2009 April 23 + 27: Sun Halos
After my April 22 observations, we had some variable weather including some very cold mornings and some cloudiness. I undertook one short, unspectacular nighttime observing session on April 24, but the sky contrast just wasn't yielding the best deep-sky views.
On the other hand, occasionally the high clouds offered their own diversions in the form of sun halos caused by sunlight being refracted as it passes through ice crystals. I saw notable displays on the morning of April 23 and on the evening of April 27.
On April 23, there was a colorful circumzenithal arc, a "smile" high in the sky above the Sun. At the Sun's altitude, there were the usual bright parhelia or sundogs, with the added bonus of a partial parhelic circle passing from the Sun through the left parhelion and continuing beyond.
On April 27, there was a fainter but more complex and colorful display as I was driving home. Segments of a 22-degree halo around the Sun were visible, along with bright parhelia and a bright upper tangent arc. After a while, the circumzenithal smile appeared, but extending downward from it was a huge, faint supralateral arc, like a misplaced rainbow. Subtle, but absolutely beautiful!
April 21/22: Lyrids and Venus Occultation
I got up at midnight to do some morning observing. The main course was the Lyrid meteor shower, but the appetizer of deep-sky sights was pretty good and the dessert of Venus being occulted by the Moon was definitely a hit.
First, I looked at the clumpy galaxy NGC 4088 in Ursa Major and its 14th-magnitude supernova, nearby galaxy NGC 4085, and some other galaxies in the region. NGC 4088 is a very interesting galaxy. Its nucleus is not very prominent, but there is a central bar with several knots along its length. On each side of the bar there is a dark patch and then a ring-like segment of a spiral arm. The spiral pattern is inferred, but not obvious. The supernova was faint but readily visible near the center of the galaxy. Sketch.
Next, I settled down to watch some Lyrids. I saw a decent display with normal rates and some bright meteors. I started at 2:00am (9:00 UT), and the two brightest meteors appeared within the first seven minutes. The first was a -2 Lyrid that shot overhead, and the second was a Lyrid of at least -4 that had a violet "head" and orange "tail". This fireball streaked through western Ophiuchus and left a persistent train that lasted 3.5 minutes.
There were the normal spurts and lulls, with several dead periods of up to 14 minutes. I think my perception slacked off a bit later in the observation. I ended up with 64 total meteors (37 Lyrids) in 2.63 hours of observing time. The mean magnitude of the Lyrids was a surprisingly bright 1.7; otherwise, it was a pretty normal session.
I have a tree-lined ridge to my east, and that made me wonder whether I would get to see the occultation of Venus. It was pretty close, but by 5:12am the Moon was creeping up through the trees with Venus seemingly in tow: Photo at 5:16am
It was a long wait from 5:19 to 6:15am and the reappearance, but there was a spectacular zenithal pass of the ISS that gave me my best telescopic views yet. Jupiter didn't look too bad in the twilight, either.
At last, with the contrast of the Moon lessened against the impending sunrise, I caught a glimpse of a tiny point of light emerging from the hidden dark limb: Photo at 6:15:39am
That point of light proved to be just the tip of the crescent: Photo at 6:16:15am
Finally, Venus was fully revealed: Photo at 6:16:42am
The surface brightness of Venus was pretty amazing, and of course it was easily visible to the naked eye even well after sunrise.
Not a bad morning's observing!
February 20/21
I managed to dodge clouds once again to view Comet Lulin. The comet was an obvious naked-eye object of magnitude 5.1, with a coma diameter of 21'. In 8x56 binoculars, there was a bright, straight tail (antitail) that reached for about 1 degree in PA ~115 degrees. A broad, faint tail stretched for 20' in PA ~300 degrees. Naked eye limiting magnitude was 6.5.
In the 10" Dob at 36x, the tails appeared much as they did in the binoculars. Some faint structure was visible within both. The coma was bright and more or less round, with a stellar nucleus. A cyan hue was faint but perceptible. The comet's motion was obvious while I was making a sketch.
February 17/18
I got a brief clearing window early Wednesday morning and took a look at Comet Lulin. The comet was immediately obvious to the naked eye as a fuzzball of magnitude 5.3 and over 20' in diameter. 8x56 binoculars showed about a degree of fairly bright, broad tail in PA~110°. In my 10" Dob, the same tail was visible, plus a very faint tail about 15' long in PA~300°. The coma showed a stellar nucleus surrounded by a very bright inner coma, then a large area of even illumination before the edges faded out. There wasn't much (if any) fine structure in the coma. The comet's movement was very noticeable when I stepped away for half an hour to wait out some passing fog.
January 30
I viewed Comet Lulin on Friday morning (it was 15°F in Chiloquin, and felt colder). The comet was easy in my 8x56 binoculars and appeared as a fuzzy 15' x 10' blob with a brighter center. I estimated its magnitude to be 6.7. The comet was not visible to the naked eye.
In my 10" Dob at 44x, the comet showed a stellar nucleus surrounded by a bright coma. The coma was extended PA~90° in a faint, thin anti-tail about 10' in length. A rather bright, broad tail perhaps 1° in length extended from the other side of the coma, centered at PA~300°. There were several faint jets visible in the coma. A magnification of 76x gave better contrast at the expense of field of view.
I also viewed Saturn (rings still tightly closed with the dark ring shadow visible across the globe). Faint belts were visible in both hemispheres, and the north polar region seemed bright. Seeing was average at best and then fell apart.
Other targets for quick looks: M5, NGC 4038/39, NGC 4361, NGC 4565. 90 minutes goes by really fast when you're racing morning twilight.
January 18/19
I've been precessing my observing sessions with the retreating Moon. Tonight I was out from 10pm to 2am. My main observing objectives were to sketch the Flame Nebula and to get a good look at Saturn. While transparency was above average, the seeing was very poor. There was a bothersome breeze and very rapid twinkling that made stars into tiny, angry balls. Luckily, this didn't really affect deep-sky observing at lower powers, so I was able to go ahead and spend maybe 90 minutes sketching the Flame (NGC 2024). This is a classic, picturesque nebula that sits just east of bright Zeta Orionis. At 76x, I was able to put the star out of the field and get a good view of the brightest part of the nebula, although faint tendrils reach right up to Zeta. The brightest part of the Flame is about 20 arcminutes in diameter and is full of dark lanes and complex structure. I slightly preferred the unfiltered view over that with my UltraBlock. Sketch.
I continued an informal hop around the wonders of the winter and early spring skies. It was just pure therapy to be able to scan the Virgo/Coma area at moderate power and watch galaxy after galaxy appear in the field. Other standout views for the night: M94, M106, NGC 4565, M3, M97, M108, M109, M64, M51. It was really, really cold (22F plus the aforementioned breeze). This along with the poor seeing combined to dull my appetite for sketching, so the Flame was the only object I put on paper. Several random meteors punctuated the night. When Saturn was at a decent elevation, I took a look. The rings appeared as a fairly short, thick line. I was occasionally able to glimpse the rings' shadow across the disk, but the air was unsteady enough that I didn't discern any other detail or attempt a sketch.
January 16/17: Comets plus
An extended break in the weather allowed me to get in a couple of telescopic observing sessions this week. After a brief shakedown run on Tuesday (I haven't had the Dob out in a while), I put in a couple of hours on Friday night. While I revisited a lot of old deep-sky friends, the objects I sketched were two comets. Comet C/2006 OF2 (Broughton), a bit of an old acquaintance itself, remains a small and condensed object. It seemed brighter than when I viewed it in late August (now about 10th magnitude), and also has developed a prominent stellar nucleus. The coma was about 1.5' across and appeared slightly elongated to the south. Sketch.
I got a quick glimpse of Comet 144P/Kushida on Tuesday evening, and then made a sketch on Friday evening. On both occasions, there was an 11th-magnitude star in the coma that altered my perception of the comet's symmetry. The comet itself was about 9th magnitude and faintly visble in 8x56 binoculars. In the 10" Dob @ 76x, the comet's coma was about 5.5' across with a prominent nonstellar nucleus. The comet was to the north of the field star, and the coma appeared slightly elongated and brighter to the north, but this may have been a result of the field star competing with the southern part of the coma. Sketch.
On Saturday evening, I scanned some of the winter's deep-sky wonders with binoculars, and then turned my binoculars to Cetus for a pass of the ISS tool bag. The "satellite" was about 7th magnitude and dimmed and brightened at seemingly irregular intervals.
2009 January 3: Quadrantid Meteor Shower
After a couple of months of terrible weather (no Leonids, Geminids or Ursids here), Saturday morning looked pretty promising. I managed to wake up at around 3am and look out at clear sky. Temperature at the start of the observation was 17F (-8C), which is actually pretty balmy for a clear night in January. It dropped a few degrees while I was out there. I didn't see any meteors while I was setting up, which worried me a bit, but I started seeing Quads once I settled into my sleeping bag. After a bit of trouble with my watch and tape recorder, I got things straightened out and enjoyed a spectacular meteor shower on par with the 2004 Perseids.
In 2.63 hours of Teff, I saw 289 Quadrantids and 40 other meteors under nice dark skies. The Quadrantids seemed to be of average brightness. There was a brilliant -5 fireball late in the watch. Most of the Quadrantids appeared pure white to me, although there were a smattering of greens and blues and one red. Only about 5% left notable wakes/trains. I picked up a lot of meteors fairly close to the radiant.
Other minor showers were nearly absent, and sporadic rates were roughly normal. The most notable background activity featured 8 fast, trained meteors appearing to radiate from the Corvus/Virgo/Crater boundary region (South Apex?).
The Quadrantids came in the normal spurts and lulls. I didn't see a sharp peak, although rates were apparently higher in the middle of my watch. The Quadrantids were definitely still going strong well into twilight as I watched the ISS glide by and then dug out my binoculars to see the infamous toolbag (about magnitude 7.5) skip by Eta Draconis.
Observer: Wesley Stone (STOWE)
Location: Chiloquin, OR (42d 35m N, 121d 52m W)
Method: Counting: Watch/Tape recorder
Date: 2009 January 2/3
Interval 1: 1120-1230 UT
Teff: 1.03 hours
F: 1.00
LM: 6.85
Total Meteors: 113
QUA: 94
AHY: 1
COM: 1
ANT: 0
Spo: 17
---
Interval 2: 1230-1333 UT
Teff: 1.00 hours
F: 1.00
LM: 6.76
Total Meteors: 146
QUA: 133
AHY: 0
COM: 1
ANT: 1
Spo: 11
---
Interval 3: 1333-1410 UT
Teff: 0.60 hours
F: 1.00
LM: 6.72
Total Meteors: 70
QUA: 62
AHY: 0
COM: 0
ANT: 0
Spo: 8
Magnitude Distributions:
QUA 1120-1230 UT
-1(3), 0(7), +1(18), +2(22), +3(23), +4(16), +5(5) Total=94, Mean=2.3
QUA 1230-1333 UT
-3(1), -1(4), 0(11), +1(21), +2(36), +3(40), +4(17), +5(3) Total=133,
Mean=2.2
QUA 1333-1410 UT
-5(1), -2(1), -1(2), 0(6), +1(12), +2(14), +3(20), +4(6) Total=62, Mean=1.8
Spo 1120-1410 UT
-1(1), 0(3), +1(3), +2(4), +3(18), +4(7) Total=36, Mean=2.6
AHY +2(1)
COM +2(1), +4(1)
ANT +2(1)
2008 October 22: Orionid Meteors
I got out to observe for just under 2 hours this morning (actually just over two hours, but my tape recorder ate the first 7 minutes of my observation). In that time, I observed 57 meteors, 35 of which were Orionids. The Moon was a thick waning crescent and caused some obstruction issues in the second hour, but skies were still good with limiting magnitude overhead ranging from 6.5-6.7. Orionids seemed to be performing at around their normal maximum rate, which was pretty good for a day past maximum. Other reports suggest above normal Orionid activity (ZHR ~40) on the mornings of October 20 and 21. On those mornings, I had to be at work early and the skies weren't so good, so I didn't make an attempt.
The Orionids were slightly brighter than normal, with a mean magnitude of 1.9. The brightest Orionid was magnitude -2. Sporadics were few and faint, with only 9 counted. Several minor showers were active and produced interesting meteors, including a -2 South Taurid with a purple tinge and a very long Leo Minorid.
2008 August 13: Post-peak Perseids
I pulled one last short Perseid session on Wednesday morning. Still fighting a foggy head, I managed to see 100 meteors including 77 Perseids in just over 90 minutes observing time. Just a nice morning to be under the stars, even though I had some trouble getting myself going at the start.
2008 August 12: Perseids
I had been anticipating this morning for the last four years. In 1996 and 2004, the Perseids had performed spectacularly for me, and 2000 was right up there when I factored in the bright Full moon and the aurora (which was an amazing show in itself). Based on these past leap years, I thought I had the potential to see 100 Perseids in an hour on the morning of 2008 August 12.
Well, it didn't happen. Skies were OK with just a little smoke to drop the LM one or two tenths. I was still a bit weary from my slowly retreating illness, which probably didn't help my perception. And the Perseids gave an OK performance, but just an OK performance. I averaged 66 per hour over 3 hours of Teff. The first hour was OK, on par with last year's nice display, but there were some long dead periods after that. Sporadic and minor-shower activity was down from the previous night, which may also point to lowered perception.
The Perseids were noticeably dimmer than on the previous night; no fireballs tonight. I saw five meteors from the August Eridanid radiant area. Kappa Cygnids were conspicuously absent. My final totals for three hours of observing: 197 Perseids and 40 other meteors.
2008 August 11: Pre-peak Perseids
I was sick all weekend and wasn't feeling so great on Monday morning, but I decided to give it a short predawn shot. In just over an hour and a half, I observed 97 meteors including 62 Perseids. Skies were pretty normal for Chiloquin with a limiting magnitude of 6.8. Luckily, the smoke is out of the way for now.
The highlight of the session was a -6 Perseid fireball that traced a long path before terminating with a bright flash down in Sculptor. Seven other Perseids and two of the sporadics were of negative magnitudes, so there were quite a few bright meteors out and about.
I hope to put in three hours on Tuesday morning.
2008 July 12: Four comets in the morning sky...
and two of them are named "Boattini". I've gotten out under the stars three times in the past couple of weeks. Smoke from fires in California has been a show-stopper at times, but when the wind is blowing the right direction the skies are really nice. Seeing just hasn't been good enough to make Jupiter worth spending a lot of time on given its southerly declination. So, I've gone after comets instead. On July 9, I viewed comets C/2008 J1 (Boattini), C/2006 OF2 (Broughton), and C/2007 W1 (Boattini). On the morning of July 12, I added C/2007 N3 (Lulin) to the mix.
C/2007 N3 (Lulin) in Capricornus was a very small (1' in diameter), condensed object, although it appeared nonstellar even at 44x. At 165x, it showed a stellar nucleus surrounded by a very bright inner coma and a faint and small outer coma. The comet's motion was apparent over a few minutes. Magnitude was about 11. Sketch.
C/2006 OF2 (Broughton) in Perseus was similar, although a bit fainter at magnitude ~12. Its fairly bright central condensation was nonstellar and embedded in an inner coma of about 1' diameter. A faint outer coma doubled the objects diameter and appeared to be elongated toward the SW. Sketch.
C/2008 J1 (Boattini) in Cepheus was a bit brighter (maybe magnitude 9.5-10; I couldn't pick it up in my 8x56 binoculars). This comet was quite diffuse with a coma diameter of about 6'. There was a a broad fan-shaped coma with a faint stellar nucleus, a couple of faint jets, and a suggestion of elongation of the coma toward the ENE. Sketch.
C/2007 W1 (Boattini) in Cetus was a faint naked-eye object on the morning of July 12. I estimated its magnitude as 5.6. The coma diameter in 8x56 binoculars was about 15'. The comet looked round with a bright stellar central condensation in the binoculars. The 10" Dob revealed a nice cyan color. The large inner coma was slightly offset toward the north of center. There was a faint stellar nucleus and the suggestion of several spidery jets. Sketch.
May 5: Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower
I was clouded out Sunday morning (Tuesday morning looks bad as well), but Monday morning was just fine and with a bit higher meteor activity than I was expecting. In one hour (3:40-4:40am local time), I saw 18 meteors including 9 Eta Aquarids. Nothing especially bright showed up, but I was glad to get out under the stars again.
February 28
Wow, what a winter! Neither the weather nor my personal schedule were very cooperative. I got my 10" Dob out for the first time in months. It was a short session. Seeing was absolutely awful, so I didn't spend much time looking at Mars or Saturn. Sky darkness and transparency were below average, but I did view and sketch the slowly fading comet 17P/Holmes and the smaller, fainter comet 46P/Wirtanen. Comet Holmes is still an obvious binocular object, albeit very large and diffuse. The comet is hardly brighter toward the center, and has no real edges. I suspected a faint elongation to the WSW.
Observations from 2005-2007 are now archived.
