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iPhone Astrophotography Eskimo Nebula

Posted: 31 January 2025

Clouds arrived on Friday, 24 January 2025. With rain and snow in the forecasts for the coming week, Sunday morning, 26 January, I put the Dome Cover ON. Tuesday, 29 January, had some light snow (total precipitation 0.15").


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The sky cleared, but was hazy on Thursday, 30 January, so I took the Dome Cover OFF.

Open: Thursday, 30 January 2025, 1810 MST
Temperature: 54°F
Session: 2066
Conditions: Clear, hazy

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
1.25" 15mm eyepiece
2" 30mm eyepiece

Camera:
iPhone 15 Pro Max

1817 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed the thin crescent Moon, 102X.

1818 MST: Took this handheld iPhone 15 Pro Max afocal 102X image of the Moon using the Camera app (1X).


photo

Viewed Saturn, 102X.
Viewed Venus, 102X.
Viewed Jupiter and the four Galilean Moons, 102X.
Viewed Mars, 102X and 163X. The North Polar Cap was clearly visible.

1844 MST: High Precision ON.

Viewed NGC2392 (Eskimo Nebula), 163X.

1855 MST: iPhone photo (2X) of the western sky showing Venus, Saturn, and the crescent Moon with Earthshine.

Mouseover or tap on image
Mouseover or tap on image for labels

Attached the LiDAR Cover on the iPhone and mounted the iPhone on the 15mm eyepiece using the 3-axis adapter.

1913 MST: StarLock ON.

Took this StarLock autoguided iPhone afocal 163X image of NGC2392 (Eskimo Nebula) using the Camera app (Night Mode, 30 seconds, 1X lens).

photo

This is the Eskimo Nebula full size from the above image.

photo

I attempted to image another object with the iPhone at a magnification of 81X, but I needed to use less magnification. Will attempt it on the next session.

1940 MST: StarLock OFF.

Viewed M42 (Orion Nebula), 81X and 102X.

1947 MST: LX600 OFF.

1954 MST: Took a Sky Quality reading and reported the result to Globe at Night.

Close: Thursday, 30 January 2025, 1957 MST
Temperature: 41°F
Session Length: 1h 47m
Conditions: Clear, SQM 20.72


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