Tuesday, 22 December 2020, was cloudy. I'm glad the clouds had stayed away for the close conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on 21 December. The sky began clearing mid-afternoon with strong wind blowing, but the clouds returned after sunset. Friday, 25 December, about sunrise there was a brief period of light rain (0.04"). The sky finally began clearing mid-day on Friday.

Open: Friday, 25 December 2020, 1813 MST Temperature: 59°F

Session: 1578 Conditions: Clear, breezy

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
2" 30mm eyepiece

Camera:
iPhone 11 Pro Max

1817 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Jupiter and Saturn, separated by 29' 35", low in the southwestern sky, 102X. Both planets were in the eyepiece field-of-view (FOV). Switched to the 2" 30mm eyepiece (81X). Four moons were visible at Jupiter and three moons at Saturn.

Took this handheld afocal 81X photo on the planets using NightCap Camera (ISO 640, 1/15sec, 1X lens). The four Galilean Moons at Jupiter are visible. The planets are overexposed. Being so low in the sky there wasn't much detail visible on the planets anyway.

1845 MST: the planets and Cassiopeia Observatory, iPhone 11 Pro Max, Camera app (Night Mode, 10 seconds, 1X lens), handheld.

Mouseover or tap on image for labels

Back inside the observatory I observed the waxing gibbous Moon, 81X.

Handheld iPhone afocal 81X photo with NightCap Camera (ISO 32, 1/4300sec, 1X lens).

Viewed the Moon, 102X.

Moon on Dome, iPhone Camera app (Night Mode, 10 seconds, 1X lens), handheld.

I tried to get a good Moon on Dome photo with Jupiter and Saturn in the sky, but the angles of the objects made it difficult. This is the best I could do this night. Camera app (Night Mode, 3 seconds, 1X lens), handheld.

1857 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Friday, 25 December 2020, 1907 MST Temperature: 52°F

Session Length: 0h 54m Conditions: Clear

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I have posted my review of the Explore One 1080p HD Action Sports Camera.

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