Friday, 3 January 2025, was cloudy. Saturday, 4 January, I was at Oracle State Park, our local International Dark Sky Park. I gave a talk on Smartphone Astronomy. That was followed by a star party. See the report here.

Did not open the observatory Sunday, 5 January.

Open: Monday, 6 January 2025, 1807 MST Temperature: 67°F

Session: 2060 Conditions: Clear

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
2" 30mm eyepiece
2" 5.5mm 100° eyepiece

Camera:
iPhone 15 Pro Max

1813 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Venus, 102X. Viewed Saturn, 102X.

Viewed the First Quarter Moon, 102X and 81X. I noticed that the Magnitude +4.3 star Epsilon Piscium was about to be occulted by the Moon.

Attached my LiDAR Cover on the iPhone 15 Pro and mounted the iPhone on the 2" 30mm eyepiece using the 3-axis adapter.

1822 MST: Took this iPhone afocal 81X image of the Moon using the Camera app (1X lens). The star Epsilon Piscium is at the left. Click or tap on the image to see the 2 seconds video.

Click or tap on image to watch video

1823 MST: iPhone afocal 81X image of the Moon shortly after the star was occulted.

I then did some lunar observing, 443X. There were many nice sights along the lunar terminator.

Mounted the iPhone with the LiDAR Cover on the 2" 5.5mm eyepiece using the 3-axis adapter. Took these afocal 443X images using the Camera app (1X lens).

Next, I viewed Jupiter. Three Galilean Moons were in a unique configuration. Normally they are seen in a more-or-less straight line. However, due to orbital configurations, this night the moons Io, Callisto, and Ganymede (left-to-right in the image below) formed a triangle. See the Sky & Telescope article More Unusual Jovian Satellite Lineups for an explanation.

Mounted the iPhone with LiDAR Cover on the 5.5mm eyepiece and took this afocal 443X image using the iOS app NightCap Camera (ISO 200, 1/60sec, 1X lens).

1905 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Monday, 6 January 2025, 1913 MST Temperature: 53°F

Session Length: 1h 06m Conditions: Clear

---

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

---

Previous report

Cassiopeia Observatory Home Page