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February 2002

• February 15 The sky cleared up perfectly. Comet Ikeya-Zhang increased its brightness shining at magnitude 6.3 with a tail a little less than a degree long to the east. Unfortunately, it was in the direction of Kochi City and photographs did not show the comet well due to fogging of film. It was barely discernable. I also observed the periodic comet Finley tonight. As the Pleiades at the zenith was so beautiful, I photographed it by ε160 telescope. During the exposure a large airplane crossed the field. Geisei Obervatory is situated near Kochi Airport and planes take off toward Osaka flying over the observatory. In two frames with C/2002 C1 on airplanes' trails crossed the field. Until about 20:00 the sky provides a splendid view of trails of crossing airplanes. In the wake of a plane's flight star images will be boiling at 300x in the 20cm guide telescope. Air turbulence degrades the seeing temporarily. (The enlarged central part)
Comet Ikeya-Zhang and airplane trails The Pleiades and airplane trails
• February 12 I came to the observatory a little earlier in the evening. From the hill where the observatory stood I turned my eyes to Cape Ashizurimisaki, 150 kilometers away. I felt as if I was in a fairyland with the setting sun painting the ocean red. Around the time when the skylight on the dome turned blue, I aimed the telescope at Comet Finley and Comet Ikeya-Zhang (C/2002 C1) low in the western sky. The next 30 minutes is crucial to observe Comet Finley. C/2002 C1 would reach the horizon in less than an hour. It is a beautiful starry night tonight with a moon hanging in the sky; no lights from a night baseball game. There was no hint of the sky glow I saw last night. If you are observing under dark skies, you tend to notice subtle changes in the sky, unlike observers who use CCDs at urban sites. Gegenschein was perhaps visible, but I wasn't certain. It was incredibly dark 20 years ago.... On the nights where Halley's Comet was visible, the combination of dark skies and fast 103a-o plates made it possible to capture objects down to 20.5 magnitude with a 40-minute exposure; there was no fogging effect. 6415 film seems to have a higher resolution than 103a-o but the sensitivity is probably lower by one magnitude. But it is inexpensive. Kodak's 6x7 glass plates cost 800 yen per plate. But soon after, the price was tripled! In those days I made it a rule not to waste even a single plate. There are 20 plate holders left from those days sitting rather pensively on the shelf. It was a struggle in the dome those days. I wonder how I could survive it. I would push the bike over a distance of 40 kilometers between Kochi and Geisei. That bicycle (named Geiseigo) is now lying in peace in the corner of my yard. • February 10 I don't often have a good chance to observe Comet Ikeya-Zhang, as it is in the evening sky. I had visitors after guitar lessons at home tonight. Soon after, I headed to the observatory around 23:00. We were hit by a cold wave and it was freezing in the dome around the midnight. I tracked the new comet C/2002 B2 for an hour by Metcalf method. It was at magnitude 18 and low on the horizon with declination -28 degrees. Seeing was also poor; quite common in winter. I wonder if the comet was captured on film. The following day snow clouds suddenly rolled in from the north at 4 pm and light snow started to fall. I arrived home in time before the roads began to freeze. The night sky was unusually bright tonight. It was worse than light pollution. The entire sky was glowing pale as if lit by half moon. The glow slightly changed its intensity as time passed. I wondered if it was caused by solar activity, a phenomenon similar to aurorae. I once witnessed this back in 1956. After I moved to Geisei I experienced a similar phenomenon twice about 10 years ago. I wondered if some eruptions had occurred on the solar surface on February 10. I felt as if I was thrown in a flame of a gigantic candle all night. • February 1 Spring comes early to Tosa (the Koch area). You feel early spring in the air once February has arrived. I left home and headed for the observatory in the evening. After 35 minutes' drive I reached Mt.Teiyama, when I saw the sunset. I drove 200 meters south off Highway 55 and watched the setting sun. The sun was seen in the direction of Cape Ashizurimisaki, where you can sometimes see the well-known phenomenon in which the sun appears as two disks; sitting on top of each other but overlapping at the contact point just like the shape of a Japanese Dharma doll. Even mirages were seen many years ago, they say. Everything was painted red; it was such a beautiful evening that you would see only in your dreams.

I planned to observe Comet Finley in the western sky. Mr. Ikeya had just discovered C/2002 C1. Look at light pollution in the western sky seen from the dome where the 60cm reflector is housed. The bright glow closer to us is from a night baseball game. The lines of lights in the distance are headlights of moving cars along Highway 55. The lights for horticultural greenhouses, Gesiei's pride, are not turned on yet. Over a period of 20 years, the observatory "at the darkest site" has changed to the one "at the brightest" in Japan.

• February 15
The sky cleared up perfectly. Comet Ikeya-Zhang increased its brightness shining at magnitude 6.3 with a tail a little less than a degree long to the east. Unfortunately, it was in the direction of Kochi City and photographs did not show the comet well due to fogging of film. It was barely discernable.
I also observed the periodic comet Finley tonight. As the Pleiades at the zenith was so beautiful, I photographed it by ε160 telescope. During the exposure a large airplane crossed the field. Geisei Obervatory is situated near Kochi Airport and planes take off toward Osaka flying over the observatory.
In two frames with C/2002 C1 on airplanes' trails crossed the field. Until about 20:00 the sky provides a splendid view of trails of crossing airplanes. In the wake of a plane's flight star images will be boiling at 300x in the 20cm guide telescope. Air turbulence degrades the seeing temporarily.
(The enlarged central part)

Comet Ikeya-Zhang and airplane trails

The Pleiades and airplane trails

• February 12
I came to the observatory a little earlier in the evening. From the hill where the observatory stood I turned my eyes to Cape Ashizurimisaki, 150 kilometers away. I felt as if I was in a fairyland with the setting sun painting the ocean red.
Around the time when the skylight on the dome turned blue, I aimed the telescope at Comet Finley and Comet Ikeya-Zhang (C/2002 C1) low in the western sky. The next 30 minutes is crucial to observe Comet Finley. C/2002 C1 would reach the horizon in less than an hour.
It is a beautiful starry night tonight with a moon hanging in the sky; no lights from a night baseball game. There was no hint of the sky glow I saw last night. If you are observing under dark skies, you tend to notice subtle changes in the sky, unlike observers who use CCDs at urban sites. Gegenschein was perhaps visible, but I wasn't certain.
It was incredibly dark 20 years ago.... On the nights where Halley's Comet was visible, the combination of dark skies and fast 103a-o plates made it possible to capture objects down to 20.5 magnitude with a 40-minute exposure; there was no fogging effect. 6415 film seems to have a higher resolution than 103a-o but the sensitivity is probably lower by one magnitude. But it is inexpensive. Kodak's 6x7 glass plates cost 800 yen per plate. But soon after, the price was tripled! In those days I made it a rule not to waste even a single plate. There are 20 plate holders left from those days sitting rather pensively on the shelf.
It was a struggle in the dome those days. I wonder how I could survive it. I would push the bike over a distance of 40 kilometers between Kochi and Geisei. That bicycle (named Geiseigo) is now lying in peace in the corner of my yard.

• February 10
I don't often have a good chance to observe Comet Ikeya-Zhang, as it is in the evening sky.
I had visitors after guitar lessons at home tonight. Soon after, I headed to the observatory around 23:00. We were hit by a cold wave and it was freezing in the dome around the midnight. I tracked the new comet C/2002 B2 for an hour by Metcalf method. It was at magnitude 18 and low on the horizon with declination
-28 degrees. Seeing was also poor; quite common in winter. I wonder if the comet was captured on film.
The following day snow clouds suddenly rolled in from the north at 4 pm and light snow started to fall. I arrived home in time before the roads began to freeze.
The night sky was unusually bright tonight. It was worse than light pollution. The entire sky was glowing pale as if lit by half moon. The glow slightly changed its intensity as time passed. I wondered if it was caused by solar activity, a phenomenon similar to aurorae. I once witnessed this back in 1956. After I moved to Geisei I experienced a similar phenomenon twice about 10 years ago. I wondered if some eruptions had occurred on the solar surface on February 10. I felt as if I was thrown in a flame of a gigantic candle all night.

• February 1
Spring comes early to Tosa (the Koch area). You feel early spring in the air once February has arrived. I left home and headed for the observatory in the evening. After 35 minutes' drive I reached Mt.Teiyama, when I saw the sunset. I drove 200 meters south off Highway 55 and watched the setting sun. The sun was seen in the direction of Cape Ashizurimisaki, where you can sometimes see the well-known phenomenon in which the sun appears as two disks; sitting on top of each other but overlapping at the contact point just like the shape of a Japanese Dharma doll. Even mirages were seen many years ago, they say. Everything was painted red; it was such a beautiful evening that you would see only in your dreams.

I planned to observe Comet Finley in the western sky. Mr. Ikeya had just discovered C/2002 C1. Look at light pollution in the western sky seen from the dome where the 60cm reflector is housed. The bright glow closer to us is from a night baseball game. The lines of lights in the distance are headlights of moving cars along Highway 55. The lights for horticultural greenhouses, Gesiei's pride, are not turned on yet. Over a period of 20 years, the observatory "at the darkest site" has changed to the one "at the brightest" in Japan.