Saturday, 27 February 2021, dawned cloudy and was windy during the day. The wind calmed down at sunset.

Open: Saturday, 27 February 2021, 1835 MST Temperature: Clear°F

Session: 1605 Conditions: 66

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
1.25" 15mm eyepiece
2" 14mm 100° eyepiece
2" 30mm eyepiece

Camera:
iPhone 11 Pro Max

1843 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

1847 MST: slewed to M82 (Cigar Galaxy). It was not yet visible in bright twilight sky.

1902 MST: M82 now faintly visible, 102X and 163X.

1906 MST: the eastern sky was beginning to brighten from the rising Moon, just past Full.

Mounted the iPhone on the 1.25" 15mm eyepiece using the Levenhuk adapter.

1920 MST: StarLock ON.

Began imaging M82 (Cigar Galaxy), StarLock autoguided, afocal 163X, using the iPhone 11 Pro Max with NightCap Camera (ISO 12500, 1sec shutter speed, 1 minute exposure, 1X lens) and the Camera app (Night Mode, 30 seconds, 1X lens). Did 10 NightCap images and 20 Camera app images. Here is one of the images from each app, unedited.

NightCap Camera


Camera app

I stacked the 10 NightCap Camera images (total 2 minutes) and the 20 Camera app images (also total 2 minutes) using Affinity Photo. Here are the results.

NightCap Camera


Camera app

1943 MST: the Moon began rising over the hill to the east. I continued imaging M82 until 1957 MST.

1958 MST: StarLock OFF.

Viewed M82 (Cigar Galaxy), 163X and 174X. I wish I had a smartphone adapter that would fit the large diameter 2" 14mm 100° eyepiece. The Levenhuk adapter fits all my 1.25" and 2" eyepieces except this one.

Viewed M81 (Bode's Galaxy), 174X.

Viewed the Moon, 174X, 102X, and 81X. A slight terminator was visible.

2014 MST: took this handheld iPhone afocal 81X photo of the Moon using NightCap Camera (ISO 32, 1/5200sec, 1X lens).

2018 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Saturday, 27 February 2021, 2025 MST Temperature: 48°F

Session Length: 1h 50m Conditions: Clear

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