Moon, Venus, Mercury, Barnard Objects

Moon, Venus, Mercury, Barnard Objects

Posted: 7 July 2024

Friday afternoon, 5 July 2024, an isolated (and unforecast) Monsoon Season storm formed south of Cassiopeia Observatory. It had some mammatus clouds and caused some downed power lines in west Tucson, probably from a microburst at the right of the top photo.

Saturday, 6 July, was mostly clear.

Open: Saturday, 6 July 2024, 1911 MST
Temperature: 93°F

Session: 1992
Conditions: Mostly clear, hazy

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
12x50 binoculars
Focal reducer

Camera:
D850 DSLR

Prepared the D850 DSLR camera for sky imaging after sunset. Mounted the D850 with 70-300mm lens on a camera tripod.

1923 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench while waiting for the Sun to set.

1937 MST: Sunset.

Moved to a higher elevation with a nice view of the western horizon to observe the young Moon (was New on 5 July at 1555 MST) near the planets Venus and Mercury.

1947 MST: Spotted Venus, 12x50 binoculars.

1952 MST: Spotted the thin crescent Moon, 12x50 binoculars. Age 27h 57m.

2009 MST: Spotted Mercury, 12x50 binoculars.

2009 MST: D850 DSLR photograph of the Moon and Venus (f/5, 1/40sec, ISO 400, FL 145mm, cropped).

2011 MST: Venus set.

2012 MST: D850 DSLR photograph of the Moon and Mercury (f/5, 1/30sec, ISO 800, FL 122mm, cropped).

2018 MST: D850 DSLR photograph of the Moon with Earthshine (f/5.6, 1/10sec, ISO 1600, FL 300mm, cropped).

2022 MST: As I was going back to the observatory I saw this tarantula.

2025 MST: Back in the observatory. Prepared the D850 DSLR for imaging more Barnard Objects (dark nebulae) for my Barnard Objects Project.

2042 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision ON.

Mounted the D850 camera at prime focus + focal reducer, focused on Antares, locked the 12" primary mirror, and SYNCed on Antares.

2047-2100 MST: Relaxed on the patio bench while waiting for the sky to get darker.

2104 MST: StarLock ON. Began imaging the following Barnard Objects, StarLock autoguided, prime focus + focal reducer, 2 minutes, ISO 3200 (except for B44a and B179, which were 20 seconds, ISO 6400, no autoguiding).