On Saturday, 7 November 2015, I spoke at the Grand Opening of the "Mt Lemmon SkyCenter Astrophotography Exhibit" at Oracle State Park. I gave some background on Adam Block, who did the astrophotography being exhibited at the Park from 7 November through 20 December 2015. A short report is available on the Oracle Dark Skies Committee web site.

Due to an evening activity I did not open the observatory on Saturday.

Open: Sunday, 8 November 2015, 2205 MST Temperature: 56°F

Session: 877 Conditions: Clear

After opening the observatory I did a tour of Deek Sky Objects (DSOs) in the constellation of Auriga, 83X. Viewed the open star clusters M36, NGC1664, NGC1857, NGC1893, NGC1907, M38, and M37. Also viewed the diffuse nebula IC405 in Auriga.

I then viewed M1 (Crab Nebula) in Taurus, 83X. Next, I swapped out the observatory thermometer with a replacement. The old one had a display that was going bad.

I powered on the GC Wi-Fi Adapter and used SkySafari Pro 4 to GOTO and observe several DSOs at 83X: NGC6543 (Cat's Eye Nebula, planetary nebula), Caldwell 9 (Cave Nebula), NGC7009 (Saturn Nebula, planetary nebula), and M42 (Orion Nebula). Powered off the adapter.

Mounted the iPhone 6s Plus to the 8" LX200-ACF using the SteadyPix afocal adapter and did some afocal imaging of M42 at 77X using the NightCap Pro iOS app. This is a Long Exposure, Light Boost, ISO 8000, 1/3sec, 1 minute exposure:

And this is how M42 appeared live on the Apple Watch with NightCap Pro:

2320 MST: last look at M42, 83X.

Close: Sunday, 8 November 2015, 2331 MST Temperature: 57°F

Session Length: 1h 26m Conditions: Clear

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Here is an excellent video on Choosing Eyepieces narrated by Scott Roberts of Explore Scientific. Check it out.

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