Open: Tuesday, 9 October 2018, 1803 MST Temperature: 79°F

Session: 1289 Conditions: Clear

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

Camera:
iPhone 8 Plus
D850 DSLR

1807 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

1809 MST: viewed the less than 22 hour old Moon, 102X and 81X. A very thin crescent phase was visible.

1815 MST: set up live trap to try to capture the packrat that has been at the observatory. I have captured and released other small critters but this packrat has been elusive.

1821 MST: took this handheld iPhone 8 Plus afocal 81X image of the 21h48m old Moon using NightCap Camera (ISO 22, 1/30sec):

1824 MST: viewed Venus, very low in the sky, 102X. Took this handheld iPhone (2X lens) afocal 102X image of Venus using NightCap Camera (ISO 200, 1/50sec):

The image clearly shows the effects of atmospheric refraction due to the planet's low elevation in the sky.

Viewed Jupiter and three moons, Saturn and its moon Titan, and Mars, 102X.

1837 MST: did a One Star Alignment as I had been moving the telescope without using the AutoStar, which destroys its star alignment.

1856 MST: heard and then saw a Javelina near the observatory. Managed to get a photo:

1902 MST: viewed M31 (Andromeda Galaxy), 102X.

1917-1938 MST: did an AutoStar tour of Deep Sky Objects in the constellation of Cassiopeia, 102X: open star clusters NGC129, NGC225, NGC457, NGC559, M103, NGC654, NGC659, NGC663, M52, NGC7789; galaxies NGC147, NGC185; and NGC7635 (Bubble Nebula; some nebulosity was visible).

1949 MST: viewed M16 (Eagle Nebula), 102X.

1957 MST: High Precision ON. Mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus, focused, and locked the mirror.

2005 MST: heard the packrat at the observatory. Took this photo:

2008 MST: StarLock ON.

Autoguiding was not perfect as M16 was low in the southwestern sky. But I was able to get this StarLock autoguided, 2 minutes, ISO 6400, White Balance 5000K image:

Slewed to NGC157 (galaxy), and after waiting for it to rise higher in the sky I did some imaging of it. Autoguiding was also affected by not very good seeing but I did get this StarLock autoguided, 5 minutes, ISO 6400, White Balance 5000K image for my Extragalactic Supernova Project:

2048 MST: StarLock OFF.

Viewed NGC157 (galaxy), 102X.

2057 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Tuesday, 9 October 2018, 2105 MST Temperature: 55°F

Session Length: 3h 02m Conditions: Clear

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