Open: Friday, 21 September 2018, 1814 MST Temperature: 80°F

Session: 1280 Conditions: Mostly clear

Equipment Used:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
ETX-125 Observer
1.25" 26mm eyepiece
1.25" 9mm eyepiece

Camera:
iPhone 8 Plus

Upon arrival at the observatory I set up a "live trap" to try to capture the packrat that has been a nuisance at the observatory.

I then set up my Meade ETX-125 Observer Telescope on the observatory patio:

1824 MST: sunset.

1836 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Venus in the 12" telescope, 102X. Nice crescent phase, but Venus was low in the southwestern sky.

1839 MST: Meade Stella Wi-Fi Adapter ON. Did some more tests for my upcoming review. During my tests I viewed some objects at 102X: Jupiter and its four moons, Saturn and two moons, Mars with the South Polar Cap and the large dark surface feature Syrtis Major visible, and the waxing gibbous Moon. 1853 MST: Stella OFF.

1900 MST: ETX-125 Observer Telescope ON.

Using the ETX I viewed Jupiter, 73X. It was too low in the southwestern sky for imaging. Then viewed Saturn, 73X. Began setting up for imaging using the iPhone 8 Plus and the ETX.

This is Saturn, afocal 211X, single image taken with the Camera app:

This is Mars, stack of 315 video frames, afocal 211X, taken with NightCap Camera (ISO 64, 1/100sec):

The Moon, afocal 73X, Camera app:

The Moon, afocal 211X, Camera app:

Slewed the ETX-125 to the Double Cluster (open star clusters). This image was taken with NightCap Camera (Long Exposure, Light Boost, ISO 8448, 1/3sec, 16 seconds):

2010 MST: ETX-125 Observer OFF.

2013 MST: quick look at Mars with the 12" LX600 telescope, 102X.

2014 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Friday, 21 September 2018, 2028 MST Temperature: 73°F

Session Length: 2h 14m Conditions: Clear

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