Hodgson Observatory

December 2007 was a very lean observing month at Hodgson Observatory. Hit by a severe ice storm on December 1, followed by snow and constant cold on days following, very little melting occurred. Many nights following were cloudy or moonlight filled. The solar disk observation of December 12 showing a large sunspot group and an evening of observation with John Johnson a few hours later were fruitful and have already been reported. On December 30 the solar disk was again observed with the 203mm f/4.9 Newtonian reflector. The large sunspot group was gone, having moved to the Sun’s opposite side (if it still existed). On December 30 no sunspots were seen. The principal magnification used was 77x. The ease of use of the new Wide-Sky Observatory is a delight!

Observing efforts were greatly hindered in the first half of December by the terrible ice storm that struck on Dec. 1, and the sub-freezing and frequently cloudy weather at followed. A week later the ice, two to three inches deep, was as slippery as it was when it fell. It was not safe to attempt walking to the observatories. A snowstorm then wiped out efforts to observe December 7 and 8. Finally on December 12, a daytime observation of the Sun showed the presence of a fine, well developed sunspot group near the center of the disk. Its low latitude suggested it was perhaps one of the last storms in the old sunspot cycle. The 203mm f/4.9 reflector was used at 38.5x for this observation.

On the evening of December 12, John Johnson joined me in spite of the cold and wind in the Wide-Sky Observatory to observe Comet 17P/Holmes, still in Perseus. It had a much larger and more diffuse coma than when last seen in late November. It was still visible naked eye although a little fainter. Comet P/Tuttle in Cepheus, incoming toward the Sun, was seventh magnitude, and appeared as a small fuzzy patch of light in the 203mm reflector at 38l.5x. While observing, a probable bright Geminid meteor was also seen streaking WSW across the sky by both of us.