iPhone 5s: Moon, Jupiter
Posted: 17 October 2013
The observatory was opened Wednesday, 16 October 2013, at 2312 MST, 55°F. The sky was clear, with a nearly full moon high in the sky near the meridian. I viewed the moon at 2319 MST, 83X and 222X. Seeing was excellent this night. I did some afocal video and video slo-mo recordings of the moon through the 2" 9mm 100° eyepiece (222X) on the 8" LX200-ACF using the iPhone 5s. The phone was handheld over the eyepiece. These are single frames (not cropped) from the videos (not slo-mo):
Lunar North Pole Region:
Mare Humorum area:
Lunar South Pole Region:
Compare the Mare Humorum image to the ones from the previous two nights as seen on the previous report.
At 2342 MST, viewed Neptune, then Uranus, 83X.
I then did some software beta testing, which was completed at 0015 MST.
At 0020 MST, viewed Jupiter, low in the eastern sky, 83X. The four Galilean Moons were visible. At 0030 MST, viewed M42 (Great Orion Nebula), 83X and 222X. As the sky was bright due to the moon, the nebulosity was only faintly visible, but the Trapezium stood out very nicely. At 0125 MST, went back to Jupiter and viewed it at 364X. I added a moon filter to keep the planet from overexposing on the iPhone and did some handheld afocal video recordings. This is a crop from a single frame:
Slewed to the star Rigel and viewed it and its companion star, 364X. The separation would guide my search for Sirius B. I then slewed to Sirius, which was still in a tree at 0137 MST. At 0204 MST, Sirius had exited the tree and I began searching for Sirius B (the "Pup Star"), 364X. Could not see it at 364X, so switched to 133X. Went back to Rigel to check separation at 133X, then returned to Sirius. Still no success. I have previously seen the Pup Star, so I know it is possible to view it. I will try again on another session.
The observatory was closed at 0230 MST, 52°F.
Comments are welcome; use the Comments section below, or you can Email Me. Thanks.
Cassiopeia Observatory Home Page
