Christmas Eve - Bright, Slow Meteor

  When Adrian and I were driving west on US 30 between Hamlet, Indiana and Fort Wayne, Indiana, we spotted a bright and extremely slow meteor from our moving truck. The meteor slowly drifted from roughly 40 degrees high until close to the horizon in the Eastern sky around 10:55 PM EST (3:55 UT December 25th). It was at least as bright as nearby Regulus, or roughly +1.0 magnitude, and it passed just south of the Sickle of Leo probably from Cancer through the “Head of Hydrus.” What was most interesting about this meteor to me was its slow descent. I saw it falling and pointed it out to Adrian, and she was also able to look at it. It must have taken three seconds or more to glide down through the sky and disappear. I wish I had a better idea of our location when I saw the meteor. I know only that it was near Warsaw, Indiana. Adrian and I talked about it for a while, trying to decide whether it was a slow meteor or a possible artificial satellite re-entry. I told her that it seemed too fast for a satellite re-entry. Adrian commented at the time that it seemed bright enough for the meteor to have survived and struck something, though neither of us had hard evidence that this happened.

  We have seen other bright meteors during this same Christmastime trip under clear skies. Again, this seemed most notable for how long-lasting the meteor was. I’ve seen brighter meteors but rarely have I seen meteors with this kind of longevity before disappearing.

The Thanksgiving Evening Fog Battle - I Lost!

  Thanksgiving day was unseasonably mild. We started off with cloudy skies and light fog in the air but by afternoon skies started to clear and Indianapolis had its first sunshine in six days. It was still clear at sunset but there was a mist in the air. Persistent cloud cover all these days hadn't given the ground a chance to dry out from heavy rain earlier in the week, and as skies cleared and temperatures dropped, light fog started to form. Still, since this was the first clear night in a long time, I decided to try to get out and observe. It turned out to be a battle with fog, and fog won. 

  My target tonight was the Eclipsing Binary star SS Ceti. I get on "EB (eclipsing binary) kicks" every now and then. These are double stars in close orbits with one another, and the plane of the orbit lies in our line of sight, which means that from Earth one star often passes in front of or behind the other star. These stars lie too close together to be seen as two separate stars in a telescope. However, what we can see is that the brighter star drops in brightness and then brightens back up again, usually in a matter of hours, as the dimmer star eclipses or passes in front of it. SS Ceti does a five hour dimming-and-brightening every three days (2.973976 days to be exact) and it was predicted to eclipse at 12:30 AM Friday morning our time. The star was expected to start getting dim around 10:00 PM Thursday night. 

  I almost called off observing to begin with because of the light fog in the air, but skies were clear so I hauled out the telescope and started observing. Even though it was very starry above my head, the horizons seemed to be lit up by the low-lying fog. The temperature was about 40 degrees F and the humidity was something like 90%. I guess I knew this would be a losing battle, but I was hoping there was enough of a steady light breeze to keep the telescope's corrector lens and my eyepieces from fogging up too much. 

  It was going well at first. I saw SS Ceti drop from 10.6 magnitude at 10:34 PM to 10.9 magnitude by 11:08 PM. It took a big drop from there to 11.2 magnitude by 11:06 PM. I jotted down my estimates and times, but dew was already forming all over the dew cap and tube. The finder scope was also fogging up. The mist suspended in the air was starting to make my clear sky with all of those blazing winter stars start to look murky, and I had the sinking feeling that I wasn't going to be able to do much more observing. By 11:45 PM. SS Ceti was getting hard to see because it was so faint, but even the easy-to-see stars around it were starting to look dim. I looked into the front of the telescope and it was clear that the big lens was starting to fog up. I had to give up on watching the rest of the SS Ceti eclipse.

  I wanted to make one useful observation tonight, so I went back inside and grabbed my chart for UX Orionis, since this star has been very active all month. However, by the time I was back outside the optics on the telescope had reached the saturation point. The front lens was totally fogged over and nothing could be seen through the scope at all. I had to admit defeat and call it a night without making one useful variable star estimate worth reporting to the AAVSO. I couldn't even really report the estimates I made of SS Ceti as it fell in brightness, because what's really valuable about an eclipsing binary star is an estimated time of minimum brightness, and I couldn't get that without catching it on the recovery after 12:30 AM. 

  You can't win 'em all. I can observe under a lot of bad conditions, but 90% humidity isn't one of them. All I could do was hope for better conditions the next night. There will be other chances to observe SS Ceti or some other EB star, and YSO stars like UX Orionis.

AM August 26th - V594 Cassiopeiae dimming event!

  Last night I had some of the clearest skies all summer and made 14 variable star estimates. One star I've been watching since last summer is V594 Cassiopeiae. It's a YSO (Young Stellar Object) just off to the side of a nice little star cluster called NGC 225 in Cassiopeia. All the time I've set the telescope on it, it hasn't done much. I've seen it as bright as 10.3 magnitude and as dim as 10.5 magnitude, so I couldn't call it an exciting target. Well, last night I finally saw a dimming event down to 10.8 magnitude. It isn't much, but it's the most activity I've seen. YSO stars are my favorite because they are unpredictable and under-observed. They're thought to be still condensing out of nebulae and surrounded by gas and dust. So last night what probably happened was a thick part of the gas and dust shell orbited into a spot between Earth and the star, and caused the dimming.

PM Sat. July 16 - Satellite Observing

  I've had a few good observing nights in June and so far in July, and made about 20 more variable star estimates. I haven't posted these to the site yet but may soon. 

  Yesterday evening (Saturday July 16) was clear at sunset but by the end of dusk clouds were starting to move in from the northwest. The clouds and the fact that there would be bright moonlight all night (the Moon was rising and 2 nights since Full Moon) made it not worth setting up the telescope, but I decided to get out the 7X35 binoculars, grab a patio chair, and watch for artificial satellites passing overhead. When I'd spot one by eye I'd follow it through the binoculars, jot down the time and position, and look up which satellite I saw online later when I was back inside. There was a flurry of activity between 10:55 PM - 11:10 PM where I saw 5 satellites, and I think I've identified them all this morning. Here's a summary:

  10:55 PM - Cosmos 2228 (#22286) (1992 - 094A) I spotted this one as a 3.0 magnitude steady object as it passed through the constellation Hercules into Draco, nearly overhead and heading north. The websites I researched gave it an orbit of 602 x 635 kilometers, inclination 82.5 degrees, and an orbital period of 97.07 minutes. It was launched December 26, 1992 by the Russians. 

  10:59 PM - Cosmos 1980 Rocket (#19650) (1988-102B) This was also steady in brightness, about 3.5 magnitude or brighter. I saw it pass through the constellation Lyra heading south to north. It has an orbit of 829 x 852 kilometers, inclination of 71.0 degrees, and a period of about 101.7 minutes. This was launched on November 24, 1988 by the Russians. Whenever I look at spent rockets in orbit I try to see if the magnitude brightens and dims to see if the rocket is tumbling in space, but this one either isn't tumbling or I was seeing it at the wrong angle.

  10:59 PM - Iridium 46 (#24905) (1997-043C) This was passing through Lyra at the same time as the Cosmos 1980 Rocket just mentioned, but it was going the opposite direction; from north to south. It was fainter at a steady 5.5 - 6.0 magnitude and faster, which showed it was in a lower orbit than the brighter satellite. It has an orbit of 776 x 779.4 kilometers, inclination of 86.4 degrees, and a period of about 100.4 minutes. It was launched August 21, 1997 by the USA. These satellites have super-reflective panels on them and are known to catch sunlight and flare up in brightness as seen from the ground below, but this one wasn't at the right angle to show a flare.

  11:06 PM - Thor Agena Rocket (#733) (1964-002A). This was bright and steady at about 2.5 - 3.0 magnitude. I saw it passing nearly overhead from Hercules to Draco heading north. It has an orbit of 762 x 812 kilometers, inclination 99.0 degrees, and a period of about 100.6 minutes. This is a super old rocket body from a launch on January 19, 1964, and it's still in orbit! It's a spent Agena rocket launched by the USA. Apparently it either isn't tumbling in orbit or I was seeing it at the wrong angle. After so many years since launch, if it had rotation in the past it probably stabilized a long time ago. 

  11:09 PM - I spotted a flash of light about 3.0 magnitude near Corona Borealis, high in the Northwest. When I trained the binoculars to that spot, I saw a faint object about 6.0 magnitude speeding off to the north, and while I was looking at it there was another brief flash where it brightened again to 3.0 magnitude. It faded again and disappeared into the trees to my north. I spent a lot of time using Calsky.com to try to find out what this one was, and the best match I have is this - USA 3 / Farrah 5 / KH 9-19 Elint (it seems to have at least 3 names) (#15071) (1984-065C). This is an aging US military satellite launched June 26, 1984. The orbit is 619 x 639 kilometers, inclination 95.9 degrees, period of about 97 minutes. I'm pretty sure this is a match and it's obviously tumbling. I'm going to find other pass predictions for this and try to get another look at it to know for sure if this ID is correct. I found out that this is a regular target for the Belgian Working Group of amateurs; known internationally for observing rotating satellites and rockets to determine how the rate of rotation changes over time. This was another reason I was pretty sure my ID was right.

  That was all the observing done tonight. Altocumulus bands moved in overhead and the moonlight was also an issue. It was also getting hazier as the night went on. Indianapolis is part of the newest big heat wave that's supposed to move in for the next week.

PM Sun. June 5th - AM Mon. June 6th Observing Notes 2

  (Catch-Up Notes) - After doing some lunar observing and taking photos through the eyepiece I left the telescope outside, and the dew caught up to it. By the time I went out to try to do some variable star work the big corrector lens in the front of the tube was fogged over. I had no choice but to take it inside and let it un-fog for a few hours. I didn't get it back outside until after midnight. It was still mostly clear but a little hazy. At zenith I could only see stars down to 4.3 magnitude and the limit through the telescope was 13.2 magnitude at best. I was outside between 1:35 AM - 2:40 AM and was able to make 5 variable star estimates before calling it a night. All of the stars I observed were YSO types. A couple of Bullfrogs were crooning away at a pond a few blocks away from us. Here are the estimates made tonight:

  1:52 AM (5:52 UT June 6) - VSX J182726.0-043447 was 11.5 magnitude. This is the star I call "Skiff's Star" for short, in the constellation Scutum. It seemed to be just barely dimmer than the 11.4 star nearby but much brighter than the nearby 12.0 star. I think this YSO dimmed just a little since I looked at it 2 nights before but this is iffy!

  2:04 AM (6:04 UT June 6) - WW Vulpeculae was 10.5 magnitude. It looks like this YSO brightened just a little since last week. I still haven't caught it taking a rapid plunge-and-recovery in brightness in two years of observing it; something it's known to do rarely. 

  2:16 AM (6:16 UT June 6) - SV Cephei was 10.6 magnitude. This is my first look at this YSO since observing it regularly last summer. Like the others, I still haven't caught a big dimming episode yet. 

  2:26 AM (6:26 UT June 6) - BO Cephei was 11.7 magnitude. This was another star I observed regularly all last summer. Mike Poxon suggested it to me then, but this YSO hasn't seemed to vary much yet. I did catch it dimmed to 12.0 magnitude early last September. 

   2:37 AM (6:37 UT June 6) - YZ Cephei was 11.5 magnitude. I observed this YSO regularly last summer also, and it shows a lot of small, quick changes in brightness. This was my first look at it this year.

PM Sun. June 5th - AM Mon. June 6th, 2011 Observing Notes 1

  (Catch-Up Notes) This night started out clear with a little haze. The temperature was in the high 70's F at the start of the night and calm winds were letting the humidity build up. The Moon was a thin Waxing Crescent about 4.2 days past New Moon. I did some lunar observing through the eyepiece and then tried to take some photos of it in my usual primitive way; holding my little Nikon Coolpix digital camera up to the eyepiece and hoping that some of the shots I took caught the image in focus while the air was steady.

  This photo probably turned out the best. It was taken at 10:03PM June 5 (2:03 UT June 6). The sunrise line on the Moon was at about 34.03 degrees E. North is down and south is up. The most obvious of the lunar "seas" are Mare Fecunditatis top and near the center, and the smaller, oval-looking Mare Crisium closer to the limb and a little below the center. The small craters in Mare Crisium still looked like dark spots because their floors were in shadow. The pair of big craters near the bottom of the picture are Atlas to the left and Hercules to the right. Near the top of the crescent the lunar highlands are really showy with all the craters and plateaus casting shadows on each other.

AAVSO - YSO Section

  I'll catch up and post some observations I made last week soon. The big news today is that the AAVSO's YSO section is up and running, and looks great! Mike Poxon emailed the link to me today. It has tons of centralized information and charts about these fascinating, active, and under-observed stars! Here's the link:

  http://www.starman.co.uk/ysosection/

YSO's (Young Stellar Objects)

  In my posts I often refer to "YSO stars" so I thought it might be good to give a little background information about them. 

  YSO stands for "Young Stellar Object." The long-standing theory is that these are stars that are still condensing from dust and gas, and by astronomical standards they are very young; on the order of just millions of years old instead of billions of years old like our Sun. Classifying them is difficult because they come in all sizes and types. The one thing they have in common is that they usually show a lot of unpredictable brightness changes, for a lot of different reasons. Since these stars are surrounded by gas and dust, they often fade quickly in brightness and recover because the ring of dust is "clumpy" and a thick patch of dust orbiting the star might float in between our line of sight and the star. Also, if a lot of gas and dust falls into the star, this can make it suddenly get brighter as the new material ignites on the surface.

  I've looked at a couple of YSO stars for years. Just after high school, one of the stars I used to report to the AAVSO (American Association of Variable Star Observers) was called T Tauri. I also made estimates for some of the interesting stars buried in the glow of the Orion Nebula. But most of the variable stars I observed and reported to the AAVSO were long-term variables like Mira stars and Semi-Regulars. I still observe these, but my interest focused on YSO observing about a year ago. For the last decade, there have been several automatic sky surveys created. These are robotic telescopes that image huge chunks of the sky every few days and automatically record star brightness. Though the all-sky automatic surveys are a boon for science, I was starting to get the feeling that observing long-period variable stars by eye was getting obsolete because of them. I wanted to start an observing program where I could still provide valuable data. 

  In the spring of 2010, I started to realize that YSO stars weren't being studied by very many people, and that they showed brightness changes that were so fast that a lot of the automatic sky surveys missed them. I started emailing around asking if anyone observed them regularly, and this was how I struck up a pen-pal relationship via email with Mike Poxon from Norwich, England. Mike had been observing these kinds of stars for years and confirmed my suspicions; that few amateur astronomers looked at them regularly, that they were getting increasing attention from professional astronomers, and that they showed a lot of wild short-term dimming and "flickering" that was too fast for the automated surveys to catch! Mike kindly provided me with lists of Young Stellar Object targets in range of my telescope and also with charts that showed these variables and comparison stars to estimate their brightness by. He continues to serve as my unofficial "mentor" when it comes to gathering data about these stars and provides prompt answers to my stupid questions about observing them. For this I am eternally grateful! 

  Recently, Mike Poxon emailed me to let me know that the AAVSO was going to start a YSO section and forum on their website, and that he would be hosting it. I hope to be able to help him spread interest about these under-studied variable stars, and also hope to keep adding more of them to my list and making a real contribution of data about their behavior.

 

PM Fri. June 3 - AM Sat. June 4 Observing

  This night was about as hazy as it could get and still be good enough to try to get some observing done. 

  At sunset skies were white with haze or very thin high clouds. The slim Waxing Crescent Moon (2.2 days since New Moon) was faint and ruddy looking low in the West-Northwest sky at dusk. I kept checking the sky until midnight, when it looked like there was finally some improvement, and I was outside with the telescope from about 1:00 AM until a little past 2:00 AM. It was mild with temperatures in the low 70's F. The humidity was about 65%. Winds were light. The sky stayed very murky the whole time I was out there. At best the limiting magnitude overhead to the naked eye was about 4.0 but it was usually closer to 3.5. 

  With the lousy sky transparency, I decided to just follow up on some of the variables I saw five nights ago, and looked at one variable that I hadn't been able to estimate on the morning of May 30th. Here's what was done tonight:

  At 1:07 AM (5:07 UT June 4) I looked at the area of UZ Bootis, and had to settle for an estimate of <13.2 magnitude. The 13.2 comparison star could be glimpsed often but there was no sign of a rare flare-up in brightness from this star. (There hasn't been one recorded since 2003.)

  At 1:19 AM (5:19 UT June 4) I looked for T Bootis, and saw nothing at the location of this nova from 151 years ago. I recorded it as <12.5 magnitude since the 12.5 star on the chart was the dimmest I could see.

  At 1:26 AM (5:26 UT June 4) I estimated T Coronae Borealis at 10.3 magnitude.

  At 1:42 AM (5:42 UT June 4) I estimated "Skiff's Star" (VSX J182726.0-043447) as 11.2 magnitude. This was my second estimate of this star, which was found to be variable only two years ago. I'm still the only observer in the AAVSO who seems to be looking at it since discovery! I used the comparison star sequence and chart that was emailed to me by Mike Poxon in the UK.

  At 2:02 AM (6:02 UT June 4) I estimated WW Vulpeculae at 10.6 magnitude. If my brightness estimates have been accurate, this star has brightened up slightly in the last five nights.

  Indianapolis is caught between wavering warm fronts and cold fronts as this month begins. It would be nice to see a nice cool high pressure system move in and stay! This mid-summer-like weather in June has led to some awful hazy and murky observing conditions so far.

 

PM Wed. June 1 - AM Thu. June 2 Cirrus Blow-off

  A weak cold front passed through Indiana early Wednesday morning and we were under the influence of high pressure that had lowered the heat and humidity. Skies started out very sunny on Wednesday. Forecasts for the night ahead made me think that I was going to have one of those "pristine" nights with great sky transparency and no dew issues. Unfortunately, skies were overcast with high clouds by Wednesday evening and conditions were fair to poor overnight.

  The reason for the unexpected cloudiness was a common spring and summer phenomenon called (probably informally) cirrus blow-off. When a region has humid, warm, and unstable air, thunderstorms often appear as the air warms and rises. If these storm clouds reach high enough into the atmosphere the ice-crystal cirrus clouds that form at the highest altitudes can spread hundreds of miles ahead of the storm centers. On Wednesday a mesoscale convective complex set up in Kansas, Nebraska, Western Missouri, and Western Iowa. These storms were vigorous and long-lasting enough to send cirrus clouds into Illinois and Indiana. So, even though my area was under stable high pressure, we still had the blown-off high clouds from two or three states away!

  I read once that narrowing down where summer thunderstorms will appear is incredibly difficult to do. One meteorologist compared it to trying to predict where bubbles will pop up when water is starting to boil! That means that predicting which clear nights will be ruined by cirrus blow-off from thunderstorms is also nearly impossible.

New Moon June 1st

  Since that observing session before dawn on May 30th we've had some good observing weather. 

  It was mostly clear but a little hazy on the night of May 30th - May 31st. I had to be up early on May 31st so I did no observing. 

  By the evening of May 31st we had some high cloud overcast due to a weak cold front moving through the area, and these clouds persisted through the evening of May 31st - June 1st. 

  Now on the morning of June 1st skies are very clear and sunny, and the cold front is supposed to have taken away some of the high heat and humidity we've been experiencing. I think tonight will feature some great observing conditions before the weak cold front is supposed to back up as a warm front on Thursday the 2nd. 

   New Moon takes place at 21:03 June 1st (5:03 PM June 1st our time) so there will be no moonlight interference tonight.

PM Sun. May 29 - AM Mon. May 30 Summary

  I was able to get out with the telescope from about 12:30 AM to 3:00 AM Monday morning, May 30th. At sunset Sunday evening skies were clear but the transparency was pretty bad, and there was enough improvement after midnight to prompt some observing time. The limiting naked eye zenith magnitude was about 4.3 but worse toward the horizons. The north and west horizons were very lit-up; probably due to the murky sky and city lights (though I also kept a look-out for Northern Lights after being alerted to increased solar activity via email from my friend Allen Burt). It was a muggy and very summer-like night. The temperature during that time dropped only from 76 to 74 degrees F, the dew point stayed at 66 degrees F, and the humidity rose from 71% to 76%. There was a noticeable south breeze at midnight but this had calmed by 3 AM. I had some problems with dew forming on the optics, especially the eyepieces, and I had to slap on a ton of mosquito spray! Besides this it was a very quiet night. No aircraft seen, a few neighborhood dogs barking now and then, a few Mallards sounding off from Feather Run, and one big June Bug hit to the face when I was trying to make a star estimate at the eyepiece.

  There were a few hits and misses tonight, so here are the highlights and low-lights:

  At 1:04 AM (5:04 UT May 30) I estimated T Bootis as <12.5 magnitude. I didn't see T Bootis, as expected, in spite of a lot of careful looks. Unfortunately there was enough haze in the sky so that the 12.5 magnitude comparison star was the faintest one I could see tonight, so I reported this negative estimate to the AAVSO. Still no sign of Nova Bootis 1860!

  At 1:20 AM (5:20 UT May 30) I estimated UZ Bootis as <13.2 magnitude. I just added this star to my personal program a few weeks ago and this was my first attempt at looking for it. It's a UGWZ star, which means a cataclysmic variable that flares up from way too faint for me to see to fairly obvious through the 10" scope, but only once in a long while. The last recorded outburst of this star was in December 2003. I didn't see it tonight as expected, but I hope to catch it on its next flare-up in brightness. The faintest star in the field I could see here was the 13.2 magnitude comparison star.

  I made an estimate for T Coronae Borealis at 1:35 AM, but realized the next day that I'd mis-recorded the comparison stars I used, to I had to throw it out and not report it. The best I can say is that it's nowhere near going through any historic flare-up.

  Murky skies prevented me from making an estimate of R Coronae Borealis right after this. I got it and the comparison stars into the eyepiece but they were all so faint, with the sky conditions, that I couldn't make an accurate brightness estimate. I had to abandon this and move on to the next target.

  At 1:54 AM (5:54 UT May 30) I estimated RU Herculis as 9.8 magnitude. I haven't looked at this one for a couple of years. This is a long-period Mira type star that takes about 16 months to wax and wane in brightness. At peak it can be bright enough to be seen in most binoculars, and at it's faintest, it's usually too faint for me to see through the 10" telescope. The last peak brightness was predicted for last April 13th, so it looks like it's starting to get slowly dimmer now. The next peak should be mid-August 2012.

  It was clear enough by this time so that I finally had a chance to look at a couple of YSO stars I've been meaning to estimate in the Serpens / Scutum area of the sky! I've been meaning to start systematically observing these for over two months but they haven't been rising until way after 2:00 AM and sky conditions haven't been very cooperative. This turned out to be one "hit" and one "miss."

  At 2:31 AM (6:31 UT May 30) I estimated "Skiff's 2009 Star" as 11.2 magnitude. (This is my own name for it since the real designation for this star is VSX J182726.0-043447 and I get tired of typing that out.) This star is a YSO (Young Stellar Object) that undergoes periodic dimming, according to what I researched online. It was discovered during a search of automatic sky survey data in June, 2009 by Brian Skiff, so this is why I shorten the name to the year and discoverer. Interestingly, even though this isn't a really faint star, no one in the AAVSO seems to have done any follow-up observations. This is why I want to start doing just that for the rest of the summer until this area of the sky is out of reach at sunset.

  The other YSO star in this area was VV Serpentis. I was able to get this star into the eyepiece, but I had to abandon making an estimate for it, since it was obviously brighter than the brightest comparison star on the chart, 11.8 magnitude. Unfortunately, before I try to observe this one again, I'd better look around to see if there are any stars I can use for comparison that are brighter.

  At 3:00 AM (7:00 UT May 30) I estimated WW Vulpeculae as 10.8 magnitude. This is another YSO star that stays at a fairly steady brightness, for years at times, and then has unpredictable dimming events. I have watched it for the last couple of summers on every clear night I could, but I haven't caught it doing a "disappearing act" yet. Maybe this is the year.

  I was a little disappointed at getting only five good data-points for five variable stars, and not being able to get to the other three for one reason or another. But at the same time, I was able to start hunting down and observing some new targets tonight. The forecast for clear nights is pretty positive for the rest of the week.

Hail Storm Photos

 A couple of photos I snapped around 7:20 PM on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 looking out my front door. Though some of the large white dots are just moisture drops on the camera lens, illuminated by the flash, all of the smaller white dots are hail stones falling or in on the ground. The second photo was snapped just as the storm was starting to wind down.

Severe Storms May 25

  This is a weather entry instead of an observing entry, but weather is all I have to document since early this month since May has featured a lot of cloudy and stormy nights! Some of the worst storms I've seen in years passed through Central Indiana on Wednesday, May 25th. Southeast Indianapolis experienced three different hail-producing thunderstorm cells from 2:30 - 8:30 PM. Two of them dropped quarter-sized hail. The worst was the second one just after 7:00 PM. Tons of quarter-sized hailstones dropped on us for about five or ten minutes. The sound was deafening. Weather warning sirens sounded all afternoon and evening. We had the hail, downpours of rain, some vivid lightning and loud thunder, and some high winds before midnight when the cold front finally moved through. The worst storms hit 40-50 miles south of us in Bloomington, Bedford, Columbus, and Greensburg where at least 5 tornado touchdowns had been confirmed as of Thursday evening.

The T Bootis Mystery

  I wrote about looking for T Bootis the night before last, and thought I should jot down some background information about it. T Bootis is the name of a star that was observed over 150 years ago by only one astronomer, and it hasn't been seen since! This makes it a mystery object in a lot of ways. 

  Joseph Baxendell, a British astronomer famous for (among other things) discovering that several stars were variable in brightness, spotted this star on April 9, 1860. He estimated it at 9.75 magnitude at the time (which makes it a very easy object to see through most telescopes, or even large binoculars). The new star was very close to the star Arcturus in the constellation Bootes; which is why it's designated as "T Bootis." Baxendell observed it again the following two nights and noted no change in brightness. He didn't observe the star again until April 22 following what was probably cloudy weather, and on that date he estimated it had dimmed to 12.8 magnitude. (This would have made it fairly dim through small telescopes, or even for my 10" scope with the light-polluted sky I deal with.) On the following night, April 23, 1860, Baxendell could not find it at all. Mass communications in 1860 being what they were, most other astronomers of the time weren't alerted to this discovery for days or weeks. However, several professionals checked the sky for this new object soon after it disappeared and found nothing.

  Since Baxendell was a seasoned professional astronomer, there's little doubt that he saw something! The question that remains is what T Bootis actually was. Though it's referred to as "Nova Bootis 1860" it had characteristics that set it apart from novae that have been observed before and after that time. Most novae occur within or close to the Milky Way, and this part of the sky is almost as far from the Milky Way as possible! Also. most classical novae show a sudden increase in light but a much slower decline in brightness after they peak, and this object apparently dimmed out of sight within days. It probably wasn't an asteroid since Baxendell would have seen movement with respect to the other stars during his observations. It's possible that it was something more exotic like a very distant comet that flared up and looked stellar through the telescope, but Baxendell probably would have seen and noted some "fuzziness" to T Bootis if it had been one. It's even been suggested that T Bootis was something unknown in 1860 like a gravitational lensing event or a distant galaxy eruption. 

  For the past several years. I've tried to make a systematic search for T Bootis. If it was a nova, it may be a recurrent one, and it's possible that it will flare up again. There seems to be less than a dozen amateur astronomers around the world who are doing the same thing. So far in 2011 the AAVSO website shows no other observers reporting it, so I might be the only person on the planet this year looking for it! I try to search the area every clear night I can when this area of the sky is visible. All of my estimates are negative; most nights I try to see if I can spot the nearby star ASAS141307+1901.0 which is about 13.2 magnitude in brightness. If I can see it, but see nothing where the position of T Bootis should be, I report less than 13.2 or < 13.2 to the AAVSO. Sometimes the faintest star I can see is 12.5 magnitude ASAS141327+1907.2, and I report it as < 12.5 on the website. 

  The reason for this search is simple. I probably won't be able to see this star in my lifetime, but on every clear night there's the possibility that I might be the first person since 1860 to catch T Bootis in the sky and make what could be a very important contribution to astronomy! That's all the motivation I need.

PM Sat. May 7 - AM Sun. May 8, 2011 - No Observing

  After my observing session Saturday morning skies stayed cloudy and a wave of light showers was passing through the area at dawn. Skies cleared out midway through Saturday and things had a chance to dry out, but then they increased again late in the afternoon. Some storm cells popped up before sunset in the state but the worst ones, with Tornado Warnings, stayed 60 - 70 miles west and south of us. We were clipped by some thundershowers after dark and had some brief heavy rain after dusk, but then skies started to clear out by midnight. If there was any chance to do some observing overnight it would have been around 1AM - 3AM when skies became mostly clear, but the ground was wet and the air was too misty to really consider hauling the 'scope and its power cord outside. Skies were very foggy before and through dawn on Sunday. It looks like the first look for the year at the Serpens / Scutum YSO area will have to wait for better conditions.

PM Fri. May 6 - AM Sat. May 7, 2011 - Observing Notes

On Friday the 6th we were between two weather systems. One brought light showers to us at sunrise, but then skies cleared out for most of the day. The other one was forecast to bring showers and isolated thunderstorms on Saturday. Even though rain was showing up on radar as close as Illinois, skies were mostly clear after sunset tonight. At dusk and then well after dark the Waxing Crescent Moon could be seen high in the WNW sky. It was almost 4 days past New Moon tonight and it showed bright Earthshine even without optical aid. It was a pretty sight!

  Skies were still clear after 11:00 PM, so I put the 10” f/4 outside. This was my first time using it since the morning of March 29th; over 5weeks ago! Skies had been cloudy for so many nights that I forgot how late in the spring it was getting and how many summer constellations were already visible in the east. Vega was shining high over the roof of my house and Alpha Ophiuchi was also easy to see already. Saturn was already near the south meridian, sparkling not far away from Spica. The Big Dipper was high overhead. The only winter stars I could see to the west were Castor and Pollux standing side by side just over the Scotch Pines and Procyon further south.

  I got started just before midnight. Skies were clear but there was some “murkiness” so I think some patchy thin high clouds were already overhead. At midnight the temperature was 52°F, the Humidity was 71%, and there was a light breeze from the Southwest. It was a little chilly but not uncomfortable. I was standing at the eyepiece outside on the patio in the back yard with Maple seeds crunching under my feet whenever I moved.

  Here were tonight’s targets and results. I ended up making only 3 variable star estimates before the sky clouded up.

  T Bootis = <13.2 magnitude at 12:01 AM (4:01 UT May 7). 135X used. Error plus or minus 0.1 mag. The 12.5 comparison star on the AAVSO chart was easy to see tonight and I didn’t have a tough time seeing the unmarked 13.2 magnitude star on this chart (ASAS 141307+1901.0). I had a lot of long looks at the area where T Bootis was supposed to be, but as usual I saw no trace of this star. As far as I know, I’m still one of just a few people in the world who regularly look for this object every year since Baxendell observed it in April 1860.

  T Coronae Borealis = 10.3 magnitude at 12:12 AM (4:12 UT May 7). 78X used. Error plus or minus 0.1 mag. Tonight this star seemed to be between the 9.9 and 10.5 stars on the AAVSO chart, but closer to the 10.5 star. This star had a bright outburst in 1866 and then eighty years later in 1946. Both times it became an easy naked-eye object. I’m waiting to catch the next one, but tonight it was near its usual brightness.

  R Coronae Borealis = 13.1 magnitude at 12:31 AM (4:31 UT May 7). 135X used. Error plus or minus 0.2 mag. This was a really difficult estimate to make because the star and the comparison stars were so dim. I finally decided that it seemed to be right in between the 12.8 and 13.4 comparison stars, but was a lot more uncertain about this one. This is actually the first time I’ve been able to see R CrB since its long fade-out started in the summer of 2007. Watching the recovery of this star should be something to watch all summer.

  I went inside after 12:30 AM and hoped the clouds from the incoming storm system would hold off for another couple of hours so I could check the Serpens / Scutum YSO star field. I wanted to get in my first estimates for the year of “Skiff’s 2009 Star” (VSX J182726.0-043447) and VV Serpentis. However, these objects wouldn’t rise high enough to observe until 2:00 AM. By 1:00 there were a lot more clouds around and it was overcast an hour later, so I had to call it a night. I hope to get another shot at these tomorrow night if the rain and clouds move out in time, but the forecast isn’t looking too good.

New Moon

New Moon takes place at 6:51 U.T. May 3, or 2:51 AM Tuesday, May 3, E.D.T. Another long-lasting batch of rainy weather is moving through our area. If skies clear out Thursday evening an extremely thin Crescent Moon should be visible in the west at dusk. It will be much easier to see by Friday or Saturday. I'm working on making sure my charts are up to date to try to get some observing in soon.

Lousy Weather = No April Observing

  I wasn't able to get any observing in during the month of April, mainly due to the endless cloudy and rainy weather. The average precipitation in April for Indianapolis is 3.61", the official recording station at the Airport on the Southwest side measured 7.98" for the month, and here on the Southeast side my rain gauge total was 13.12"! Here's the breakdown for the last 30 nights:

  Great Chance for Observing Nights = 0

  (Nights where we have Moonless skies and no clouds or haze from start to finish.)

   Good Chance for Observing Nights = 2

  (Nights where we only have a few clouds now and then, or clouds for part of the night, or no clouds but haze, or clear but very moonlit.)

  Fair Chance for Observing Nights = 6

  (Nights where maybe skies are halfway clear, where some observing is possible.)

  Poor Chance for Observing Nights = 12

 (These are nights where observing probably wasn't possible but some stars or the Moon may have been visible from time to time. Usually these are mostly cloudy nights.)

  No Chance for Observing Nights = 10

  (This is self-explanatory. Nights where we were socked in with cloud cover from start to finish.)

  Hopefully May will turn out to have better conditions.

Start-up #1

  A little about me and the site where I observe...

  My name is Paul Zeller, I am 45 years old and live with my wife Adrian on the Southeast side of Indianapolis, Indiana. I've been an Indianapolis resident for almost 20 years and we've lived at this home since 2001. We're located in a subdivision that was constructed during the 1970's and 1980's. Many of the trees in this neighborhood are mature and they make the place scenic, but add an extra barrier for observing the night sky! I don't get much a view to the south from my patio in the back yard because of them. Other barriers to observing include light pollution from Indianapolis along my northern and western horizons and steam clouds from a power plant several miles away that "murks up" the western sky. Still, I've been able to get a lot of good amateur astronomy done from here.

  I've named this blog "Feather Run Astronomy" after Feather Run; a small natural stream that runs alongside our back yard to the west. This stream hardly ever totally dries up even during the driest summers and I have the suspicion that it's spring-fed. It's usually only about ten feet wide and maybe two feet deep. In summer the banks are choked with Cattails and other vegetation. It's home to small fish, frogs, turtles (including one mammoth looking Snapping Turtle that makes an appearance now and then), Mallards, and Muskrats. This stream empties about a mile away into Little Buck Creek, and this in turn empties into the West Fork of the White River on the other side of Indianapolis. 

  I grew up and went to school in LaPorte, Indiana. I started to get involved with amateur astronomy during my teen years and really got interested in Variable Star Observing. I joined the AAVSO (American Association of Variable Star Observers) in 1984 during my senior year of high school. I reported variable star brightness estimates to the AAVSO through 1991, usually during breaks from college when I attended Indiana University in Bloomington. After college I drifted away from the hobby for years; mainly because I was living in apartments and had no access to an outdoor observing area. I rejoined the AAVSO in 2001 and I've been adding estimates to their century-old database ever since. 

  In addition to variable star observing I dabble in Lunar and Planetary Observing (including searches for Lunar Transient Phenomena) and Artificial Satellite Observing. I also enjoy Meteor Observing. I hope to use this blog for entries that make interesting reading for anyone who wants to check it out. I may also throw in some notes about the weather (since weather and astronomy are closely linked) and maybe a few bird sightings and other goings-on.