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Meteor Watch cloud and meteor status May 23/24, 2014
May 24, 5;33 a.m. EDT
Just got back from the Dune Climb. Yes Virginia there are Camelopardalids. Just not many of them. I saw about 10 meteors overnight with just over half Camelopardalids. Now I was busy with other things, running the star party. However it seemed that of the ones I saw, there were a better an average, compared to the Perseids, number of bright ones. One also left a smokey train that was visible for a few seconds. I didn’t have my binoculars with me to view it longer. But it was impressive. We had maybe 40-50 folks come out, coming and going over the night, with about 11 sticking it out to the bitter end at 4 a.m.
May 23, 5:32 p.m. EDT
Weather is still great. Picked up a tweet saying the the Camelopardalids are being picked up via the radio reflection of their ionized trains.
I’m going to head out in a half hour to the Visitors Center (see below) for the talk and to pick up some traffic cones.
May 23, 12:45 p.m. EDT
The weather is holding. The forecast is for clear skies through Sunday daytime. It should be a great Memorial Day weekend. For those venturing out to observe the meteor storm (we hope) dress warmly. The temperatures in northern Michigan will drop to the mid 40s. I plan to bring a light coat and my winter coat. For those who wish to lie on the ground to see the sky show bring two blankets one under you and one over you. It will get dewy. Hat, gloves and a thermos of warm drinks will also be welcome. Winter boots might be welcome for those who tend to get cold feet. Meteor watching is not an active pursuit, so you may want to walk around or climb up the dune a ways to keep warm. Remember there’s a talk by astronomer Tyler Nordgren at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Philip A. Hart Visitor Center near the corner of M72 and M22 in Empire at 7 p.m. Sunset will be at 9:15 p.m.. The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society (GTAS) will be ready to observe the planets at the Dune Climb by 10 p.m.
May 22, 11:00 p.m. EDT
This is a pre-post entry. The blog will be published at noon on the 23rd and be updated as necessary. New updates will appear above older ones. I may also tweet. My twitter handle is @robertcmoler. The hashtag for the meteor shower appears to be #Camelopardalids. I hope you’re a good speller. The National Weather Service for tomorrow (Friday) and tomorrow night is for decreasing clouds during the day and mostly clear tomorrow night. Anttilla Danko’s Clear Sky Chart for the Leelanau School’s Lanphier Observatory also shows clear skies for the night of the 23rd/24th at this time. The observatory is located a few miles northeast of the Dune Climb area. New to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore? Here’s their website: http://www.nps.gov/slbe/index.htm Here’s a link to the map of the park. The Dune Climb is at points 7 & 8 on highway M109 just south of Glen Haven.
12/20/10 – 12/21/10 Live eclipse blogging
9:47 p.m. EST: It started out clear, but by 9:30 p.m. we’re getting some light cloud. I’m staying home for this one near Traverse City, Michigan. Below is my 9:30 p.m. picture:
The full moon 12/20/10 9:30 p.m. EST through light clouds
My equipment is simple. I’m using my Canon A570 IS camera with 2X telephoto in manual mode.
11:23 p.m. EST: It’s hazing over. The moon looks better than this photograph taken at 11:10 p.m. The color balance is off. I don’t know whay, though it is intensified by adjusting the levels of the image.
The moon at 11:14 p.m. EST
According to http://www.wunderground.com (Weather Underground) at this time we’re in the middle of a relatively thin cloud band that may pass over before the eclipse starts. Here’s hoping.
12:27 a.m. EST: The penumbral part of the eclipse is starting now. The moon is entering the moon’s outer shadow. Nothing will be visibly different about the moon until about 1 a.m. when the left part of the moon will begin to appear a bit dusky. It’s still hazy out but not as bad as an hour ago. The map on Weather Underground shows the cloud dissipating and moving to the east. Looks like the clouds are coming from the southwest. However now we’re getting a radar image of precipitation now moving near Manistee, about 6o miles southwest of us. It’s gong to be a race to see if we can see the start of the partial eclipse before the clouds and snow get us. The weather service says that there will be snow after 1 a.m. I’d hate for them to be right for a change.
1:11 a.m. EST: When I took the shot below it was much clearer than a half hour ago. I underexposed the photo but it does show the duskiness on the left edge of being deep in the penumbral shadow. It really wasn’t apparent to the eye. Sunglasses help is seeing it.
Under exposed moon about half way into the earth's penumbral shadow at 1:03 a.m.
1:17 a.m. EST: The Weather Underground maps show the snow either dissipating or moving east rather the northeast. We might get this eclipse in after all.
1:38 a.m. EST: We are in the partial phase now: The image below was taken at 1:33, just 2 minutes into the eclipse.
The moon 2 minutes into the partial phase of the eclipse at 1:33 a.m.
It is clearer that at any time since the first photograph. I did spot some heavier clouds to the southwest, but they weren’t very big. The Weather Underground map still looks promising.
1:57 a.m. EST: High clouds are affecting the moon’s image again making it fuzzy. It looks clearer visually than in photographs. At this point in the eclipse I try to get an idea of the brightness and color of the umbra. The haze has so far prevented me.
The partially eclipsed moon at 1:53 a.m.
2:15 a.m. EST: It’s getting hazier, so I didn’t attempt a photograph. With binoculars I was able to ascertain that the umbral shadow appears to be the red of a normal eclipse. I heard one prediction on the radio yesterday that the shadow may be darker than usual due to volcanic ash high in the atmosphere. Whomever didn’t quote a source. Bu it looks like a normal red colored moon in totality.
2:42 a.m. EST: We’re in totality. I can hardly see the moon through the thickening clouds. I can see the the moon in binoculars, so this isn’t a particularly dark eclipse. I’m hanging it up now. I have to go to work this morning.
Update 3:40 p.m. EST: It never did clear up after my last post, so I got nearly 3 hours sleep. I’m really dragging about now. There’s lots of good eclipse images posted on space.com, spaceweather.com and even the Huntington post.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 