Posts Made By: Dave Mitsky

Three of the aurora shots that I took of the 10/30/03 aurora display have been posted at http://dvaa.org/Photos/DaveMitsky/

I hope to have the rest of the shots online before too long.

Dave Mitsky

During the work day at the ASH Naylor Observatory I set up the ASH 105mm f/4.2 Edmund Scientific Astroscan and aluminized glass solar filter on Saturday morning to show the guys AR 10484 (see http://www.spaceweather.com for further information), which has survived a solar round trip in fine fashion. We used a 32mm University Optics Koenig-II, a 26mm Tele Vue Ploessl, a 15mm Edmund Scientific RKE, a 13mm Tele Vue Ploessl, and an 8mm Brandon to view the large sunspot complex. With the Astroscan's short focal length of 445mm even the 8mm didn't produce a very large image.

I also aimed the red "bowling ball" scope at the setting Moon. The 32mm eyepiece was especially helpful in demonstrating the shadow of the secondary phenomenon as seen with an overly large exit pupil (and in this case a stopped down eye pupil).

Construction of the new roll-off roof observatory building is progressing apace (see http://www.astrohbg.org for a now outdated photo).

Dave Mitsky

I observed AR 10484 again on Monday afternoon using my 114mm f/7.9 Celestron C4.5 at 35, 53, and 72x. The active region was nearing the center of the disk and consisted of two sunspots, one of which had 4 umbral areas. It was easily visible through my solar eclipse shades at 1x.

Dave Mitsky

I observed Comet LINEAR T7 on Tuesday night from the ASH Naylor Observatory using a 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at 162, 202, and 232x. Its coma was irregular in shape and consistency, with a fairly strong central condensation. Although the transparency was mediocre, the ninth magnitude comet was seen rather easily.

Dave Mitsky

Monday night turned out to be clear despite the forecasts so I drove to the ASH Naylor Observatory. Although I would have preferred to have been at a darker site and for tonight to be clear instead due to the possibility of significant shower activity, I did nevertheless do some meteor observing throughout the night. To make a long story short the results were very disappointing. I saw no meteors at all in the early part of the night and only two during a 30 minute period running from 08:05 to 08:35 UT. The better one of the two shot directly across the radiant and was at least 0 magnitude in brightness.

Dave Mitsky

From a dark site in central Pennsylvania's Tuscarora State Forest on Thursday night (~00:30 UT 2003/11/21) I swept up the periodic comet 2P/Encke rather easily with my 101mm Tele Vue refractor working at 15x (35mm Tele Vue Panoptic). The comet was roughly between M27 and Collinder 399 at the time. I also used powers of 32 (17mm Tele Vue Nagler type 4) and 60x (9mm Tele Vue Nagler type 6). Through my friend Tony Donnangelo's 14.5" Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob at magnifications ranging from 46 (40mm Meade SWA) to 203x (9mm Nagler type 6) 2P/Encke appeared as a very large and diffuse fan-shaped glow. The best view was at 107x (17mm Nagler type 4). Comet Encke was also clearly visible through my Celestron 20x80's. We both suspected seeing it through Tony's Celestron Ultima 7x50's.

We also observed C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) and C/2001 HT50 (LINEAR-NEAT) with Tony's Starmaster. Comet LINEAR T7 was fairly bright with a condensed coma and perhaps a hint of a tail. Comet LINEAR-NEAT HT50 was very dim and quite small and looked much the same as it had a month ago.

Dave Mitsky

My friend and observing partner Tony Donnangelo and I witnessed a superb aurora on Thursday night from a dark site in the Tuscarora State Forest in central Pennsylvania near Mifflintown.

It was one of the most unusual displays that either of us had ever seen. There were some curtains and rays but the most striking features were the large patches that would appear and disappear in almost every part of the sky, somewhat like the display last month and the one in April of 2000. At times there were extremely bright patches in the east, the south, and the west. The northern sky was completely washed out by auroral activity.

The aurora became visible at 22:47 UT (5:47 p.m. EST) and persisted (in the north) until the wee hours of the morning, waxing and waning in intensity. By 22:58 it extended to the zenith. The aurora encircled the horizon and was very bright in the east in another three minutes time. Around 23:25 there were two bright patches in the southwest and west and a pink swath rose from the horizon to Capricornus. About 25 minutes later I noticed a faint ray in the south that extended from the horizon to the west of Mars. There was also a large pink ray-like swath that slanted southward from the west at an angle of about 30 degrees and reached an altitude of approximately 45 degrees above the horizon. Around 23:55 a series of 3 or more rays appeared to the east of Mars shortly after a brilliant Iridium flare occurred in the same vicinity. By 00:27 much of the activity had abated but there were still patches in the southwest and northwest. The northern sky was still aglow. Activity increased in the north later on but I was taking a much needed nap and missed most of it.

In terms of color we noted pinks, greens, blues, and whites.

I shot almost two rolls of film with my Pentax K1000 SLR during the display. With any luck I'll have some fine photos of the event.

Dave Mitsky

On a very chilly Wednesday morning I observed C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) from 6:45 to 7:30 UT with magnifications ranging from 118x to 259x using the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at the ASH Naylor Observatory near Lewisberry, Pennsylvania. The comet had a bright stellar pseudonucleus surrounded by an inner condensation and an irregular outer coma. I also noted a short tail with averted vision. The comet's motion was readily apparent during that period.

Comet LINEAR T7 was visible but just barely through the 5" /5 finder scope at 25x.

Much earlier, a calendar day as a matter of fact, I tried to catch a final look at Comet 2P/Encke without success.

After visiting a few bright deep-sky objects I observed the Moon through fleeting clouds and under somewhat turbulent skies. Rupes Recta and the area encompassing Eratosthenes, Montes Apenninus, and Archimedes captured my interest.

Mars at 259x was distinctly gibbous and tiny compared to its days of glory last August.

My views of Saturn at 118 to 202x were not as good as the night before when several pastel shades were displayed but they did have their moments. The C Ring wasn't particularly hard to see. Dione, Tethys, Enceladus, and Rhea bracketed the Ringed Planet while Titan kept its distance.

Asteroid 1 Ceres was easily swept up at 162x as it headed north westward towards Pollux.

I stayed in the French Dome long enough to watch Io be eclipsed by Jupiter at 9:28 UT.

Other celestial objects that met my telescopically enhanced gaze through the course of the session included M38, M36, M37, Rigel, M42, M43, M78, W Orionis, M76, M103, M34, the Double Cluster, Stock 2 (which was quite nice through the 5" at 25x), NGC 957, M52 and nearby Czernik 43, and Eta Persei. I used 162x for most of these observations.


Dave Mitsky

I drove to the top of a nearby hill on Friday evening to catch Mercury both naked-eye and through a 8x42 binocular at approximately 5:30 p.m. EST. Mercury was a bit more than one field of view to the southwest of Venus.

Dave Mitsky

Six more of my photos of the 10/30 auroral display have been posted at http://dvaa.org/Photos/DaveMitsky/

Dave Mitsky