General Session - May 21/22, 2018

Conjunction - Moon-Regulus (in Leo)

This was my second night to observe the motion of the Moon as it travelled through Leo.

Observation 1: at 9:27 PM:
Moon: 48.5%
Had to view the moon and Leo between the clouds. Could readily identify Regulus and 31 Leo in close proximity. Regulus was just south of the Moon's south limb terminator; the terminator was parallel the line formed by 31 Leo and Regulus.

Observation 2: at 9:27 PM:
Moon: 48.5%
Still catching it between cloud cover intervals. Moon had moved a bit SE of its previous position. Besides Regulus and 31 Leo, ν Leo was now faint but seen with the binoculars. The Moon looked to be sitting on the intersection of Regulus-η Leo and 37 Leo-ν Leo.

Observation 3 at 11:28 PM:
Moon: 49.5%
The Moon had again moved SE of its previous position.

Observation 4 at 1:28 AM:
Moon: 50.4%
The Moon had moved to a position east of Regulus and looked to be sitting near the intersection of Regulus-θ Leo and 37 Leo-31 Leo. At this point, it was very low in the sky, about 10º-12º above our backyard horizon.

Observation 5 at 2:05 - 2:20 AM:
Moon: 50.7%
The Moon had again moved a bit SE from its previous position and was now below the Regulus-θ Leo line. It was also a few degrees from the horizon. At 2:20 AM, it disappeared from our view. Interesting to watch the glow in the sky disappear at the horizon as the Moon set.

Jupiter (in Libra)
Time: 11:06 PM ADT
Instrument: Visual + Binoculars + 10" Meade SCT
Jupiter was evident throughout the observing session as it travelled southerly.

Visually: It was close to the α Librae-β Librae line.

Binoculars: The moons were not aligned but rather formed a saucer beside the planet. Could not see the bands on the planet.

Telescope: Bands were almost vertical (relative to our horizon). The Giant Red Storm (GRS) again was not seen. The saucer of the moons supported the planet and were left-right reversed to my binocular view.

Satellite
Time: 11:17 PM ADT
Instrument: Binoculars
Was looking at Messier 101 beside Alkaid and Alcor-Mizar when a satellite came through my FOV travelling parallel to the line formed by by the 3 stars. It disappeared just as it passed Alkaid.

Cepheus
Time: not recorded
Instrument: Binoculars
S&T Chart Reference: 71, 73
I tried to locate Cepheus several times over a 5-hour period. I could see a 5-star formation in binoculars. Visually, I could see δ Cephei, ε Cephei, and ζ Cephei - ε was harder to see but I could see it.

The double star could be seen (as circled in the sketch) but not sure if the pair was in fact δ Cephei or if the brighter star (not seen as a double) was the double. Will need to attempt to see this with a telescope at some time.