A rather late decision (due to uncertainty about the weather) to head out to Binbrook proved to be worthwhile. A notice to all members was quickly sent out (and promptly duplicated) since we were eager to go. The forecast and skies had cleared up and as a result, we had a very respectable November evening observing.

There was nothing special planned. We knew it wasn’t going to be a great night for imaging, but any night to get out for a few hours is worth the effort. Jim, Vince, Keith, John, Tony and myself enjoyed some very nice views of the moon, Jupiter, a number of Messier objects and plenty of double stars. There was a wide variety of scopes, giving each of us a wide choice to try. Schmidts, Maks, Schmidt-Newts, DOB’s and refractors – everyone had something different. So it was an ideal night to compare similar objects with unique equipment.

Wind was absent which helped to keep the temperatures feeling tolerable, though it did eventually get a bit wet from dew. We packed up around 11:30 and headed off to Tim Horton’s to warm up and swap some observing stories – which is always a fun part of the evening.

Sadly we haven’t had many good observing nights this fall and when an opportunity comes up, we don’t often have a lot of advance notice. But hopefully next time we can give more warning and get more members out. It’s a lot of fun, and definitely a case of “more” is better. We’d love to have you join us.

CME IMPACT: A coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth’s magnetic field on Oct. 24th around 1800 UT (2 pm EDT). The impact strongly compressed our planet’s magnetosphere and may have exposed geosynchronous satellites to solar wind plasma. Mild to moderate geomagnetic storms are possible in the hours ahead as Earth’s magnetic field continues to reverberate from the hit. Sky watchers in Scandinavia, Canada, and northern-tier US States should be alert for auroras, especially during the hours around local midnight. Check http://spaceweather.com for updates.

UPDATE: 11:30PM, Monday Oct 24 – I haven’t been able to see any sign of the aurora from Hamilton mountain (including from Sam Lawrence Park), but Charles Baetsen saw a lot of auroral activity from his home near Orono. He reports seeing streamers up to the horizon at times. By the time he was able to get his camera, the aurora had faded to a glowing green arc at the bottom of the Big Dipper.

Auroral glow beneath the Big Dipper as seen from Orono, Ontario tonight. Photo by Charles Baetsen.

This is Comet Garradd (C/2009 P1), in southeastern Hercules at the time, as I imaged it from Spectacle Lake Lodge, near Barry’s Bay, ON, on the evening of September 25, 2011.

Comet Garradd (C/2009 P1) by Bob Christmas

Canon Digital Rebel 300D through Tamron 300mm f/2.8 lens on SP EQ mount; 8×2:05 = 16 minutes 41 seconds total, at ISO 800; crop of original.

North is to the right.

Bob Christmas

From: Space Weather News for Sept. 9. 2011
http://spaceweather.com

GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A strong geomagnetic storm (Kp=7) is in progress following the impact of a CME during the middle hours of the day on Sept. 9th. This could be the first of several hits from a series of CMEs expected to reach Earth during the weekend. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras after nightfall. (Observing tip: The hours around midnight are often best for aurora sightings.) Check http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates.

UPDATE Saturday, Sept. 10 – There are reports (and photos) on Spaceweather.com from people in northern Michigan, North Dakota and Montana who were able to see the northern lights low on their northern horizons last night, just after dusk. Let’s hope that the auroral oval pushes farther south so that we will be able to see the northern lights, too.

Comet Garradd passed the globular star cluster, M71, while we were at Starfest. The two objects were easily viewed in the same field and made a spectacular sight. The comet will be passing very close to the Coathanger asterism (also known as Brocchi’s cluster) from September 1 to September 3. It will be interesting to watch the comet as it moves against the background stars of this well known asterism.

We’re just back from Starfest. There were two gloriously clear nights during the star party. Kerry’s presentation about astrophotography collaborations was excellent and well received. Her images were as breathtaking as usual. We enjoyed views of Comet Garradd through telescopes ranging in size from an 80mm refractor to a 16″ Dob. The comet was close to M71 and both objects were visible in the same field. Mike J. was sharing views through his new solar telescope. It was a jaw-dropping experience. In Kevin’s words, the view was “ridiculous!’.

Margaret won a book during the door prizes and Mike J. took home a new spotting scope. It seems that HAAers are always winners at Starfest.

Earth’s shadow over Starfest

A reminder to all members that this is the new moon weekend coming up and a great opportunity to observe. This is also the busiest weekend of the year for star parties, and many of our members will be away. At times like this, when a keyholder is unavalable to open the park, there is an alternative observing location for you to use.

The alternative site is located at the west end of the park on Tyneside Road. Directions can be found here:
http://amateurastronomy.org/sites/binbrookCA/BinbrookTyneside1.jpg

There is parking just off the road and a small field to set up scopes. The sky is as dark as at the main site in the park, and no key is needed to access this site. This location is open to the public, so remember to be safe, take care of yourself out there and take care of the park.

Enjoy the dark sky and feel free to post any observing you do on this blog to share your experiences with your fellow members!

The Milky Way over Binbrook

Comet Garradd is well placed for evening viewing between the constellations of Delphinus and Sagitta.The comet is currently at magnitude 8.3 and should be visible in binoculars. I haven’t observed it yet, but I expect you will need dark skies to see it. Here is a link to an excellent, printable, finder chart: http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/comets/2009_P1.pdf .

After sending out a notice about opening Binbrook, I went out around 8:30 to open up. David and Tanya had just arrived, and another family showed up a bit later. The skies took a while to clear the day-time heating clouds that had been making some observers nervous, but they finally did cooperate.

The seeing and transparency never did get particularly good, though it was reasonably stable. It didn’t look like it was going to be a suitable night for imaging, but good enough for visual. That suited me just fine. I had brought out my replacement 180mm Mak and had wanted to give it a first light test. I’ve had it for a few months after the insurance replaced it, but I wasn’t sure how good it came from the factory. Surprisingly it performed quite well with good star test patterns, sharp resolution of stars in M13, and challenging to split the double-double at 96x but was clean at 120x. It wasn’t what I would consider perfect, but better than I could probably collimate it.

An interesting part of the night was that Discovery Channel was there filming an episode of MayDay over by the Wind-Surfing area. Lights and fires were visible a few times. Didn’t affect visual work too much, but it would have made the poor imaging conditions worse. Dan from the park staff (who had helped us on the Perseids night) was there all night and he stopped by our area for while to look through the scopes and chat.

Shortly after the others left, Greg Emery showed up so we continued to observe for a while until the conditions started to deteriorate. Around 1am we finally packed it in and took off for a coffee. Not a great seeing night, but fun just the same. I had set some modest goals for the evening and was able to achieve them. So in my books, it was a success (helps to not set goals that are too ambitious LOL).

cheers,
Don

This is the best time to look for Vesta, over the next 3 weeks or so.
It’s at magnitude 5.8 which means that you can almost see it without binoculars.
Even at 10 PM it’s 13 degrees above the horizon.

With binoculars you will be rewarded handsomely.

Vesta is near the south east corner of capricorn now, and it can also be found by drawing a line from Antares in Scorpio, through the center of the teapot, saggitarius, and extending it 1.5 times as far.
You will find that Vesta is steady, and you should be able to discern a disk, and a yellowish tint.

What else can you see?

Magnitude 4 stars of Capricorn surround it. You need a good southern view with no lights below it.

Binbrook Conservation area, or anywhere on the north shore of a lake will do.

Jupiter is rising around midnight. In another month it will be prominent again.
Saturn is setting at 10. Catch it while you can, it will be almost 3 months before we see it in the morning again.