[AZ-Observing] Re: [TAAA_Forum] I actually got to observe tonight!
- From: "Richard Harshaw" <rharshaw2@xxxxxxx>
- To: <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:51:51 -0700
Not a bad idea, Alan, about the observatory lights. I have also experimented
with soft green lighting and that seems to help a bit too.
Richard Harshaw
Cave Creek, Arizona
Brilliant Sky Observatory
-----Original Message-----
From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Alan Strauss
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 9:50 AM
To: taaaforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: [TAAA_Forum] I actually got to observe tonight!
Great report Wayne! I also observed Jupiter last night and watched the entire
shadow transit (of Ganymede) from beginning to end. I was using 196x with my
5.5 inch refractor and was also impressed with the creamy colored ovals
adjacent to the GRS. When the GRS was on the meridian, there were dark red
barges in the NEB on both the preceding and following ends, making a nice
triangle with Ganymede's shadow just below the GRS. It also seemed to me that
the SEB was redder preceding the GRS than following it. Seeing at my location
in NE Tucson was excellent, surprisingly, given the weather pattern of this
past week.
I have been experimenting with leaving the lighting in my observatory on at a
low level when observing Jupiter, and I think that this is helping me
appreciate color and details. I'd be interested to hear from others that have
tried this...I do think with Jupiter being so bright that trying to keep my
retina acting as if it is daytime helps...similar to observing Jupiter at dusk.
Anyway, clear skies!
Alan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wayne (aka Mr. Galaxy)" <mrgalaxy@xxxxxxxx>
To: haclist@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: taaaforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2011 11:37:46 PM
Subject: [TAAA_Forum] I actually got to observe tonight!
15480 Empire Rd.
Benson, AZ 85602
hm ph: 520-586-2244 The weather has been iffy lately even here in sunny
southern AZ and then there has been that large white orb illuminating the night
time sky to help minimize much of any observing unless you're a lunarphile (and
I enjoy viewing the moon as much or more than most folks) or like to split
double stars (another fun venture). Anyway, I'm sure most of you got a chance
to observe the recent nice spate of sunspots that have now rotated out from our
view - hopefully to return in a couple weeks. I observed them with a solar
filter both naked eye and through my 50mm binoculars. I saw two small spots
with my unaided eye and a good amount of detail in each with the binoculars.
Also very interesting while I attempted solar observing the one day was a great
display of atmospheric phenomena because of a large cirrus cloud layer as the
sun was getting fairly low in the west: a bright sundog with associated halo
along with a parhelic arc and a circumzenithal arc. Beautiful!
This evening (Mon) I noticed that the clouds were departing and managed to
get the 13-inch Dob ready by about 8:15pm local time before the waning gibbous
moon could rise to interfere too much. I always regret not looking at my Royal
Canadian Observer's Guide because I had a great view of Jupiter and noticed
that a prominent moon shadow was on the edge getting ready to leave the
surface. The seeing was good enough for me to discern moon disks and I thought
the one casting the shadow had the largest disk. I used about 400x for my
Jovian observations. Near the shadow on Jupiter's surface I noticed that the
Great (not so)Red Spot had already crossed the central meridian and appeared to
be a complex of three ovals apparently squashing themselves together in the
South Equatorial Belt (SEB). The GRS is an elongated east/west oval, the middle
oval is elongated north/south and the following oval is round. The storms seem
to be interacting with each other and it will be interesting t
o see what results in the end. The SEB is pretty broad and fairly prominent
now. It is wider, but not quite as colorful as the North EB which has a small
but prominent reddish barge in it following the GRS complex. Our own moon had
risen quite a bit by the time I was done with my fascinating view of Jupiter
and I had a chance to look at a couple bright, fairly close double stars in
Aries and Aquarius before I decided to call it a night at 10:30pm. The
temperature must have been close to dewpoint, since I could hear the water
dripping off the roof of the garage into several of collection buckets. We got
about 0.5 inches of rain a couple nights ago, maybe enough to set the seeds for
a good wildflower display next spring!
Clear skies,
Wayne (aka Mr. Galaxy)
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