Brilliant ISS passage

I normally don't watch for overflights of the International Space Station. After the showing it made during Saturday's Public Night at the Observatory, however, I decided to watch again Monday night. From our balcony (aka "Chaunticlair Observatory") I began watching for the distinctive unblinking light at a little after 7:40 PM EDT. Still in fairly bright twilight the bright, moving "star" appeared as expected in the west-southwestern sky and climbed high overhead. Predicted brightness was -3 magnitude and it was brilliant. Because the Sun had not set long before, I watched the ISS as it made a complete arc overhead and down into the east ... it did not disappear into Earth's shadow before it was obscured by distant trees. Most impressive was just how bright the ISS was in the not-very-dark twilight sky.

Jupiter, Andromeda, and the Space Station

It was the monthly Public Night at Stephens Saturday, September 20. The late afternoon and early evening sky were not promising offering a mix of thin and thicker clouds swirled over a background of pale blue. As the Sun set, however, things improved. Jupiter came first and the first observatory visitors arrived at 7:30 -- a full half-hour before the advertised opening! The telescope revealed very good views of the planet and the Galilean moons. Aside from seeing several of the great planet's cloud bands, even some of the detail within the bands, I saw the Great Red Spot for the first time ever. Early viewing actually was best with seeing diminishing as the night went on. Also viewed were the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) looking every bit the huge fuzz-ball in the low-powered eyepiece. From there I moved the scope to the Double Cluster in Perseus: NGC 884 and NGC 869 at distances of 7,600 and 6,800 light-years respectively, and then by steps, back to Jupiter. A highlight of the night was passage of the International Space Station high overhead beginning at about 8:24. It shone brilliantly and arced steadily across the sky and low into the east where it finally fell into Earth's shadow and disappeared after a transit of several minutes. The last visitors of the evening arrived just before I was to close and they caught a glimpse of Jupiter just before it dropped behind the neighbor's trees at 10:00. In all about 50 visitors came to Stephens, 10 or 12 of them members of the College's new astronomy club. After closing I visited the Hiram site where the Aurora Astronomical Society proposed a new club observatory. The site is quite excellent protected from ambient light on all sides by trees and offering decently distant horizons. Clouds moved in and were obscuring the skies by 11:15 and overcast by midnight.

Cincinnati: Old Glass

Saturday night, August 30, I received a special treat. Visiting the Cincinnati Observatory Center I was invited to enjoy a private viewing of Jupiter through the 11" Merz und Mahler refracting telescope. That telescope went into operation on April 14, 1845 in Cincinnati and has been in nearly continuous use since. Saturday had been a very hot and moderately humid day so it took some time for the atmosphere to settle and for the dome to cool. While we waited for things to settle down my host conducted me on a detailed historical tour of the two buildings that comprise the Observatory Center. What a fine place it is with such history -- all concerned should be commended for their efforts in its rescue and ongoing restoration. Later I was treated to a fine view of the great planet and its Galilean moons. The evening's best views included relatively pale renderings of Jupiter's two major cloud bands along with several others. The moons appeared to resolve to tiny disks, no notable spots on the planetary body, but seeing remained unsteady enough to prevent much better observing. I was allowed to move the scope around a bit and fished for nearby objects. Surprisingly, though Jupiter was in the constellation Sagittarius, I didn't find any of the nearby globular star clusters. I did see what appeared to be an open cluster but could not identify it. No matter. It was a thrill and an honor to, at least temporarily, be the most recent user of the oldest operating professional observatory in the United States.

The telescope's optical tube is constructed of wood. The drive system is electrical having been converted from spring-powered some time ago. A modern Meade diagonal and eyepiece are used but the objective lens is original to the telescope. Photo by James Guilford.