Observing: 5/29/04 - Will somebody PLEASE turn down that moon?

Location: San Diego, CA
Time: 2005-2335 PDT (0305-0635 UT)
Seeing: 7
Transparency: 5
Darkness: Dusk-1 (VM 3.5 if I was lucky)
Equipment: Celestron C 9 1/4 SGT
35mm Panoptic (35 Pan) (67x)
32mm Plossl (32mm) (73x)
15mm Plossl (15mm) (157x)
8mm Radian (8 Rad) (294x)

2005 - No stars out to align to yet. Found and observed the moon
Manually. Identified Kepler and Gassendi from moon map and did
general exploring.

2035 - Align Scope and power up.

2050 - Jupiter. Meant to be a quick alignment check but it was high
and looked good. Started with 32mm and pushed to 15mm and 8 Rad. 9
distinct bands were visible during good seeing. bands, especially
central bands, showed detail. Central light bands showed subtle
whorling and central dark bands showed fine detail and feathering on
edges.

2140 - Mizar. Decided to try to split a double star, my first
experience with this. Mizar is supposed to be easy. 32mm split all 3
easily. Pushed to 15mm then 8 Rad to try to estimate separation.
Estimated the farther star at 13' from close pair and the close pair
at about 15".

2200 - M81 and M82. Wanted to see if I could find them under these
conditions and what they would look like. M81 was a faint blob only
visible with averted vision. M82 was a long, skinny band with no
detail. Used 35 Pan.

2215 - M13. Still with 35 Pan, again wanted to see what could be seen
in these conditions. Still impressive with sugary texture and some
indifvidual stars visible to the center. Only the very edges were
well resolved with the central area being mostly a bright glow.

2225 - M92. Still with 35 Pan. Resolved better than M13 with detail
to the center. Actually preferred it to M13 under these conditions.

2240 - Moon. 8 Rad

Kepler - Sun well up but the crater floor is still in complete shadow.
Walls all standing out in sharp relief.

Gassendi - Sun is just rising. Central rise shadows extend about 1/2
way to the west wall. east and West walls stand out sharply. The 2
tier crater floor is plainly visible.

Clavius - Huge! Walls well worn and partially collapsed in the SE
quadrant. Many small craterlets visible inside with large impacts on
the wall in the E and S.

Schiller - Long and thin. Sun just rising. Walls stand out sharply
but the floor is in complete shadow.

Scheiner - Walls sharp and intact through about 300 degrees. The SW
wall blends into the adjacent sea. The walls are rugged and the floor
appears cratered.

Blancanus - Walls intact and floors mostly smooth except in the SW.
Interesting rise between it and Clavius.

Klaproth and Casatus - Very interesting crater on crater impact.
Klaproth is the older with a almost smooth floor. Casatus floor in
shadow.

Moretus - Well defined central rise and interesting sloping walls.
Floor is rough but can't make out obvious cratering.

Short - Touches Moretus. Close to the limb and hard to make out
detail. There is a central rise and the floor appears rough but there
is no obvious craterlets.

Newton. Hight walls distinct in rising sun. Floor in complete
shadow.


New Objects Observed: Mizar, all moon features.

Skethces (all poor): Jupiter, Mizar, Clavius and surrounding craters.

--
To reply, remove the "z" if one appears in my address
"Mark Smith" wrote in message
...
Location: San Diego, CA
Time: 2005-2335 PDT (0305-0635 UT)
Seeing: 7
Transparency: 5
Darkness: Dusk-1 (VM 3.5 if I was lucky)
Equipment: Celestron C 9 1/4 SGT
35mm Panoptic (35 Pan) (67x)
32mm Plossl (32mm) (73x)
15mm Plossl (15mm) (157x)
8mm Radian (8 Rad) (294x)

2005 - No stars out to align to yet. Found and observed the moon
Manually. Identified Kepler and Gassendi from moon map and did
general exploring.

2035 - Align Scope and power up.

2050 - Jupiter. Meant to be a quick alignment check but it was high
and looked good. Started with 32mm and pushed to 15mm and 8 Rad. 9
distinct bands were visible during good seeing. bands, especially
central bands, showed detail. Central light bands showed subtle
whorling and central dark bands showed fine detail and feathering on
edges.

2140 - Mizar. Decided to try to split a double star, my first
experience with this. Mizar is supposed to be easy. 32mm split all 3
easily. Pushed to 15mm then 8 Rad to try to estimate separation.
Estimated the farther star at 13' from close pair and the close pair
at about 15".

2200 - M81 and M82. Wanted to see if I could find them under these
conditions and what they would look like. M81 was a faint blob only
visible with averted vision. M82 was a long, skinny band with no
detail. Used 35 Pan.

2215 - M13. Still with 35 Pan, again wanted to see what could be seen
in these conditions. Still impressive with sugary texture and some
indifvidual stars visible to the center. Only the very edges were
well resolved with the central area being mostly a bright glow.

2225 - M92. Still with 35 Pan. Resolved better than M13 with detail
to the center. Actually preferred it to M13 under these conditions.

2240 - Moon. 8 Rad

Kepler - Sun well up but the crater floor is still in complete shadow.
Walls all standing out in sharp relief.

Gassendi - Sun is just rising. Central rise shadows extend about 1/2
way to the west wall. east and West walls stand out sharply. The 2
tier crater floor is plainly visible.

Clavius - Huge! Walls well worn and partially collapsed in the SE
quadrant. Many small craterlets visible inside with large impacts on
the wall in the E and S.

Schiller - Long and thin. Sun just rising. Walls stand out sharply
but the floor is in complete shadow.

Scheiner - Walls sharp and intact through about 300 degrees. The SW
wall blends into the adjacent sea. The walls are rugged and the floor
appears cratered.

Blancanus - Walls intact and floors mostly smooth except in the SW.
Interesting rise between it and Clavius.

Klaproth and Casatus - Very interesting crater on crater impact.
Klaproth is the older with a almost smooth floor. Casatus floor in
shadow.

Moretus - Well defined central rise and interesting sloping walls.
Floor is rough but can't make out obvious cratering.

Short - Touches Moretus. Close to the limb and hard to make out
detail. There is a central rise and the floor appears rough but there
is no obvious craterlets.

Newton. Hight walls distinct in rising sun. Floor in complete
shadow.


New Objects Observed: Mizar, all moon features.

Skethces (all poor): Jupiter, Mizar, Clavius and surrounding craters.

Sounds like you had a good learning experience, AND a good time. It just
doesn't get much better than THAT! Congratulations! With many more in
your future!!!

--
To reply, remove the "z" if one appears in my address
"Mark Smith" wrote in message
...
Location: San Diego, CA
Time: 2005-2335 PDT (0305-0635 UT)
Seeing: 7
Transparency: 5
Darkness: Dusk-1 (VM 3.5 if I was lucky)
Equipment: Celestron C 9 1/4 SGT
35mm Panoptic (35 Pan) (67x)
32mm Plossl (32mm) (73x)
15mm Plossl (15mm) (157x)
8mm Radian (8 Rad) (294x)

2005 - No stars out to align to yet. Found and observed the moon
Manually. Identified Kepler and Gassendi from moon map and did
general exploring.

2035 - Align Scope and power up.

2050 - Jupiter. Meant to be a quick alignment check but it was high
and looked good. Started with 32mm and pushed to 15mm and 8 Rad. 9
distinct bands were visible during good seeing. bands, especially
central bands, showed detail. Central light bands showed subtle
whorling and central dark bands showed fine detail and feathering on
edges.

2140 - Mizar. Decided to try to split a double star, my first
experience with this. Mizar is supposed to be easy. 32mm split all 3
easily. Pushed to 15mm then 8 Rad to try to estimate separation.
Estimated the farther star at 13' from close pair and the close pair
at about 15".

2200 - M81 and M82. Wanted to see if I could find them under these
conditions and what they would look like. M81 was a faint blob only
visible with averted vision. M82 was a long, skinny band with no
detail. Used 35 Pan.

2215 - M13. Still with 35 Pan, again wanted to see what could be seen
in these conditions. Still impressive with sugary texture and some
indifvidual stars visible to the center. Only the very edges were
well resolved with the central area being mostly a bright glow.

2225 - M92. Still with 35 Pan. Resolved better than M13 with detail
to the center. Actually preferred it to M13 under these conditions.

2240 - Moon. 8 Rad

Kepler - Sun well up but the crater floor is still in complete shadow.
Walls all standing out in sharp relief.

Gassendi - Sun is just rising. Central rise shadows extend about 1/2
way to the west wall. east and West walls stand out sharply. The 2
tier crater floor is plainly visible.

Clavius - Huge! Walls well worn and partially collapsed in the SE
quadrant. Many small craterlets visible inside with large impacts on
the wall in the E and S.

Schiller - Long and thin. Sun just rising. Walls stand out sharply
but the floor is in complete shadow.

Scheiner - Walls sharp and intact through about 300 degrees. The SW
wall blends into the adjacent sea. The walls are rugged and the floor
appears cratered.

Blancanus - Walls intact and floors mostly smooth except in the SW.
Interesting rise between it and Clavius.

Klaproth and Casatus - Very interesting crater on crater impact.
Klaproth is the older with a almost smooth floor. Casatus floor in
shadow.

Moretus - Well defined central rise and interesting sloping walls.
Floor is rough but can't make out obvious cratering.

Short - Touches Moretus. Close to the limb and hard to make out
detail. There is a central rise and the floor appears rough but there
is no obvious craterlets.

Newton. Hight walls distinct in rising sun. Floor in complete
shadow.


New Objects Observed: Mizar, all moon features.

Skethces (all poor): Jupiter, Mizar, Clavius and surrounding craters.

Sounds like you had a good learning experience, AND a good time. It just
doesn't get much better than THAT! Congratulations! With many more in
your future!!!