September 2026 is the 30th Anniversary of when Weasner's Mighty ETX Site first went online during the early days of the World Wide Web! Many thanks to everyone who contributed articles and supported my efforts for 3 decades.

For the first time since 2 July, the sky was clear! It has been a crazy Monsoon Season 2026!

Open: Tuesday, 1 September 2026, 1825 MST Temperature: 79°F

Session: 2152 Conditions: Clear

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
1.25" 26mm eyepiece

Camera:
iPhone 15 Pro Max
D850 DSLR

1835 MST: Dome Cover OFF.

SYNCed observatory clock to WWV.

1841 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Venus, 102X. Nice crescent phase.

1848 MST: Sunset. Relaxed on observatory patio bench.

1858 MST: While relaxing on the bench I noticed these crepuscular rays in the southeastern sky. Photo taken with the iPhone 15 Pro Max Camera app (0.5X lens).

1902 MST: I moved to higher ground for this iPhone photo of the western sky showing crepuscular rays. Camera app (1X lens).

This iPhone photo (2X lens) shows the planet Venus at the left and the crepuscular rays.

1950 MST: After watching the stars come out, I returned to inside of the observatory.

Viewed M17 (Swan Nebula), 102X. Then viewed M20 (Trifid Nebula), 102X. Viewed M20, 94X.

Attached the LiDAR Cover to the iPhone and mounted the phone on the 26mm eyepiece using the 3-axis adapter.

2004 MST: StarLock ON. Began doing some tests to compare the recently released update to NightCap Camera (version 10.0.4) to the Camera app (iOS 26.6.1). Here are afocal 94X images of M20 and M17 using NightCap Camera (Long Exposure, Light Boost, ISO 17705, 1sec, 1 min, 1X lens) and the Camera app (Night Mode, 30 seconds, 1X lens).

M20 (Trifid Nebula), NightCap Camera


M20 (Trifid Nebula), Camera


M17 (Swan Nebula), Camera


M17 (Swan Nebula), NightCap Camera

Here is a comparison of handheld photos of the Milky Way using the Camera app (Night Mode, 10 seconds, 1X lens) and NightCap Camera (Light Boost, ISO 16000, 1sec, 1X lens).

Milky Way, Camera


Milky Way, NightCap Camera

2039 MST: Wi-Fi ON.

Used SkySafari 7 Pro on the iPhone to GOTO objects for my Milky Way Globular Clusters Project. Viewed these globular clusters: NGC6366 and NGC6388. Other clusters were too low in the sky or too faint to be visually observed. I then mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus to image the following globular clusters.

NGC6388


IC1257


Terzan 2


NGC6366

2138 MST: Sky brightening from rising waning gibbous Moon. Ended imaging. StarLock OFF. Wi-Fi OFF.

Viewed Saturn, 102X, low in the eastern sky. The moon Titan was visible.

2151 MST: LX600 OFF.

2204 MST: Dome Cover ON. More storms in the forecast.

Close: Tuesday, 1 September 2026, 2206 MST Temperature: 72°F

Session Length: 3h 39m Conditions: Clear

---

Comments are welcome using Email. Please read the Email Etiquette guidance.

---

Previous report

Cassiopeia Observatory Home Page