A period of cloudy nights began on Tuesday, 29 April 2025. With rain in the forecasts, Sunday morning, 4 May, I put the Dome Cover ON. While I was outside I saw one of our friendly rattlesnack neighbors.

That afternoon there were several brief rainshowers (0.04"). Monday, 5 May, had more rainshowers (0.08"). Cloudy skies continued until Thursday, 8 May. I did not open the observatory that night. The forecast for Friday night, 9 May, was for a clear sky, but it was cloudy. The sky cleared on Saturday, 10 May, although it was hazy from the strong wind during the daytime.

Open: Saturday, 10 May 2025, 1836 MST Temperature: 87°F

Session: 2093 Conditions: Clear, breezy

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

Camera:
iPhone 15 Pro Max
D850 DSLR

1845 MST: Dome Cover OFF.

1850 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Jupiter, 102X. No moons visible in the bright sky.

1856-1938 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench.

1914 MST: Sunset.

1921 MST: Near Full Moon taken with the iPhone 15 Pro Max Camera app (5X lens).

1938 MST: Viewed Jupiter, 102X. The four Galilean Moons were visible.

Then viewed the near full Moon, 102X. A slight terminator was visible.

Prepared the D850 DSLR for imaging and mounted the camera at prime focus of the 12" telescope.

The Moon (1/160sec, ISO 100).

2008 MST: High Precision ON.

Slewed to NGC5957 (galaxy, Mag. +11.69). I planned to image Supernova 2025fvw (Mag. +14), if the bright moonlit sky didn't interfere.

2012-2030 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench while waiting for the galaxy to rise higher in the eastern sky. The breezes calmed down.

2032 MST: StarLock ON.

Tried several exposure settings to image the galaxy and supernova. Unfortunately, due to the bright moonlit sky the StarLock would not lock onto a guidestar. And the galaxy and supernova were too faint to image without overexposing the bright sky background. I will try again when the Moon is past Full.

2043 MST: StarLock OFF.

Tried to observe NGC5957 (galaxy) and the supernova, 102X, but the sky was too bright.

2055 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Saturday, 10 May 2025, 2104 MST Temperature: 70°F

Session Length: 2h 28m Conditions: Clear

---

DarkSky International has announced its Principles for Responsible Astrophotography.

The Indiana University Foundation has published an article about me: Reach for The Stars.

---

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

---

Previous report

Cassiopeia Observatory Home Page