2014
Thu,
May 01
I think that it is time for me to update
the diary.
I have given up visual comet hunt due to the seriously worsening sky condition since last Nov, and I now felt that my decision is correct, as the NELM near the zenith now is normally ~2m or even less at a moonless night. Visual comet hunt under such circumstance is definitely of no use, as proven by what I saw around Apr 29 midnight, when I attempted to observe comet C/2012 K1 through my 8-inch comet seeker. The comet, reported to be of ~9m and condensed, was still high up in the sky, near Alkaid, η UMa. However, no matter how hard I tried, I could see nothing. Disappointed, I had to give it up. As an alternative, I decided to focus more on doing planetary observations.
I observed Mars at around 1 a.m., Apr 19, when the sky appeared hazy, yet on the contrary, the seeing seemed steady. Both the North Polar Cap (NPC) and Hellas appeared evidently bright. The latter even pretended to be the South Polar Cap (SPC) at the first glimpse, but I was aware that owing to the viewing geometry the SPC could not be visible whatsoever. Syrtis Major was also presented, the proceeding side off which appeared somewhat brighter, perhaps cloud? There were other bright regions near the proceeding limb of the apparent disk. Utopia seemed a little bit darker than the surroundings. I made a sketch recording what I observed through the eyepiece, and after finishing the observation, I drawed a digital one based on the draft sketch.
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Unwittingly my last systematic observation of Mars was already over 4 years ago!