1537e 2013/08/16–17

1537e 2013/08/16–17 20:30–22:40 Foxmead POD 8 28cmsc 10x50b

Aligned CPC1100 first on the Moon, then on Saturn, then slewed over to Venus, all at 70x. Mosquitoes were voracious, so I decided to go indoors to let them disperse.

Back out around 22:00, looking for Nova Delphinus 2013. I aligned the CPC more carefully on Altair and M27, which was very nice despite the bright Moon. Then I slewed to NGC 6905, a small planetary nebula, which was just visible in the moonlight. I observed it last 11 years ago. From there I starhopped to the Nova, which was shining brilliantly at around magnitude 5.4, as I later estimated using 10x50 binoculars. To confirm this, I had the scope go to the coordinates of the nova, and there it was again. This is the brightest novae in many years.

By then I was getting cold, so I parked the scope and closed up the observatory. The bright Moon and a slight haze in the sky made any further observation impossible.

Temperature: 14°C–9° C

1536m 2013/08/05

1536m 2013/08/05 05:10–05:50 E-facing window 9 ne

A wonderfully clear bright morning! I rose at 05:10 and immediately spotted Jupiter. Mars was more difficult against the brightening dawn sky. Then bright Mercury cleared the trees at 05:12. When I looked again at 05:50, the slender crescent Moon was well above the trees, and I could just make out Mercury above it. Jupiter was still visible, but Mars was lost in the sky's brightness. Starry Night makes a nice composite of all these events as of 05:50:

 
Temperature: 9°C

1535e 2013/05/29–30

1535e 2013/05/29–30 22:18 W facing window 8 ne

Bright meteor seen through living room window, about 0 magnitude, just below Regulus. Very foggy and humid outside.

1534e 2013/05/26–27

1534e 2013/05/26–27 20:50–21:10 EDT S of 1177 Wainman Line 9 ne 10x50b 

Triple conjunction of Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter.

It was a bit more transparent tonight. I spotted Mercury with the 10x50 at 20:59 and with ne at 21:04. The three formed a near-perfect equilateral triangle tonight.

1533e 2013/05/25–26

1533e 2013/05/25–26 20:50–21:15 EDT S of 1177 Wainman Line 8 ne 10x50b 

Triple conjunction of Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter.

Transparency not as good as last night. I spotted Venus at 20:32 with 10x50b, and Jupiter almost immediately after: much closer than last night. Mercury was much more elusive, especially since I hadn't checked its position with Starry Night. Finally I could see them all naked eye at 21:12. As last night, Jupiter had a definite disk in the 10x50s.

Temperature 12° C

1532e 2013/05/24–25

1532e 2013/05/24–25 20:50–21:10 EDT S of 1177 Wainman Line 9 ne 10x50b

Triple conjunction of Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter.  Observing from my car at the turn-in to the old house foundation S of my driveway. Here's how it unfolded:

20:50 sunset
20:54 Venus spotted naked eye
20:55 Mercury spotted in 10x50b
21:03 Jupiter spotted in 10x50b
21:04 Jupiter spotted naked eye
21:07 Mercury spotted naked eye

Beautiful rising Full Moon in the east.

Temperature = +4°C

2013/04/22

Louise and I remounted the CPC 1100 in the POD, after bringing it indoors just before we left for Santa Barbara on February 3.

Temperature = 12.1°C (12:25 EDT)