20100430 - Planets Continue To Please

Session name: 20100430.1900
Location: TotL
Objects observed
Satellites: International Space Station, Iridium 42 Flare, 2 unknown satellites
Solar system: Moon in Sco, Venus in Tau, Mars in Cnc, and Saturn in Vir
Constellations: Gem, Leo, Virgo, Lib, Sco, UMi, UMa, Boo, Com, CrB,
Deep sky: M3, M44, M65*, M66*, NGC 2903*, Melotte 111* ("*" indicates attempted not seen)

[public observing Saturn]

Summary
This session began with setting up the scope prior to sunset at the top of the lawn. Screams and cheers for the softball teams filled the air and a few kids played soccer in the midst of reclining people on blankets. Warm temps and clear skies brought people out in numbers.

Within minutes of opening the Teleport, it drew many questions from those nearby and stopped curious persons walking past. Ken strolled up while I setup and Tom C would arrive early, too, and each helped answer questions from the passersby. It wasn't that much longer that we had Venus in the scope and Tom prepared everyone for an 8:02PM passing of the International Space Station. Shortly after sunset in the twilight sky we all observed the ISS, about -2 magnitude, lumbering across a clear sky from southwest to northeast. It was visible for at least 30 - 40 seconds, maybe longer. With Venus setting into the trees to our west, the scope was turned to Saturn, high in our eastern sky. A line formed to see Saturn with two attendant moons trailing close by just off the rings. To finish off the Solar System tour, we pointed out Mars high above our heads. In the scope, many could easily see the reddish-orangy hue and that it was a disk.

Through the eyepiece, Mars appears much smaller than Venus and Saturn. To begin with, it is physically small and our distance from Mars increases as earth travels faster in its orbit around the Sun, its size shrinks and brightness dims in the coming months.

Transparency was only fair even though there was no visible cloud cover. The handle stars of the Little Dipper were very difficult and cores of brighter galaxies were lost on a background sky that didn't offer enough contrast. Open cluster M44 and globular cluster M3 were the only deep sky objects shared with the public.

Saturn captured the most scope time satisfying the many who stopped. In addition to the planets, we observed the brighter constellations without telescope or binoculars. Using the Big Dipper, we starhopped following the familiar jingle, "Arc to Arcturus and spike to Spica". We traced out constellations like Bootes, Leo, and the upper half of Gemini. We noted where invisible Cancer and faint Virgo occupy areas of the sky.

The traffic flow was busiest early in the session and I stopped counting after the first dozen or so people. A steady flow of people continued to stop by the crowd density was much thinner later into the night.

[image of Moon shot with point-n-shoot]

Concluding the session, with the telescope packed, we observed the rising Moon just east of Antares, Scorpio's alpha star. We enjoyed observing with naked eye and monopod-mounted 7x50 binoculars. The honey-colored Moon provided an opportunity to test our visual acuity with hard to see lunar features. W.H Pickering, an American astronomer in early twentieth century, designed a list of 12 lunar features for naked eye observers ordered by increasing difficulty. Though Charlie and I were not following this list, I'd say confidently we reached #9, Sinus Medii. I can't say I saw #11, a dark feature on the Appennine Bench but we could discern the curving line of the Appennine Mountain range.

Observing details
M3. A bright globular cluster in CVn, easily seen in 7x50 handheld bins as a fuzzy object in the base of a long, narrow isoceles triangle; at 75x, distinctly a globular cluster with a bright central nucleus and smooth brighness contour extending out from core, some granularity and mostly unresolved; at 181x, cluster resolves stars along the edge and hovering above the cluster. Used Arcturus for starhopping.

M44, Beehive Cluster, Praesepe. A bright, large, loose open cluster in Cnc., shaped like a Xmas tree or wedge with multiple groupings of nearly equally bright stars, a faint glow of unresolved stars filled in a small area in the NE end of cluster; used Mars for starhopping.

NGC 2903, M65, M66. Attempted but not observed, three galaxies in Leo that have been observed in the past from this location with this scope; found starfields relatively easy but couldn't say with confidence that the galaxies were detected; starhopped from epsilon Leo for NGC 2903, from Chort (theta Leo) for M65/66.

Saturn with four moons. Mostly viewed at 181x; Titan and Rhea on the trailing side, Tethys and Dione, may have glimpsed Enceladus near the ring, on leading side; shadow apparent as narrow black line adjacent to the upper side (field of view) of the ring; shallow ring inclination apparent; graduated darkening/shading from ring to pole on upper hemisphere,most pronounced on the pole; a subtle, broad stripe across the lower hemisphere but not edge to edge.

Mars. Observed at 181x; a small round disk, no phase discerned, fiery, reddish-orange color; could see a croissant-shaped dark patch on face of disk, extending from top right of center across the left and down.

Session Details
Optics: Teleport 10" reflector; magnifications used 32x, 75x, 98x, 181x; Fujinon 7x50
Observing party: Charlie, Ken, Tom, Peter
Visitors: 3 dozen++
Weather: Clear skies, no clouds,16 ½ day Moon in Sco, calm air to light breeze
Seeing: II - III (Antonaldi); atmospheric steadiness good with regular noticeable air turbulence at high magnification
Transparency: Fair; 3-4 stars of Little Dipper
Manhattan Skyline: Broad, diffused light cone spanning from Citigroup Bldg to Times Square; Citigroup Bldg and adjacent bldg hidden from our view, GE Bldg, Times Sqaure worst offenders
NELM: 4.2

Description of Top of the Lawn

John P. of NYSkies offered to host a description of our group since we provide astronomy observing to the public. The following is a slightly modified version found at NYSkies. Ben, Charlie, John, Kin, & Tom reviewed and contributed to the description.



Top of the Lawn, more commonly called "TotL" (pronounced "total"), is a loose association of urban astronomy enthusiasts who gather on the northern perimeter path of Central Park's Great Lawn. The core group of sidewalk astronomers equipped with binoculars, telescopes, and a passion for sharing our skies. We are in the Park all year round to observe each season's sky, typically on clear weekend nights.

In addition to the TotL team, there are regular visitors that include dog walkers, cyclists, and pedestrians. These folks come by with such regularity that they learned the fundamental motions of the night sky and how to identify various targets in the sky. However, all visitors are welcome to stop by for peeks and chat.

Defying popular belief, there are many celestial delights to see with the eye and small optics. Many objects are challenged by high background sky brightness. Others, like the Milky Way, can be veiled from sight. Despite this impediment, TotL members help you find the brighter objects in the sky, by eye and optics, and provide some details about them.

In general, solar system bodies are easy to follow from the city, they include the Moon, planets, major comets, and larger asteroids. Man-made objects can be easy to observe, like International Space Station, Space Shuttle, Iridium flares, and large space capsules from other countries.

We can see many bright open clusters, double stars, planetary stars, some nebulae, and globular clusters. Their number and place in the sky vary with the season. Our city sky challenges most galaxies beyond the Milky Way, yet the great Andromeda Galaxy can be observed in optics as small as binoculars.

TotL members gather for the informal purpose of sharing our fascination for the night sky. Passersby are captivated by the vastness of space and distances to other worlds. They look into the eyepiece with awe and wonder. For our group, these reactions and expressed interest are reward enough to share with the public.

A visit to TotL, we can help with the following:

- getting started
- learn how to get your bearings in the sky
- how to use a planisphere
- identify constellations and asterisms
- how to find various deep sky objects
- what to consider when buying equipment
- how to use your binoculars or telescope
- tricks and tips with daytime observing

Just show up – with or without optics. Travel instructions and the map below detail our location in Central Park. We just ask that you respect our equipment and be considerate of others. No expert knowledge is required; an interest and positive attitude are helpful.

Look for us at the northern perimeter sidewalk of the Great Lawn, Central Park. That is approximately at 85th St. in the middle of the park. One can enter the park on the westside from Hunter's Gate at Central Park West (CPW) & 81st St. or Mariner's Gate at CPW & 85th St. at the north side of each entrance, follow the sidewalk straight into the park, crossing the road, West Drive, towards the Great Lawn.

The M10 bus stops nearby at 84th and CPW and the B & C subway stops at 86th and CPW.

If one enters the park from the east, use the entrances north or south (Miner's Gate) of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and walk westward along the path. From the southern entrance one crosses East Drive under the bridge. From the sidewalk north of the “Met”, one follows the sidewalk into the park and crosses East Drive when traffic and the light permit. The sidewalk continues, leading into the Great Lawn.

M1, M2, and other buses run south and stops around 84th & 5th Ave while the 4, 5, or 6 subway stops at 86th & Lexington.

Once you arrive, walk north on the perimeter sidewalk around the Great Lawn. We'll be at the top, or maybe a little further east.

This map indicates meeting places relative to the Great Lawn, Central Park. The red circle indicates our primary meeting place. There are some events where the horizon is more favorable when observed from the blue circles, for example lunar eclipses from Turtle Pond Observatory.



A Google map

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One of them nights

Session name: 20080831.1950

I'm easy to please. The ingredients of last night combined to make for a greater experience than the sum of its parts. There was proper mix of friendly interested people, clear skies, lube in my joints, and sky full of celestial gems. A fine recipe for joy.

I arrived at TotL shortly after sunset. As passersby looked on at the Teleport reflector with curiosity and amazement. Responding to questions of "What is it?", I anticipated the next question with a finger pointing to Jupiter, shining in civil twilight. I continued setting up the scope while people stopped and gathered round. I see others point to the sky and announce Jupiter is there in the southeast. Infectious!

In what seemed like moments we began to point out brighter stars appearing in the twilight sky, a sky brightness that pedestrians could mistake for daytime. As the number of stars increased so did the crowd of people standing around. As Earth rotated to the east the Sun continued descending below the horizon. The sky darkened. Antares appeared in our South, Vega cramped our necks when we looked to zenith, and Arcturus, the brightest star of early summer sky, sets to our west. To our good fortune, the night sky was clear and transparent.

There are scales that observers describe transparency, atmospheric clarity, however, I assess our night skies with a subjective test. I look to the south from TotL, a skyscape (the picture under the blog's title) punctuated with light pollution. If I see entire constellations culminating above the CitiGroup Building or just above Times Square and the obnoxious light cones from the usual suspects radiate dimly and sharply up the sky, then I judge the sky to be very, very good.

I didn't wait long for the scope cool down before offering views to the pedestrians. Unlike the visual acuity of experienced observers, casual observers do not require the fidelity of a perfectly tuned instrument. In just 10 minutes of setting up, the scope turned on Jupiter, we were fortunate to see in addition to the four moons of Jupiter and the two equatorial belts, Io's shadow transit on the edge on the northern equatorial belt. Not everyone was able to confidently detect it, but those that did see it stated so with confidence and certainty.

This evening Scorpius is entirely visible from the 3 vertical stars of its head through Antares to the east down along the curve of the body and tail to the Stingers. If your scope is pointed in this direction, have a look at one of my favorite open clusters, NGC6231, in the Table of Scorpius. For New Yorkers, it doesn't rise high in the sky because of its southern declination at -41.48°.

East of Scorpius, I see the entire Teapot and Teaspoon, asterisms found in Sagittarius. Jupiter is the bright drip falling from the Teaspoon. Later in the evening when their times arrive the fainter constellations, Capricornus harbors Neptune (very easy starhop!) and Aquarius hosts Uranus, rise above the trees challenged by the sky brightness. With moderate effort one can find the brighter stars and trace each constellation. Realize their size in the open sky and shrug off that NYC claustrophobic nag.

It's not an exaggeration to say that about 3 dozen people passed through, most in groups of 3 - 5 people. Of course, Jupiter was the highlight and both Tom & I offered views from bins and scope. For those that stayed for a while, like trio Sean, Jonas, & Carol, I showed other objects including Albireo, Ring Nebula, Andromeda Galaxy & M32, and a bunch of open clusters along the line of Perseus and Cassiopeia.

At the end of busy evening, I stand before a familiar sky filled with an overwhelming feeling of joy. I stood alone in the middle of the Central Park. Not afraid. Crickets' chirps mingle the constant hum of cicadas. I ignore the bright strret lamps around me the brilliant buildings to my back. The Fall sky rises from northern Manhattan. I flatter myself thinking of amazed pedestrians telling others of the worlds they saw. I remember how I would end evenings just like this with other Team TotL'ers. I remember that in a month I celebrate 5 years of observing from around the Great Lawn. Despite the absence of Ben, Charlie, and Kin, the night sky from TotL elicits a sense of unmatched joy.

20070320 - Messier marathon from Central Park

Well a hardy, hearty try. As my first marathon, I learned some valuable lessons. To be successful, don't try it in Central Park.

I arrived at TotL with the Teleport 10" reflector, a well-thumbed Hoshi Navi Messier Guide, and Pennington's Year Round Messier Marathon Field Guide. The Hoshi Navi guide is a tried and true field guide that fits easily in cargo pants pockets. The Pennington guide not.

While the scope cooled down during sunset I observed the crescent Moon & Venus. Andrew, Vern, and Ian each beautifully captured that evening sky & crescent moon. Also, I thought I would spend the time to plan an attack across the sky. Instead, the scope attracted attention and soon enough a small crowd assembled. Venus blazing in the western sky hovering above a gorgeous crescent suspended above the treetops did not help in the very least.

At times I tipped the scope for the pedestrians to see the crescent. When the sky darkened, I showed the crowd and other passersby Saturn, all the while describing that I was out for the Messier Marathon. Coincidentally, Saturn looked as beautiful as Vern's recent shot. The air was moderatey good in transparency but the seeing was phenomenal. We were able to magnify Saturn to 180x with no problems, which is not often the case.

The session began earnestly with a failed attempt at M74. I got to the field but didn't see boo.

It's important to have a plan. Despite having the references, I relied more on memory and the Palm T3. As a result, I was inconsistent crossing the sky. Nor did I realize that there were objects seting to the northwest, which may have been possible. I don't know, I never tried. This would include M31, M32, and M34. M33 & M110 have been impossible thus far.

I was participating in these pedestrians' first Messier Marathon. The first object of the night was actually M45. They bagged their first without a telescope: Aldebaran, identify Hyades, and then west to Pleiades.

When the sky grew dark enough I began to punch away at very familiar objects. Most I know and don't need a chart - just pop, pop, pop. I worked from memory. From instinct. With the low power eyepiece yielding a 2.2° field of view, I landed the scope of the Leaping Minnows in Auriga, hopped to the cheek of Chesire Cat to find M38. On to M36, and M37. Four or five persons shared the time with me. I described how the Messier catalog came to be and my efforts devoted to checking 'em off one by one. I shared with them the views of each object.

While looking in the direcction of Auriga or M45, a meteor came down the western sky passing south east of Auriga. It traveled brightly and sluggishly like the words slow gin fizz.

Lesson #2: Sidewalk astronomy and a Messier rapid fire approach don't mix. in this case, sidewalk astronomy prevailed.

After the Aurigae clusters, made a big jump to Orion for M42 and M43. As usual, M43 doesn't pop out as conspicuously as M42. I mentioned the Trapezium and the molecular dust cloud. (Remember Lesson #2.) I poked the scope up to M35 in the foot of the Gemini twin Castor and then came down the sky to Canis Major for M41.

Standing there thinking for a moment - I was thinking hard and mentally patting myself on the back. Yeah, what was that 7 ~ 8 objects in 10 minutes. I swung the scope all the way around the sky and landed on M81 & M82. Tough. I could see M80's core easily but M82 was not at all requiring averted vision and the experience of knowing a low contrast object looks like against the background sky. For the one pedestrian sticking it out, Kevin, he saw M80 but not M81. Good for you that was a galaxy from NYC and two more objects for our list.

It was, in fact, 9 Messier objects, Moon, Venus, Saturn, including three returning looks at M42 for the half dozen or more people that passed by or stopped. And it was more like an hour and 45 minutes, not ten minutes, that passed.

Lesson #3: Have a plan and stick with it. The more methodical, the more efficient.

Charlie arrived about this time with his Canon 15x binoculars. I returned to Sirius, alpha Canis Majoris, to launch my hop eastward into Puppis for M47, M46 (no Planertay Nebula detected), back to Sirius to go northward into Monoceros for M50. I admired M50, as well as M46. Both have a faint, concentrated glitters of light - though both are completely different in appearance. It's that shimmering, ethereal quality that they have in common.

Lesson #4: Don't hang out on the object. Observe, take a deep breath, and enjoy the scenery for no more then two moments. Detect it, note the time, and move on, save the visual interrogation for another session.

I eyed Wezen, delta Canis Majoris, then looked hard at the sky east for xi Puppis. Pushed the scope southeast from M50, putting the Rigel Quickfinder on xi Pup. M93 was a very short hop outside the field stop of the eyepiece. I had been in this area earlier in the night when someone asked me about my favorite object. After a hesitation, the scope was parked on tau Canis Majoris to delight in the fragile glow low in our southern sky.

Anyway ...

Back up to Orion to confirm that M78 won't show itself. I spend a bit of time to confirm the field which had some six or seven magnitude 10+ stars. Nebula, not.

Daniel the Intern arrived at this time. Andy, Masha, Didier, Carol and Dog "E" would pass. While Saturn wqas snuck into the repertoire I raced to get other DSOs. The list below contains the objects hunted.

All night long the cops were pretty busy in the park. At times there were two or three cars around the Lawn. One nearby street lamp was out and the other we placed a red towel over the half that faced our direction. No bidy said anything until one cop came by at midnight reminding us to leave by 1:00am, otherwise we could be charged with a misdemeanor crime. Shortly afterwrd, a dog owner stopped and told us of a horror story where he claims he was harassed by the polioce for nearly half an hour and then ticketed for being in the park at 1:04am. In his version, he was told by the police that they have a quota & he was at the edge of the park. Hearing all this, Charlie and I were spooked and left by 12:50am. These aren't the police we know and admire.

So in the vein of our last hurrah for a March Meesier marathon, the objects hunted are as follows (an asterisk indicates field but not seen):

M1*,
M66 & M65,
M105 & NGC3321,
M96 & M95*,
RHO VIRGINIS and the Pinwheel,
M49 - only a faint small glow of the nucleus, ~4'
M44 - Ooops forgot these, going back
M67 - beautiful, faint OC that courageously struggles with the background sky
M48
RESET RHO VIR
M60 & M59 - both nuclei in same field of view, faint but obvious
M3 - was going to pack but landed the scope right on M3 as last, deliberate object.

Packed up knowing that the Spring and Summer sky had a lot more to offer. I really didn't expect toi get all 110 but I am thinking that 80 should be realistic. Well I really won't know until were able to get reprieve from the curfew. Alittel bit of a let down at TotL.

nature's work

a tree grew within a tree grows. Drip Rock is to the right in the picture. an erratic in the background.