Open: Saturday, 21 March 2026, 1813 MST Temperature: 91°F

Session: 2121 Conditions: Mostly clear

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

Camera:
iPhone 15 Pro Max
D850 DSLR

Prepared the D850 DSLR camera for imaging.

1821 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Venus, 102X. Viewed the Moon, 102X.

1826 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench.

1839 MST: Sunset.

1849 MST: I noticed there were two Crepuscular Rays visible in the eastern sky. (Also known as Anticrepuscular Rays since they appeared in the eastern sky after sunset.) There were no Crepuscular Rays visible in the western sky at this time. Took this iPhone 15 Pro Max panoramic photo showing the view to the east.

1852 MST: Crepuscular Rays now appeared in the western sky, as seen in this iPhone photo (1X lens). The thin crescent Moon is also visible.

1900 MST: Back in the observatory. I mounted the D850 camera at prime focus + focal reducer. Did some imaging of the Moon in case clouds increased.

1908 MST: Back to the bench to watch the stars come out.

1925 MST: Back in the observatory. Took these D850 DSLR prime focus + focal reducer images of the Moon (1/320sec, ISO 400) and 1 second, ISO 400, respectively).

1930-1943 MST: Relaxed on the bench.

Back in the observatory. Focused on the star Betelgeuse, locked the telescope mirror, and slewed to M42 (Orion Nebula).

1948 MST: StarLock ON.

Did several images of the Orion Nebula. This image (60 seconds, ISO 1600) taken at 1952 MST shows an interesting bright satellite trail. The magnified image shows a double trail. Unknown if this is a single satellite or two satellites close together.

This StarLock autoguided, 30 seconds, ISO 1600, image shows a cleaner Orion Nebula.

1956 MST: StarLock OFF.

Viewed M42 (Orion Nebula), 102X.

2002 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Saturday, 21 March 2026, 2009 MST Temperature: 75°F

Session Length: 1h 56m Conditions: Mostly clear

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