Monday, 7 April 2025, was clear, but due to an early morning commitment the next day I did not open the observatory that night. Although the forecasts said "clear sky" for Tuesday, 8 April, the sky was cloudy. The sky was clear on Wednesday, 9 April.

Tuesday, 8 April, was the one year anniversary of the Total Solar Eclipse that I experienced in my southern Indiana hometown. There were many exciting activities there, as seen in my report.

On my previous report I mentioned speaking at the Pinal County Board of Supervisors meeting in support of their "International Dark Sky Weeek 2025" Proclamation. Here is a nice article about it: Pinal County Celebrates Dark Skies: Crucial For Celestial Tourism And Arizona’s Astronomy Industry.

Open: Wednesday, 9 April 2025, 1817 MST Temperature: 95°F

Session: 2087 Conditions: Clear

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

Camera:
iPhone 15 Pro Max

1824 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed the waxing gibbous Moon, 102X and 81X.

Mounted the iPhone 15 Pro Max on the 2" 30mm eyepiece using a 3-axis adapter. Took this afocal 81X image of the Moon in the bright blue sky using the Camera app (1X lens).

1836 MST: Viewed Jupiter, 81X and 102X. No moons were visible in the bright sky.

1838-1901 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench.

1856 MST: Sunset.

1902 MST: Viewed Jupiter, 102X. All four Galilean Moons were visible in the bright twilight sky. Added the 2X Powermate to the 30mm eyepiece and viewed Jupiter and the four moons, 163X.

1925 MST: Dome OFF (onto the PZT).

1931 MST: Wi-Fi ON.

Used SkySafari 7 Pro on the iPhone to GOTO Asteroid 29 Amphitrite, Mag. +10.5. Began trying to ID the asteroid in the bright twilight field-of-view.

1938 MST: Identified Asteroid 29 Amphitrite, 81X.

1940 MST: Wi-Fi OFF.

Attached the LiDAR Cover on the iPhone and mounted the iPhone on the 30mm eyepiece.

1945 MST: StarLock ON.

1947 MST: Took a StarLock autoguided afocal 81X image of Asteroid 29 Amphitrite using the Camera app (Night Mode, 30 seconds, 1X lens).

1949-2038 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench during the planned interval between exposures. Enjoyed looking at the night sky even though the bright Moon hampered the view of the stars.

2047 MST: Took the second StarLock autoguided afocal 81X image of Asteroid 29 Amphitrite using the Camera app (Night Mode, 30 seconds, 1X lens).

Here is Asteroid 29 Amphitrite, Mag. +10.5.

2049 MST: StarLock OFF.

Viewed Mars, 102X.

2058 MST: LX600 OFF.

2103 MST: Dome ON.

Close: Wednesday, 9 April 2025, 2111 MST Temperature: 66°F

Session Length: 2h 54m Conditions: Clear

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