The Moon and Uranus

Tonight, September 14-15, 2008 of the Julian, Uranus may be located a couple of degrees south of the Moon. Two degrees is close. Considering the Moon is full, or nearly full, and bright, I shall probably require a filter.

This morning, I have printed out a Cartes du Ciel map which indicates the location of these twain heavenly bodies at 11:02PM tonight. Employing the printed Cartes du Ciel map for reference I have plotted the location of Uranus and the Moon onto Page 76 of the Pocket Sky Atlas. I used a pencil. Later, I shall erase those particular indicators of where the Moon and Uranus may be tonight from Page 76 of the Pocket Sky Atlas. No telling when those twain heavenly bodies shall be at those locations anon. No point keeping the pencil marks after tonight.

Cartes du Ciel shows stars down to about 6.5 magnitude. The Pocket Sky Atlas shows stars down to about 7.6 magnitude. Uranus is about 5.6 magnitude. Knowing all this information and having handy access to both these maps may allow me to espy Uranus, tonight!

OK! The equipment I am fixing to use is my Lomo 133mm. I shall also need a filter. My filter set consists of 6 or 7 variously colored Celestron filters made in Taiwan plus a clearly labeled Moon filter. The reason I have 6 or 7 color filters is, the seventh filter container box is empty. Yet, I suspect the filter that goes in that box is screwed into an eyepiece that I have not used for a couple of years. I need to find that filter. That missing filter may be the very one I need to look up your Uranus.

But more likely, all I need is the Moon filter. Tonight, the Moon is almost full. The fact is, by tomorrow morning, September 15, the Moon shall be entirely full. So besides potentially espying Uranus, I may observe the Moon as it waxes from almost full at 11:59PM to full at about 12:01AM.

But getting back to filters. I got all these filters at the same time a while back. I “won” them on EBAY. They were really cheap. All the colored ones have information printed on the filter ring. The language may be Elvish. I must heat the ring over a stove burner before the printing is readily apparent. After translation from the Elvish or Chinese, my filters read, Celestron, No., for example, 80A, Taiwan.

But the Moon filter is different. It has a big fat ring corresponding to a diminished field of view with Moon clearly printed on the front of the big fat filter ring top. Hold it. I need to go find the missing filter.

Jeez Louise! Here it is, another Moon filter. Now I remember. One Moon filter came with the cheap color filter set, and the other one came with some other astronomical equipment as part of a package deal. In any event, now each box has a filter.

Hmm. My Moon filters look identical. A little research on the internet identifies them as Celestron Moon filters. Mine are dark green. That means 17-18% transmission and a green moon. Hmm.

Just about all the rest of the cheap Moon filters are grey and transmit at 13%. But there are also some moon and neutral density filters that cost a lot. Because they cost a lot, the associated information for the expensive Moon filters does not necessarily include a transmission %. That is interesting. Er. There are also variable polarizing filters that allow adjustment of light throughput.

Well. It’s too late to order an expensive Moon or neutral density filter or variable polarizer. I shall have to make do with one of my cheap green Moon filters. I wonder. What if I stacked my cheap Moon filters. Would I get a transmission of 8.5-9%? Well. Stacking is impossible because my Moon filters are only threaded on one side. So that’s out.

The reason, I suspect, the Celestron moon filters have a higher transmission % than the grey filters is because the Celestron moon filters wind up with average amateur astronomers who purchase small aperture telescopes, like for example, 90mm Maksutovs or 80mm refractors. Those little telescopes need lots of light. So a low transmission moon filter might darken them up too much.

In summary, I have my maps and my Moon filter. I am ready to espy Uranus.

By 5AM tomorrow morning the Moon and Uranus shall be approaching the western horizon, behind the barn. Simultaneously, Sirius the Dog Star shall be fairly high in the east. It is about time I split Sirius the Dog Star.

What I may do is go to bed after I espy Uranus, then get up at 4AM. That way I can check out some heavenly bodies in Perseus, Taurus, then, Auriga, Orion as I await the rising of Sirius the Dog Star. Sirius B also known as the Pup, the faint companion of Sirius the Dog Star, should be about 8 arc seconds from the primary by now in this year of the Julian, 2008. I shall try for the Pup in the Lomo with a 6mm UO ortho. If that does not work, I shall go to the 4mm UO ortho.

Out I went into the brightly lit back yard. Because patience is not one of my virtues, I arrived early. There is Hercules, I thought to myself. Perfect viewing position. I may as well try to espy NGC 6210 before the Moon comes up over the hackberry (Celtis laevigata).

Yes. There it is. NGC 6210, barely recognizable as a planetary when employing the Orion Ultrablock with 12.5mm UO ortho. Otherwise, it looks like a low magnitude star. The Moon coming up over the hackberry does not help with the nebulosity of NGC 6210.

Whoa! It is still too early to try for Uranus. Better espy Jupiter awhile. I know, I thought to myself, I shall try out a bunch of my cheap filters on Jupiter.

Buh! Jupiter is washed out by the Moonlight and intermittent high clouds. The only filter that seems to perk Jupiter up is the #12. Even so, I can barely espy anything outside the two big equatorial belts. Man that Moon is bright. Io, Jupiter’s closest moon is about to pass either in front of or behind Jupiter. I don’t know which.

Dern it. I need to figure out which of these Gallileo’s Moons is which. The reason is, the one closest to Jupiter is bright orange. I need to at least know which one that is. Io!

Yes. The Moon is bright. I can read the larger print on my maps by moonlight. Mercy! I better go inside. I shall play Pin Ball Space Cadet until 11AM. I need a grape popsickle.

Later, after enjoying a delicious grape popsickle and a desultory game of Pin Ball Space Cadet I was all set to espy Uranus. Out I went.

Good Goddess! Where’s my sun glasses? The Moon was that bright. Shadows, cast by the Moon were literally everywhere. But alas. If I was to seek out Uranus, I would have to get out in the moonlight, not merely skulk in some shady nook or cranny. Plus, I don’t have any sunglasses, anyway.

My original plan was to just put the finder a little ways off the bottom of the Moon and track around until I espied Uranus. That turned out to be impossible because the Moon in the finder scope like to blinded me. Dern it! This is crazy, I thought. Plus, the moon glow was so bright in the finder that I had to press my eye right onto the ocular before I could cut the sheen and see anything.

I need a new plan. Where is Fomalhaut? There Fomalhaut is. Good old Fomalhaut.

Fomalhaut, as many average amateur astronomers know, is also known as Alpha (α) Piscis Austrinii. It is the only bright star in the southeast sky in these parts at this time. I decided to start my journey to Uranus from Fomalhaut, then work my way north.

Luckily, going north from Fomalhaut I could just espy Skat, Delta (δ) Aquarii in the binoculars, awash in moon glow. Then, espying a little ways further northeast, the same binoculars barely revealed the Psi (ψ) Aquarii triplets.

Carefully noting the location of the Psi (ψ) triplets as revealed by the binoculars, I adjusted the Lomo's view to approximate that location. Luckily there they were in the finder. Then, once I figured out which way to go to get to Chi (χ) Aquarii, I headed to Chi. Once I found Chi it was only a short hop to Phi (φ) Aquarii.

Yet I was getting closer and closer not only to Uranus, but also to the Moon. The glow in the finder was terrible. My pupil had to be stuck to the ocular glass to see dark. Yikes! There is a pretty bright star just east of Phi. That must be the little double indicated on page 76 and located just west of the pencil mark indicating the approximate location of Uranus.

Yes. I was close enough to Uranus for government work. So after I centered the bright little star in the finder, I switched from the finder to the cheap 32mm plossl eyepiece. Ha! That is better. So long as I keep the dang Moon out of the FOV I can see all righty.

I knew I was close to Uranus. But before I espied for Uranus, I needed to make sure the bright star was a bright star and not Uranus. I switched to the 12.5mm UO ortho. It is a star all righty. Plus, it is orange and has diffraction rings. Should I try to split it. No! I have bigger fish to fry. On to Uranus!

Then I chanced another look through the finder. The next brightest object to the east had to be Uranus. I centered that object in the finder.

Hmm. I need to switch back to the cheap 32mm plossl. The 32mm plossl revealed a bright spot. After carefully moving the bright spot to a location that would provide it with a trajectory that might eventually intersect the middle of the FOV, I hurriedly grabbed up my 9mm Ortho and switched it with the cheap 32mm plossl. Bingo! Yep. There is Uranus.

I watched Uranus intently for maybe ten minutes before I got tired of it, a bluish-green spheroid hustling across the FOV. Then, I watched Uranus intently for maybe three minutes with the 9mm ortho stuck in a 1.8x barlow. The only difference was, with the barlow, Uranus was slightly bigger and fuzzier and hustled along lots faster. In addition, I did not imagine any moons around Uranus like I had with the earlier view.

Yet now I have espied Uranus for certain. The Moon filters, by the way, were useless. Also, when I went back out at 4AM, the only stars I could see were off north. The east and south was entirely cloudy. The Pup must await another night.

Back to bed I went. There, in my little bed, safely ensconced upon the Ample Bosoms of the Goddess, tucked under my special wool Druid blanket, I dreamed about the Uranusians.

The Uranusians are a happy, carefree assemblage of species, all well-adapted to the rigors of life on Uranus. Yes. There all those Uranusians are, patiently awaiting the next vent event. Once the vent event occurs, there is no pushing, shoving and hollering. Each Uranusian politely gets a fair share from the vent, then goes off to enjoy his, her or its fair share, perhaps partaking of that fair share in company or in solitude.

Then, after a refreshing and delicious meal, all the Uranusians play games, study or nap until the time arrives for the next free vent event. What a life! How happy and carefree the lives of those Uranusians are.

Neptune

Now that I have successfully espied Uranus, I may go in search of Neptune if these clouds ever clear off. No rain, plenty clouds. Hurricane, no rain.

No. Neptune shall not be espied by me this night, September 15-16 of the Julian, 2008 Or maybe ever. I could easily learn that my time has run out, tomorrow. Remember. It is a shitty year. No rain. Too many Republicans. Too many liars and gluttons.

Neptune would have provided a nice distraction from all that but for the clouds. Yet I can see that Neptune is harder to espy than Uranus. That is because Neptune’s magnitude is only about 7.6 putting Neptune at the feint end of the stars indicated in the Pocket Sky Atlas. What if, when I find the approximate locale of Neptune, that area has a bunch of magnitude 7-8 stars all over that place? Then, what will I do?

Right now Neptune is situated less than two degrees west of 42 Capricorni right next to a magnitude 7 star. This fact is now indicated in my personal copy of the Pocket Sky Atlas in pencil, on page 77. Later, I may erase the pencil mark. But maybe not.

How fast does Neptune move relative to its apparent starry neighbors. I just cycled through a couple of days of Cartes du Ciel maps. Neptune did not move much. Maybe I can leave that pencil mark where it is until the skies clear. Maybe, in that time, Neptune shall stay within the bounds of that pencil mark.

The dilemma my noggin is contemplating relative to the Neptune pencil mark reminds me of the Uranus and Moon marks on page 76. I have not erased those marks yet. What if, instead of erasing those marks, I left those marks for posterity? Yes, on the margin I could make a note including the name and the date. On this date of the Julian and Druid calendars, Crumby Ovate espied the Moon and Uranus at the indicated locations.

Yes. If the Uranusians ever visit Earth, perhaps one of those Uranusians would be interested to discover where its home planet was located on that particular date. Then that archaeological minded Uranusian finds my Pocket Sky Atlas. Later, that Uranusian gets a publication out of the deal, becoming rich and famous, making Uranusian archaeological history.

Ha! I better pencil that note in right now, before I forget.

Ho hum. Now is the afternoon of Day 271, DY 2. I visited the doctor again today. My infection has come back. Now I am taking huge doses of steroids and an antibiotic that is supposedly effective against an anaerobe, Peptostreptococcus sp. Consider the sp.. They don’t know what species this bacterium is. Only the genera. Ha! I am probably doomed. But what the heck. I am doomed anyway.

Since I am fixing to die anon, these clouds need to give me a break and move off so I may espy Neptune. Also, my Lumicon Oxygen III filter that I ordered before I knew I was fixing to die needs to hurry up and get here. Jeez Louise! I already paid for that item. Surely the Merciful Goddess shall spare me long enough to use it at least once.

Matter of fact, I may just order a 30 inch Obsession Newtonian and a Denkmeier Binocular Photon Machine. That way the doctors and the undertakers won’t get all my money. And, with any luck, I might expand my average astronomical horizons pre mortem.

Yesterday evening, Day 272 of DY 2 or September 16, 2008 of the Julian, I headed out to the shed where I keep my Lomo 133. I keep my Lomo out in the shed to facilitate an activity average amateur astronomers refer to as Grab and Go. But I discovered long ago, that the Lomo’s German Equatorial Mount (GEM) is heavy. Plus the tripod legs sticking out at angles may trip an average amateur astronomer up. About the furthest an average amateur astronomer like me needs to Grab and Go with that rig is maybe 10 cubits. The fact is, 10 cubits is a stretch, when Grab and Go, goes along in the shadowy environment of the shed and under the shed porch roof.

Besides moving the Lomo 10 cubits, Grab and Go now includes putting up black plastic on wires I have strung between two of the porch roof posts and one of the porch roof posts and a tree. The black plastic once hung up, interdicts the neighbor’s light pollution that would otherwise shine directly on me and mine. My neighbor’s employ industrial strength night lights off to the north and west. The black plastic takes care of that, keeping those light paths from heading directly into a telescope optical tube, eyepiece, finder or my eyes.

How much plastic are we talking about here? Well, the west light blocker is about 20feet long and six feet high once hung over the wire. The north light blocker is about 10 feet wide and 6 plus feet high.

I point all this out for the benefit of the average amateur astronomer wishing to do Grab and Go in a light polluted environment. Grab and Go may get complicated. The black plastic is worth the effort, though. Otherwise, mass quantities of annoying light pollution goes straight into my eyeballs.

A tip for native plant gardeners. The original job of the black plastics was, smother and bake or boil the bermudagrass. Nothing kills bermudagrass though. Much like my unknown bacterium, when you got, you got it. The black plastic works better for light pollution.

Anyway, for a little while the sky cleared off in a patch from Fomalhaut to Jupiter, intermittently between 9:30-11-30 PM. Consequently, this average amateur astronomer was able to get two looks at Neptune, then located about 1.5 degree west of 42 Capricorni.

I was fearful that the spot at the designated location would contain between 3 and 100 low magnitude stars that would have to be sorted through before Neptune could be positively identified. There is a historical precedent for that. Yet, for a wonder, the Lomo finder revealed an image around 42 Capricorni that looked just like that same spot as depicted on p. 77 of the Pocket Sky Atlas. The only difference, the image was reversed, left to right and the pencil mark indicating Neptune was missing. Other than that, identical. So Neptune turned out to be really easy. The dopey 40mm plossl showed it. So did the 12.5mm ortho, the 9mm ortho and the 7-22mm zoom.

Neptune is not the most interesting heavenly body I have ever espied. Neptune is not even as interesting as Uranus. Yet I may attempt to espy Neptune twice, employing the Great Red Tube. But I am skeptical of any interest level quantum leap even given the Great Red Tube. However, I might succeed in espying a Neptunian moon, or a Uranusian moon in the Great Red Tube.

Now, thanks to the timely and merciful downgrade of Pluto, I have espied all the planets of this solar system. Praise the Goddess!