close conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. At 05:00 a large cloud covered the eastern sky, but this cleared away by 05:30. Jupiter could be clearly seen naked eye as a separate and much dimmer object. The view was improved in 10x50 binoculars.
Joe Rao has posted a list of similar conjunctions:
DATE SEPARATION
WHEN VISIBLE
1975 February
17
10 arc
minutes Evening
sky
1999 February
23 11
arc minutes
Evening sky
2014 August
18 15
arc minutes
Morning sky
2016 August 27 5 arc minutes Evening sky
2039 November
2
14 arc minutes
Morning sky
2056 February
12
8 arc
minutes Morning
sky
I observed the one in 1999, actually the evening before, as the evening itself was clouded out.
Michael Watson has posted a nice image of the conjunction:
Temperature = 10°C
Sunday, June 15, 2014
2014/06/15
After giving everything a chance to dry out thoroughly, I tested all the mounts this morning, and all seem to be functioning properly, even the CPC1100. Great relief! I guess, since these are supposed to be used outdoors, they are somewhat more tolerant of moisture than most electronics. I'm concerned about the CPC1100, since it was not flooded, but still was giving error messages. It was very humid on Thursday night, and high humidity might cause electrical problems in the mount. I've gotten error messages before from time to time, and then the mount was working OK the next time.
2014/06/12
Flood!
We had a flood in our house which drenched the basement room in which I store most of my telescopes and mounts. Not only that, but when I checked the CPC1100 in the POD (which wasn't in the flood), it was showing Errors 16 and 17, which usually means an electrical problem in the mount.
We had a flood in our house which drenched the basement room in which I store most of my telescopes and mounts. Not only that, but when I checked the CPC1100 in the POD (which wasn't in the flood), it was showing Errors 16 and 17, which usually means an electrical problem in the mount.
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