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2010
 

Sat, Nov 27

I went to Mt. Guizi again to observe yesterday evening. However, the sky condition was mediocre fully contaminated with smog and hereby strong scattering of city lights. I started the observation of comet 103P/Hartley through the 13.0-cm Newtonian this predawn when it turned somewhat better. Surprisingly, the comet appears really faint and diffuse and therefore I found great difficulty in discerning it by means of averted vision, which only enabled me to acquire a mere detection, with strong moonlight interference. On Nov 26.91 UT at 13x, m1 = 6.5, Dia. = &10', DC = 2.

Despite that now comet 103P is leaving further and further from us and thus its brightness declines gradually, I think I will have far more opportunities to catch it in the following days.

Later, having finished observing the comet, I joined Zhu capturing Venus and Saturn through the 21.0-cm Takahashi Mewlon Cassagrain.

Sat, Nov 20

Recently I have been preoccupied with my studies so seldom did I have enough time to update my observing diary.

Taking the advantage of close distance between CCNU, where my friend Zhu Mao is studying, who superintends all of the public telescopes, including a 21.0-cm Takahashi Mewlon Cassagrain and a Skywatcher 13.0-cm Newtonian, both possessed by his university, I went to join him to make observations every weekend if the weather was decent.

I went to the observing spot again yesterday in order to keep track of comet 103P, in spite of some cumuli in the sky. I did not begin the observation until the Moon was low in the west. Under the condition fraught with city light pollution, heavy dew, and, sometimes, clouds, the coma seems very diffuse at 21.6x, tightly next to a 9^m.4 star -- TYC 5401-2131-1, which brought me more difficulty to tell the coma's bright center. On Nov 19.86 UT, m1 = 6.3, Dia. = 14', DC = 2 through the 13.0-cm reflector.

Dawn approaching, I also tried to observe C/2010 V1 and 29P, but both were negative. If only it were totally clear! When I decided to forego, Venus was shining brightly low in the east. Seems the condition was not so bad after all had there been no clouds. At least Saturn was easily visible to naked eye when it was still low.

Since last update, totally four comet observations were made respectively on Oct 17, 31 and Nov 06 and 07 predawn. Here come all the results.

103P/Hartley

Oct 16.71 UT m1 = 5.2; Dia. = 30'; DC = 3 (8x30 binoculars; in 20x80 binoculars, Dia. = 34', DC = 4)

Oct 30.84 UT m1 = 5.8; Dia. = 33'; DC = 2/ (20x80 binoculars; interference with strong moonlight)

Nov 05.82 UT m1 = 6.0; Dia. = 18'; DC = 2/ (20x80 binoculars; haze)

Nov 06.86 UT m1 = 6.0; Dia. = 12'; DC = 2 (20x80 binoculars)

The comet appears rather bright and large even observed from a seriously light-polluted site. The best view of the comet was on Oct 17 predawn when the sky turned superb, perhaps one of the most stunning transparency around this year.

C/2010 V1 (Ikeya-Murakami)

Nov 06.91 UT m1 = 9:; Dia. = &2'; DC = 5 (21.0-cm Cassegrain, f/11.5, 81x)

It is exhilarating to hear the news that my Japanese friend Shigeki Murakami and another veteran Kaoru Ikeya have individually visually discovered a new bright comet, which later is designated as C/2010 V1 (Ikeya-Murakami). Shigeki as well as Mr. Ikeya have indeed deeply impressed me since as we all know that it is an era of digitalized and robotic surveys that seize the majority of previously unknown comets, they visual comet hunters are still industriously and infatigably searching the skies above as their purest enjoyment and bliss. They are all the greatest images in my mind.

 

The comet has evidently experienced an outburst before the discovery as evidence showed. I attempted to observe it on 6th daybreak yet without success due to heavy haze around the horizon and severe city lights. Saturn appears dim too! The next predawn conditions turned somewhat better, so I decided to take the chance. At first I could see nothing in the FOV. But later when it rose higher, two faint stars readily glimmered. I exerted myself and finally managed to see a ghost of light to the left of two stars. It is true there, rather than my illusion; then it should be the comet if the two stars correspond with the two ones near the comet that was rendered by my digital planetarium software. The twilight began unknowingly, and therefore the spot would be soon overwhelmed. Having remembered their geometrical relations, I rushed back to check its predicted position again, and my confidence grew. However, when I went outside again, the sky had already been very bright. I tried to see the suspicion along with the two stars without success. Then I slewed the scope to observe Saturn. On the way of slewing, I could see a bright star passing the FOV, furthermore, when Saturn was toggled to the FOV, its brightest satellite Titan appears manifest! Everything rightly coincided with the prediction, so I must have seen the comet! How joyous! In my memory, the coma appears condensed, despite that it is faint and only barely visible. (Sketch)

Sat, Oct 02

I went back home for some rest during the National Day holiday. Currently I am at my grandparents' new house, to which my 20cm Dob was also carried. Yesterday had the sky remained clear before the Dob was settled outside, I would have an opportunity to observe 103P/Hartley, which is moving within Cassiopeia. Unfortunately the clouds swiftly multiplied and soon the whole sky turned overcast. I had to wait for another chance after dusk.

I started my observation at around 22:40 yesterday. With aid from some planetarium software that provide me with the comet's predicted position, soon I was able to see the comet at 30x as a very diffuse but bright fuzzy object right there in the midst of numerous stars nearby. Within a time span of around 15 min that was used to adapt my eye to darkness, I can easily spotted that the comet moves really fast, as a consequence of a close encounter with our Earth. I attempted to detect whether there is any asymmetry feature of the coma, yet I failed; the coma appears perfectly round, quite large, tenuously brightening towards centre. On Oct 01.66 UT, m1 = 7.3 (using Sidgwick's Method), Dia. = 15', DC = 2. Sketch.

I ended my observation at around 00:15 today, when the comet is to occult star TYC 3659-1380-1. It is the second time that I succeeded to observe this comet since September. My last visual view was on Sept 19 predawn when I was still in Wuhan with my friend Zhu Mao. Apart from this, I and Mr. Mao managed to photograph the comet on Sept 12 predawn.

Later I observed the rising waning Moon, Jupiter, and Uranus. As seeing was decent, Jupiter shows me great chromatic features in detailed at 119x. It was a great pity that the GRS is invisible then. I could not resolve any detail within Uranus' disk, for the power was not sufficient yet.

Sat, Aug 21

I went on taking the great opportunity to observe comet 10P and comet 103P as the weather was fine.

The sky was almost crystal clear on 19^th predawn after another fierce thunderstorm touched down on previous day's mid-day. I began my observation of 103P around 02:00 am. The comet obscurely emerges as a tiny barren patch of glow in the midst of numerous dim stars at 119x by averted vision. Somehow it appears easier to see than during my last observation of it, possibly due to both the superb weather and, intrinsically, its rising brightness. Furthermore, its motion is noticeable within a time span of approximate 30 min. On Aug 18.77 UT, m1 = 12.7, Dia. = 1'.4, DC = 5.

I went on to observe 10P in Cetus, but since it is bright, I decided to catch it in a manner that is used in comet hunt -- sweeping the sky vertically. I started sweeping from an area in southern Pegasus at about 02:40 am. Over one hour later, I was able to recognize the stars that share the same FOV at 30x with the comet during my previous observation, and soon, caught sight of the comet; it is bright and thereby easy to see. Seems that if it were a new comet, I should be able to spot it individually. However, frankly speaking, I was very unfamiliar with the searching speed as well as the distance between two longitudinal searching track. I am sure if I keep practicing, things will turn much better to me.

Comet 10P shows a possibly dim broad-fan tail towards the NNE. I switched to 119x, yet, its pseudonucleus does not show up, instead, the coma only with gradual concentration towards centre. On Aug 18.83 UT, m1 = 8.7, Dia. = 9'.9, DC = 5. After finishing the observation, I photographed several celestial areas.

Last night the weather was very clear as well, but I intended to give up the opportunity. Instead, I made a single observation of 10P this predawn, yet the weather was poor: top humidity causing heavy smog among hills in the valley, as well as some high level clouds.

Today's observation of 10P was persistently influenced by thin clouds. Consequently, the coma seems not so easily visible, much diffuser. Furthermore, undoubtly, I was not able to tell the tail's direction this time. On Aug 20.84 UT, m1 = 8.5, Dia. = 6'.0, DC = 3.

Following the observation I managed to re-align the scope's optics, much better than before. By the time when I finished the collimation, the sky already had been brightening...

Wed, Aug 18

After several days' showers and overcast, eventually I had an opportunity to carry on with my comet observations this predawn. A thunderstorm has touched down my observation lot late in the previous afternoon, therefore, the humidity was high afterwards when the weather turned fine, revealing the dazzling waxing moon in the west.

I started the observation at around 02:00 am. However, as is often the case, so long as I have settled down the 20cm Dob on the roof, clouds multiplied swiftly and rolled in, and soon I was overcast. Almost half an hour later, the sky turned clear again; I was able to start observing comet 103P now. At first, after having adapted to the darkness, I detected an extremely dim tiny blob of glow right at the comet's predicted position at 119x for several times by averted vision. Meanwhile, I could tell a star of 13^m.1 close to the spot without too much difficulty. Yet as time goes by, seeing worsened, thin clouds rolled in and out that kept wasting my precious time, and more importantly, lights along a road nearby seriously influenced upon my observation, I was not able to detect it despite making my best effort. I had no other choice but to give up the observation of 103P.

Then I turned the Dob to comet 10P. Not until had I got to where the comet was, the accursed clouds rolled in again. Couples of minutes later I got to the comet's position easily. Very soon I recognize the bright coma in the FOV amid many stars at 30x. Realizing that threats from clouds were approaching again, I had to observe the comet quickly. The coma appeared faintly elongated to the N. On Aug 17.84 UT, m1 = 8.6, Dia. = 8.3', DC = 4. At the mere moment when I just finished the entire estimate, the clouds rushed in.

I ended the observation at around 04:15 am, when more and more smog was gathering in the valleys between small hills.

Sat, Aug 14

I got a second-hand 20cm Dob f/4.8 early this month from pretty kind-hearted Mr. Tin who is a veteran amateur astronomer living in Amoy. The quality of this scope is decent, despite that I should have its principal mirror recoated for it has been more than fifteen years since its initial coating after all. In order to obtain a better performance of the scope, I carried it to my grandparents' in Seoi Sing Ha in northern suburban Guangzhou where the sky is frequently better than in downtown in most cases.

I have made some comet observations in the last five nights from Aug 09 to today except Aug 12, on which it rained at daytime and turned overcast at night. The weather varied within these nights, the best of which was on 13^th, when the sky turned pretty clear from overcast, revealing the blazing Jupiter rising higher in the east above the hills. All estimates from my observations with my 20cm Dob are listed as follows:

10P/Tempel

Aug 08.85 UT m1 = 9.1; Dia. = 3'; DC = 3 (30x)

Aug 09.85 UT m1 = 8.8; Dia. = 7'; DC = 4 (30x)

Aug 10.88 UT m1 = 8.8; Dia. = 8'; DC = 4 (30x)

Aug 12.82 UT m1 = 8.6; Dia. = 11.4'; DC = 5 (30x)

Aug 13.88 UT m1 = 8.6; Dia. = 5.9'; DC = 3 (48x)

The comet is easily detectable except on 8^th and 13^th (all in UT, hereinafter), for some thin clouds influenced upon my observation and a close apparent encounter with a bright star of about 9^m. The medially-condensed coma appears large with a faint broad fan-shaped tail towards the north on 12^th when the conditions turned superb. (Sketch)

103P/Hartley

Aug 08.77 UT m1 = [12.1 (30x)

Aug 09.75 UT m1 = [12.3 (30x)

Aug 10.82 UT m1 = 12.8:; Dia. = 1'; DC = 4 (48x)

Aug 13.79 UT m1 = 12.8; Dia. = 1.2'; DC = 4 (119x)

I was not able to detect the comet on the first two nights when transparency was decent with interference from wispy thin clouds. Therefore, the faintest stars I could discern as my best effort were of only merely dimmer than 12m. On 10^th, owing to transparency turning somewhat better, only by averted vision was I eventually able to tell 'a blob of something' extremely dim exactly at the comet's predicted position in periods of good seeing. On 13^th the comet appears slightly more obvious to some extent, yet it is impossible to discern if seeing worsens. What all I could see about it is just a tiny barren obscure fuzzy round spot in the midst of many dim background stars. Despite these, I am satisfactory about the convincible result since now this comet becomes the faintest one I have ever observed. However, according to current prediction, the comet will brighten up to be of naked eyed this fall, well placed at least for observers in the northern hemisphere. So it means that I should have many opportunities to capture it in following several months.

Recent days have witnessed brisk activity of Perseids, however, since I did not paid much attention to it, I have not seen many meteorites. The brightest one flashes towards the west around the zenith and lit the whole ground during the time when I was observing comet 103P concentratedly, at around 19:40, Aug 10. Then I looked upward all at once and discovered a fairly fabulous colorful fireball, of about -8^m, but very soon it fades in the dark and all was back to normal, just leaving a faint wake weaving in the mighty starry sky, besides, as if nothing had ever occurred at all. Except for this one, other are somewhat disappointing to me. I also attempted to photograph them, yet unfortunately only some dim ones were caught... Now all the imagery are still under process, and hopefully I will upload them once finishing the work.

Tue, Jul 06

I have been busy preparing for my final examinations lately so I had given up several precious predawns with extremely transparent sky that would have enabled me to catch comet C/2009 R1 (McNaught). My last view of the comet was on Jun 18 predawn, when the sky turned superb preceding previous windy days. However, as is often the case, there was a layer of haze around the extreme low sky, despite obviously better than usual. For fear of severe extinction due to the haze, I decided to wait until 4:00 am when I rashly ran to the roofdeck of my dormitory with the 8.0-cm refracttor. Very soon I was able to lock on the comet by sweeping the scope from α Per in the faint twilight; it was pretty evident! Only if I had started earlier! Noticing that I was threatened by the rapidly brightening twilight, I had to finish all the measurements as quickly as possible. After successfully measured the coma's diameter, which was about 3', I decided to measure its visual total magnitude. Yet unfortunately, the 'qualified' comparison stars was far outside the FOV even at 21x, therefore, I had to find these comparison stars, risking losing the comet in the twilight during the procedure. Sure enough, I did lose the comet after making the first comparison. I had no choice but to state the great uncertainty of the magnitude estimate (may well be up to 0^m.5 at most but necessarily larger than 0^m.2) later in the report.

The azure sky became rather bright when I decided to complete my comet observation. Later, I leisurely observed Jupiter as well as Uranus at 150x. The seeing was average. Jupiter appeared somewhat barren at a glimpse; Uranus showed an extremely tiny disk at the highest power. At about 5:00 am I ended the observation session. On the following day predawn I only vainly attained a negative observation of the comet due to severer haze that I felt that I would not have no more opportunity, which is now confirmed by the reality.

Sat, Jun 05

I used to suppose that I would be able to observe comet C/2009 R1 (McNaught) for several times within the last days, however, I managed to observe it only once in consequence of nasty weather. Only on May 30 predawn when the sky turned relatively better without heavy smog or haze, did I successfully catch it on its way towards perihelion. m1 = 6.9, Dia. = 5'.1, and DC = 5 on May 29.84 UT at 21.4x via the 8.0-cm refractor f/7.5. Its visual total magnitude was attained with two comparison stars -- TYC 2282-1412-1 (mag(VT) = 6.269, mag(BT) = 6.694) and TYC 2295-1556-1 (mag(VT) = 7.019, mag(BT) = 7.058) applied in Sidgwick method. As the session was completed, I observed Jupiter at 150x. Surprisingly, the seeing was extraordinarily superb! The NEB seemed prominent as a deeper coloration, of which there was a relatively darker elongation zone in the middle. I ended the whole session at around 04:40 am.

I tried to observe C/2009 R1 again this predawn yet I was clouded out by thin clouds. I was only able to see stars faint to about 6m in the FOV at 21.4x. Therefore, I had to switch to Jupiter, which suffered an impact by a presently unknown object on previous day predawn. This rare event was miraculously recorded by Anthony Wesley from Australia and Christopher Go from Philippine. The seeing was average today so not many details on the Jovian disk were visible. I completed the session at 04:30 am, when the sky turned much clearer.

Thu, May 27

I visually observed overall four comets on three consecutive days from May 22 to 24 (all in UT, hereinafter). Observations of May 22 and 24 were conducted on the roofdeck of my dormitory, while the rest one of May 23 was conducted from Mt. Guizi inside Central China Normal University with my fellow Zhu Mao. The weather turned decent on May 21 following arduously unbearable nasty rainy or overcast days, however, by no means could it be deemed transparent since there always existed some fog or smog that worsened the field of view. On May 22 (May 23 predawn local time) I should have attempted to observe the rapidly brightening C/2009 R1 (McNaught) but I was indulged in the UEFA final -- Bayern München vs Internazionale Milano and finally, sadly, the Bavarians lost 0-2 to their rival. When I rushed back to the roofdeck after the match, the sky had been bright already. Here come my all observations from the three days.

C/2009 K5 (McNaught )

May 22.78 UT m1 = 8.5:; Dia. = 3'; DC = 4 (8.0-cm refractor, f/7.5, 60x)

May 23.75 UT m1 = 8.6; Dia. = 2'; DC = 5 (21.0-cm reflector, f/11.5, 81x)

May 23.80 UT m1 = 8.6; Dia. = 2'; DC = 5 (21.0-cm reflector, f/11.5, 81x)

It became hard to detect as its altitude kept turning lower, drown in light pollution despite a circumpolar object, so that even through a 21.0-cm reflector the comet was just vaguely visible under influence from smog and severer light pollution from Mt. Guizi on May 23. I re-did the estimate on 23.80 UT as the comet rose a little bit higher yet no improvement was seen. The applied comp. stars on May 23 are TYC 4522-772-1 (mag(VT) = 8.052, B - V = 0.271), TYC 4523-422-1 (mag(VT) = 8.052, B - V = 0.306), and TYC 4523-713-1 (mag(VT) = 9.050, B - V = 0.618), whereas comp. stars that were used to make brightness estimate were mistakenly abandoned after the session.

C/2009 R1 (McNaught )

May 23.84 UT m1 = 7.0; Dia. = 5.4'; DC = 6 (21.0-cm reflector, f/11.5, 48x)

May 24.85 UT m1 = 7.2; Dia. = 5'; DC = 4/ (8.0-cm refractor, f/7.5, 21x)

The comet appeared rather bright in the FOV through the 21.0-cm refractor on May 23 even though there was heavy fog along the horizon. The coma appeared elongated towards approx. p.a. 260°. On May 24, however, the comet seemed to be hard visible owing to a smaller aperture as well as influence from smog. While two comp. stars -- TYC 1734-4-1 (mag(VT) = 7.612, B - V = 0.660) and TYC 1734-1567-1 (mag(VT) = 6.702, B - V = 0.524) were used in Morris Method in the former observation, two comp. stars -- TYC 1737-2138-1 (mag(VT) = 6.681, B - V = 0.091) and TYC 1744-2461-1 (mag(VT) = 7.236, B - V = 0.396) were used in Sidgwick Method.

P/2010 H2 (Vales )

May 23.63 UT m1 = 11.3; Dia. = 1.5'; DC = 3 (21.0-cm reflector, f/11.5, 81x)

Moonlight did strongly impact my observation as the moon was close to the comet. It has been the faintest comet that I have ever observed up to date. Two comp. stars -- TYC 302-589-1 (mag (VT) = 11.322, B - V = 0.604) and TYC 302-634-1 (mag(VT) = 11.272, B - V = 0.434) employed in Sidgwick Method.

81P/Wild 2

May 23.67 UT m1 = 10.0; Dia. = 2'; DC = 4 (21.0-cm reflector, f/11.5, 81x)

Again moonlight had great impact upon the observation. Overall four comps. stars -- TYC 4981-124-1 (mag(VT) = 9.987, B - V = 0.553), TYC 4981-285-1 (mag(VT) = 10.543, B - V = 0.552), TYC 4978-737-1 (mag(VT) = 9.956, B - V = 0.249) and TYC 4978-851-1 (mag(VT) = 9.638, B - V = 0.431) were employed in Sidgwick Method to estimate comet's visual total magnitude.

During the observation of May 23, Zhu and I also photographed several deepsky objects, comet C/2009 R1 as well as Jupiter. Time permitting, these images will be fully processed soon. By the way, the SEB of Jupiter did vanish and now the NEB seems to be more evident in deeper color on the contrary!

Mon, May 17

I went to Mt. Guizi inside Central China Normal University, to the south of my university, where I joint other two fellows -- Tua Rua Tăng and Zhu Mao on May 11 evening so as to observe the (7476) Ogilsbie's occultation of 5^m.0 star HIP 69389 on May 12 predawn. The sky condition was decent with a satisfactory visibility and transparency. Before the event I successfully observed comet 81P/Wild, which I did not expect to be on my tally in this apparition, through a 13-cm reflector, f/5. In the FOV whose LM was around 13.5 at 65x, the coma appeared diffuse with a moderate central condensation, and possibly extremely vaguely elongated towards p.a. 300° that might hint the direction of its tail. DC = 4 and Dia. = 4' in my estimate. However, since I was dyed with strong city lights nearby no more detail could be discerned. Having employed the Sidgwick Method with three comparison stars in the vicinity, i.e. TYC 4978-737-1 (mV = 9.956, B - V = 0.249), TYC 4978-851-1 (mV = 9.638, B - V = 0.431), and TYC 4978-1001-1 (mV = 10.430, B - V = 0.537), I managed to estimate the comet's visual total brightness to be 9^m.8 on May 11.70 UT.

Later the clouds proliferated from northwest as the weather forecast predicted. I swiftly photographed the comet as well as its nearby star field, yet unluckily sometimes this area was under the influence with some clouds when I was photographing, which led to a limiting amounts of taken effective photos.

Comet 81P @ 2010/05/11 17:32 UT - 17:57 UT Skywatcher 13-cm R f/5 + Canon EOS 400D; 10 s x 49 frames; ISO 1600; stacked and processed with DeepSkyStacker 3.2.2, IRIS V5.56 and Fitswork V4.25; sometimes clouds interference;

Before the start of the occultation, I was also content with myself to successfully catch sight of planetary nebula M57 clearly under such light-polluted circumstances.

As the start of the occultation was approaching, Tua Rua Tăng initiated the recording of the to-be-occulted star HIP 69389 via a Takahashi Mewlon-210 8.3" f/11.5 Dall-Kirkham TLK2101 + NEQ5 Pro + WAT221S CCD at around 02:01 am after having been synchronized at about 01:45 am. Despite of the star's fluctuations observed on the screen all the time during the recording due to clouds, however, we were able to draw a conclusion that the shadow of asteroid (7476) Ogilsbie had not ever passed where we were as there was no abrupt downfall in brightness observed around the predicted time. At about 02:09 am Tua Rua Tăng stopped the recording.

Clouds multiplied rapidly and consequently nearly the whole sky was overcast. I decided to wait for any potential good chance of observing another two bright comets C/2009 K5 (McNaught) and C/2009 R1 (McNaught). Yet the former was obscured by clouds all the time and the latter stayed low where there was some interference from fog or haze so that I failed to observe both. I had to return to have a nap.

When I got outside again at around 05:15 am, it began to drizzle. On the drizzle quickly stopping a beautiful rainbow arose in the west, marking the end of our all activities. While Zhu Mao and I were busily reassembling all the equipment back into the store room, Tua Rua Tăng was heavily asleep on a foam pad on the ground!

Our equipment	This is the reflector I used.

I am with the reflector...

Dawning Sky @ 2010/05/06/ 21:30 UT

Rainbow @ 2010/05/06/ 21:35 UT

Sunrise @ 2010/05/06/ 21:39 UT

Fri, May 07

It drizzled yesterday afternoon when I was playing soccer but not very long it turned back overcast. I had not expected that I would have opportunities to make observations of comets these days for the weather has been nasty for long. Before right going to bed I suddenly detected the sky turned crystal clear after midnight! Therefore, I rashly decided to make an observation of comet C/2009 K5 (McNaught).

On coming to the roofdeck of my dormitory with the 8.0 cm - refractor, I was entirely shocked by the spectacle in my vision -- despite interference from the waxing half moon increasing, the Milky Way was incredibly evident around Scorpius and Sagittarius!! I have never seen such scene before in Wuhan; it was a great sight to behold in all scales!!

Very soon I was able to locate the comet's predicted position at 21.4x, where I detected a patch of glow in the FOV easily and immediately. Thanks to the superb sky conditions, the comet appeared far more manifest this time. The coma of 7' in diameter seemed to be strongly condensed, DC = 6. After employing three comparison stars -- TYC 4600-2466-1 (mV = 8.73, B - V = 0.146), TYC 4600-2096-1 (mV = 8.37, B - V = 0.530), and TYC 4599-2216-1 (mV = 8.06, B - V = 0.154) in Morris Method, I estimated its visual total brightness as 8^m.3 on May 06.83 UT. During the measurement, a bright orange meteorite of about 3^m flashed across the FOV northward, its train lasting for only couple seconds. Later I switched to 60x, pretty excited finding that I was able to make out stars faint to around 12^m.6 in the FOV. The coma appeared a little bit diffuser than at 21.4x, but still it was very eminent. The comet's fast motion was clearly noticeable within a span of about 30 min.

Unconsciously the astronomical twilight began and the sky dawned. The comet gradually vanished in the rapidly brightening background. I stopped my comet observation at around 4:40 am. Sketch. Subsequently I glimpsed the moon and Jupiter but noticed that the seeing was only mediocre to average.

I dismantled the refractor and rushed back to my room at about 5:10 am, when it was just merely over 10 Celsius outdoors and therefore I felt getting colder and colder maybe due to lack of sleep. Moreover, cirrus clouds started to emerge and increase.

2010/05/06/ 20:52 UT	2010/05/06 21:04 UT Jupiter visible on the right

2010/05/06/ 20:55 UT E;	2010/05/06 20:55 UT SE; Jupiter visible in the middle

Wed, Apr 28

I observed comet C/2009 K5 (McNaught) for the third time early this morning. Before I carried the 8.0 cm - refractor to the roofdeck, I was watching an exhilarating soccer match -- the second leg of the UEFA semi-final Bayern vs Lyon at Gerland. Up to the half-time interval, Bayern was taking a 1-0 lead owing to Ivica Olić's goal. I was pretty excited about this and convinced that Bayern would beat Lyon and finally head into the final.

When I got the roofdeck, I found that, unfortunately, the sky condition was mediocre with somewhat heavy smog or haze causing great scatter of city lights. Consequently the nightsky seemed repulsively reddish. Without too much difficulty I was able to lock onto the predicted position of the comet, however, I did not catch the comet since the LM was merely less than 10^m in the FOV both at 21x and 60x. I soon noticed that the winds generally turned stronger, which might help to clear smog or haze away, therefore, I decided to wait for a while. At that time I checked the match again. Enthusiastically, Olić stroke another goal for the Bayern!!

Some half an hour later when the sky condition expectedly turned a little bit better, I relocated the position where the comet was, and soon detected a very faint glow by using averted vision at 60x; I knew that had to be the target. Subsequently I attempted to make some estimates of the comet yet the sky was generally overwhelmed by the rapidly brightening twilight, hence, the comet became even far more harsh to be caught at 60x. The estimates were finished in a hurried way.

At about 4:50 am I ended the observation. I checked the match news again then. Terrific!! The match was over with Olić's hat-trick for the Bayern!!! How thrilling!!

Fri, Apr 09

I managed to observe comet C/2009 K5 (McNaught) for the second time this predawn. I got up at 3:30 am and went upstairs with the 8.0 cm - refractor f/7.5 to the roofdeck of my dormitory at around 4:00 am after careful preparation for the observation. The outdoor temperature, which was only 10 Celsius, along with a wind speed averaged at approximately 3 meters per second, made me feel wintry. Except for the city lights that dyed the sky somewhat reddish and the falcate waning moon rising in the east and hence bringing slightly increasing light pollution, the sky conditions remained excellent.

Very soon I got to the given position of the comet, where there are abundant of stars since it is drown in the Milky Way, by means of star-hopping from Vega. My eyes having been entirely adapted to the darkness, I was able to identify a fuzzy patch of glow at the right position at about 4:15 am. Without much difficulty I confirmed its reality instead of any potential optical illusion. Comet estimates were measured as soon as I could to avoid astronomical twilight influence, which was predicted to commence at around 4:45 am. Finally on Apr 08.86 UT at 21.4x, m1 = 8.4 measured by means of Sigdwick Method with three comparison stars in the vicinity of the comet applied, namely, TYC 2681-380-1 (mV = 8.74, B - V = 0.631), TYC 2677-1071-1 (mV = 8.09, B -V = 0.522), and TYC 2681-1338-1 (mV = 8.36, B - V = -0.063); Dia. = 5' and DC = 4. The motion was evidently detected within a span of half an hour. At about 4:51:30 am, a bright whitish meteor, approximately 5^m, happened to flashed across the FOV from cir. p.a. 350° to p.a. 170°. Later after I switched an eyepiece to higher power, I found that, astoundingly, stars faint to 12^m.1 in the FOV was able to be visible! The coma appeared even more obvious; it was round, moderately condensed, without any detail that could be made out. Digital sketch of comet C/2009 K5.

Unconsciously as the twilight began, the sky turned enthrallingly purple. I finished the observation after an inadvertent glimpse at the moon to enjoy the fascinating earthshine at 5:15 am.

Sun, Mar 28

I successfully observed comet C/2009 K5 (McNaught) this predawn, however, I did not attain its visual total magnitude for the comet disappeared in the twilight rapidly. Here is the whole story to be unfolded.

I got up with my alarm going off at 3:30 am. It was later proved to be a fault that I should have made full preparation for my predawn observation before sleeping. After having finished all of my preparation, I went upstairs with a heavy case containing miscellaneous devices of the borrowed Skywatcher ED 80 mm refractor, f/7.5 at nearly 4:30 am. As soon as I settled down on the roofdeck, I assembled the refractor and pointed it to the predicted position of comet C/2009 K5, quite near open cluster OCL 113 in Sagitta. At that moment, the gibbous moon was setting merely above the horizon, and therefore only city lights influenced upon my observation, yet owing to the excellent transparency, the sky still remained enjoyable and starry to some extent. Without difficulties soon I got to the approximate position of the comet and started to view at 21.4x to find out if anything fuzzy was there. But since I did not got its exact coordinates, I had to picked it up from innumerous stars in the FOV, for the comet was drown in the milky way. I soon noticed a dim and diffuse patch of light with central condensation near 7^m.60 TYC 1609-816-1. I suspected it might be some nebula, or even just a fabricated very dim star, so I decided to search in a larger area yet without detecting anything else comet-like. For fear of being tricked, I rushed downstairs to my room to have a check of the star chart in the vicinity of the comet. It took me a while to save the images in my mobile phone with which I could conveniently consult them every time problem arose during the session. Then I rushed back and relocked the suspect again in the FOV, I knew it need to the comet after checking the chart. The comet was a diffuse and medially condensed glow. But soon it disappeared in the background due to the rapidly brightening twilight. I immediately substituted another eyepiece -- Plössl 10 mm to have a higher magnification. Thereby the comet was faintly recovered, with fully careful estimates of its DC and Dia. done. Later, however, I ridiculously mistakenly became suspicious that whether the glow was comet indeed or not for no reason. I rechecked the star chart, and it suddenly dawn on me that I was searching 'a bit off'. (In reality I was observing rightly the comet at first.) This time, I could not resolve anything comet-like except for stars nearby, and very soon, many of the faint stars were drown in the twilight. As time elapsed, the whole observation was ruined. The session had to come to an end at some 5:50 am.

When finished checking the star chart again, I got shocked: how stupid I was! I wrongly regarded three stars displayed in the mobile screen, which were TYC 1609-562-1, TYC 1609-556-1, and TYC 1609-1273-1 as another three stars in the FOV -- TYC 1609-1060-1, TYC 1609-796-1, and TYC 1609-466-1, respectively. No wonder I detected that the star chart has 'missed' star TYC 1609-1662-1. All errors were due to such a stupid misrecognition! I was pretty regretful, for I understood that a series of relentless rainy days would be following according to the weather forecast, and surely my next observation of this comet would be made at least a week later. As a matter of fact I used to envisage making an attempt to observe Don Machholz's newly discovered comet C/2010 F4 (Machholz), but the area was blocked by a piece of woods of Platanus in the northeast. Furthermore, I did not even complete the observation of comet C/2009 K5... Now comet C/2010 F4 is getting dimmer and dimmer, therefore, I am afraid I will never have chance to capture it in the future unless God gives me a tremendous telescope. Digital sketch of comet C/2009 K5.

All of the photos below showing the brightening of twilight were taken by the camera attached to my mobile phone.

2010/03/28/ 21:45 UT	2010/03/28 21:49 UT	2010/03/28 21:51 UT

2010/03/28 05:53 UT	2010/03/28 06:01 UT

 

Wed, Mar 04

I managed to make another observation of Mars on the early morning of Feb 26. The temperature was of great comfort, in that it rose back to 24 Celsius or thereabout again, however, this also assisted the annoying swarms of mosquitoes to carry out much more brutal assaults upon me. I had to bear them and just to stay calm in every second during the observation, which started from 2:20 am, so as to resolve the faintest details in the gibbous apparent disk of Mars within my capacity. Evidently the seeing on Mars this night was better than last time when I observed it; it averaged around II Antoniadi in most time, and sometimes it could reach I Antoniadi perfectly. Under such superb circumstances, I was able to see the brilliantly whitish North Polar Cap with ease. Tightly lacing round the cap, a darker region -- Mare Boreum was also detectable. Mare Acidalium, Nilokeras, Niliacus Lacus, along with some other dark regions that should have been disintegrated parts in higher resolution seemed to be a whole blurred dark region at 140x extending from Mare Boreum near the north preceding limb. Yet there were slight contrast inside the 'integrated' region: Mare Acidalium appears fainter than any other regions insides, a merely brighter tiny Achillis Pons lurked between Mare Acidalium and Niliacus Lacus, and Lunae Lacus, Achillis Fons, Idacus Fons along with Nilikeras fabricated to be a whole dim extension from Mare Acidalium and Niliacus Lacus. Near the equatorial preceding limb, a bright region -- Chryse was well noticeable. Further in the south, Mare Erythraeum appeared to be the darkest region inside the apparent disk. Solis Lacus together with Nectar appeared to be a subtle extension from Protei Regio that was to the southwest of Mare Erythraeum towards the central meridian. Bosporos Gemmatus went on elongating towards the south following limb and its extension finally met and ended at the terminator. As is often the case, I sketched what I saw during the session. Sketch. There were several interruptions when I was observing but fortunately all were only hurried passers-by. The observation ended at around 3:15 am, and subsequently, the transparency went on further deteriorating and eventually extremely heavy fog descended upon the city abundant with artificial lights.

Sat, Feb 20

I returned from my hometown last night after Spring Festival. It had been uncomfortably gloomy for a whole week, overcast for most cases, sometimes drizzle, after series of extremely powerful winter monsoons swept Southern China in mid Feb, which caused incredibly drastic decline of the air temperature: from the maximum 30 Celsius beforehand, to less than 10 Celsius afterwards. As the warm air above the South China Sea was to retake South China and thereby brought me a singularly clear sky, I managed to capture a rare chance to observe Mars early this morning. I started my observation of Mars at about 3:00 am when Mars was setting lower and lower in the west. Hence, the image was strongly worsened by interference from atmospheric turbulence at 140x; the seeing was estimated to be IV Antoniadi in most cases, and it never surpassed III Antoniadi. I had to enjoying a boiling Mars... Despite such poor circumstances, the North Polar Cap was still evidently visible. When the seeing turned a bit superior to average level, I could make out the waning planet with a darkened following limb (western limb or celestial east), a narrow dimmer region around the North Polar Cap -- Mare Boreum, a small bright region tight to the preceding limb in the northern hemisphere close to the equator -- possibly Ganges, and a long tilted dimmer region in the south of the disk, which perhaps consists of, from east to west, Mare Sirenum, Solis Lacus, Bosporos Gemmatus, Protei Regio, etc., and these markings should have been resolved at this magnification if the seeing were fine enough. Besides, I could attain nothing due to the horrible seeing. A sketch of Mars was made during the observation. This was my first 'systematic' observation of this planet since Nov 2005. The observation ended at about 3:45 am.

Fri, Jan 29

I have been active in making observations since last Oct unexpectedly yet seldom did I get enough time to update my observation log due to my busy study in university. Here make up my all of my recent observations.

Fri, Jan 15 2010

I specifically made an expedition to Mangshi (or 'Dehong' in the other form) in Yunnan Province for the annular solar eclipse on Jan 15. After a day's trip in Ruili, where is situated near the borderline between China and Myammar and would have enabled me to enjoy a perfect annularity in terms of duration and, the most important element, weather, I had to go back Mangshi by taxi for the sake of taking the departure flight the next day in nearest distance, yet this actually lurkingly marked my great pity when recalling afterwards. Along the road to Mangshi the weather was superb so I was really convinced that a great victory would undoubtfully come to me under such excellent circumstances. After the arrival at about 13:00, I tested my equipment, namely, Canon EF 70-200 mm f2.8 lens + Canon Extender EF 2x + Canon EOS 30D + Gitzo G1228 MK2 tripod and rested a while in the hotel.

I went to a wide square in the NW of the city, where I would enjoy the whole process of the annular eclipse, with all of my equipment at some 14:30. Looking around I found that the thick altocumulus clouds very low the horizon in all directions might threat me, but at least I remained sanguine. In order to shield me from the torrid sun I had to use a piece of whitish towel taken from the hotel to drape over my head. I made more tests of my equipment, and then the eclipse started unconsciously around 15:03, as I could discern a small scrap of the solar disk in the lower right eclipsed via the camera lens. The partiality was somewhat humdrum, yet it was still interesting to witness the entire process of the lunar silhouette generally eclipsed a squad of small sunspots around 16:13. As time passed and the eclipse progressed, the temperature evidently decreased and the brightness of sky background also went faint, furthermore, unfortunately, the clouds increased as well, which did become a real threat to me despite that the sun still remained intact by the clouds; I kept praying for a successful observation of the eclipse, at least a successful one of the annularity. However, things went athwart in fact: merely a few seconds prior to the commencement of the annularity, a mass of thick altocumulus clouds rambling leisurely eastwards obscured it entirely at about 16:38 and thus the cheers from the resident around generally faded out disappointingly. I had no choice but to swear at the cloud fiercely in my mind. As if the cloud had winced a little bit, a dazzling ring of fire emerged splendidly shortly after the second contact but still shrouded in the cloud. Therefore, all of my settings employed to capture the annularity had to change evanescently all the time; sometimes I filtered the Baader solar filter, which I used in last July during the TSE 2009, when the cloud turned thinner, but sometimes I had to unfilter the lens as the cloud got thicker. I kept being afflicted by the devil, until, after the transient generosity, the clouds refused to concede to me; the event got obscured again. I discovered that had I been in a place just a few kilometres away to the SW I would have enjoyed the marvelous sight, since there was no more clouds in lower altitude. I became numb without albeit being extremely annoyed. If only I had remained in Ruili!

Approximately half an hour later the cloud moved away in the end, revealing a golden glittering crescent sun. Thereafter the sky turned crystal clear without any clouds, as if no clouds had ever existed before. It was really hard to imagine that I had failed to behold the annularity under such optimum circumstances. Overwhelmed by grief, I stayed to capture the sun till the partiality ended at around 18:03. In fact I have timed the event, but now it seemed to be meaningless already. The next day I left for Wuhan by aeroplane for the final examinations.

Eclipse Timing Form:

DATE: 2010/01/15
LOCATION: Mangshi Square, Dehong, Yunnan Province, China
Geographical co-ordinates (if known): φ = 24°26'48.51"N, λ = 98°34'23.39"E, elev. = 888m
INSTRUMENT USED (Details):
    Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 set to 200mm + Canon EF Extender 2x + camera tripod
_____________________________________________________________________________

RECORDED TIME OF EVENTS:
08:38:31.85 UTC    C2    N
10:05:42.62 UTC    C4    N

Personal Equation (Reaction Time) if known: 0.24s
Method of Timing: analysis of voice recording via the software GoldWave

OBSERVATIONAL COMMENTS:
    Time signal was received by calling to the National Time Service Centre. Clouds must have negative influence upon the timing of the second contact. The third contact was invisible due to clouds. The recorded time excludes the personal equation.

	How promising the two weather forecasts were! I have no intention of condemning Quanzhi. Eh, maybe I am the cloud maker?

• Tue, Nov 24 2009

I managed to observe the nova V496 Sct in the evening on the roofdeck of my dormitory with aid from Hsiao Wang, who was also an amateur astronomer from Liaoning Province in my university, that he borrowed me a 80mm-refractor f/7.5. On Nov 24.4479 UT, the nova was estimated as a 7^m.6 star at 21.4x in the FOV by means of applying three comparison stars in the vicinity, viz. SAO142518 (mV = 7^m.0), SAO142567 (mV = 7^m.8), and SAO142612 (mV = 7^m.2). Sketch. Having glimpsed at the moon, Jupiter as well as M31, I finished my observation at about 20:00.

• Mon, Nov 23 2009

I attempted to observe V496 Sct = Nova Scuti 2009 with my 10x50 binoculars in the evening on the roofdeck unsuccessfully since the target was low in the west where the sky was severely stained with strong city lights. I knew the news about this nova just two days earlier when I returned home in Guangzhou for my cousin's wedding. The nova is discovered by H. Nishimura from Miyawaki, Kakegawa, Japan, on 2009 Nov 8.370 UT in the images taken via a 120-mm camera lens + unfiltered CCD at the magnitude of 8.8. Later spectroscopic confirmations indicate a nova of Fe II-type judging from the presence of Fe II lines in its spectrum. Besides, multiple emission lines with P Cygni profiles including the H-Balmer series, O I were revealed. Observers state that no unambiguous progenitor appears on a red DSS plate taken on Aug 13 1996. For those who are interested more information about the nova can be found in AAVSO Alert Notice 412.

• Wed, Nov 18 2009

I went to Moshan Park located to the south of East Lake in Wuhan with other two fellows for the climax of Leonid. After climbing over a wall which actually prevented people from entering the park without buying tickets, we camped on a lawn environed with dense wood. All of us were sanguine that we would succeed in witnessing the climax undoubtfully since the weather was pretty excellent, excluding the freezing temperature, and the limiting magnitude was reckoned to be some 6.0 near the zenith despite situated in the suburban area. Having settled down my package, I was preoccupied with testing a Canon EOS 450D camera borrowed from my schoolmate, however, a tripod used to mount the camera did give me much confusion for it was so light that every time I photographed I would always obtain a very blurred image as a result of vibration. Soon I found out the solution to solve this with binding a boulder to the tripod, nevertheless, there arose another problem: the Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5 lens abnormally refused to work in infinity focus to show sharp stars: the focus ring was rotated to end already, unless a longer focal length, namely, f > 70mm, was utilized perhaps due to the intensely cold surroundings and hence the frost on the lens. Luckily things did not become insurmountable as I could still obtain excellent images if a longer focal length was applied; I myself was supposed to be able to obtain abundant consequences both in visual observing and in photographing. Suddenly I noticed two tightly consecutive strong glares that lit the whole lawn at about 23:30 when I was looking for a gadget that fell into the grass. It must be a fireball! Immediately I looked upwards, but no wake was detected at all. I asked my friends about it but only one of them responded a similar indirect witness. Then I decided to rest for a while in the camp to avoid potential fatigue during my formal observation of the climax.

It was atrocious to rest in a camp that was actually used in summer, as I discovered that I was threatened by shimmery rime around: they had successfully invaded into the camp unconsciously when I woke up. To make matters worse, no sooner had I crawled outside at about two o'clock, I found myself totally overcast. Despite keeping optimistic about the weather, the reality did strike all of us heavily. Time elapsed as we stayed in the camps, sometimes we ate, and sometimes we fell in sleep unwittingly. Finally the brightening twilight announced our great failure. Nothing more did we have to do, but just to reassemble all of our luggage and went back after half past seven. I went to my class after I devoured some snack in my dormitory.

 

 

Group Photo (from left to right):  I, Kai Yan, KaiNan Mao, and Mao's girl friend

 

ISO 800 Lens: Sigma 18-200mm f3.5 set to 78mm and f/5.7 Exposure time: 32s Notes: the only preserved test image captured that night; undarkfielded and unflatfielded;

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