Critter, iPhone 4 Harvest Moon
Posted: 19 September 2013
Tuesday, 17 September 2013, was partly to mostly cloudy and windy. I needed to go out to the observatory during the morning (but not for any observing). On the way, I saw this guy (short-horned lizard) on the pathway:
Wednesday, 18 September, was also partly cloudy for most of the day, but the sky cleared late afternoon. The observatory was opened at 1856 MST, 90°F, to clear skies. At 1903 MST, viewed Venus, 83X and 222X. Then Saturn, 222X. Both were too low for good seeing, but Saturn's moon Titan was visible. At 1907 MST, viewed the "Harvest Moon" (almost but not quite Full) through some tree branches, 222X.
I returned to the house twice to check on the status of upgrading my iPhone 4 to iOS 7. I also did some terrestrial viewing using a nightscope. At 1940 MST, the phone upgrade was complete, and the moon was above the tree. Switched to 83X as seeing was not very good. A very slight terminator was visible as 100% full phase would not occur for about 8 hours.
I did some brief software beta testing and then began setting up to image the moon using the iPhone 4 iOS 7 Camera app. The camera was mounted on the 8" LX200-ACF using the MX-1 Afocal Adapter with a 26mm eyepiece (77X) + focal reducer (in order to capture the entire lunar disk). This photo was taken at 2008 MST:
I then took a final look at the Harvest Moon, 83X, and began closing up for the night.
The observatory was closed at 2040 MST, 77°F.
Today, 19 September 2013, is the 5th anniversary of breaking ground on our land. Groundbreaking for the observatory was not until 5 February 2009.
Comments are welcome; use the Comments section below, or you can Email Me. Thanks.
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