Wednesday, 18 November 2015, dawned mostly clear with some cirrus clouds. As sunset approached the sky was mostly overcast. However, the poor sky conditions were offset by my receiving a "Dark Sky Defender 2015" award from the International Dark-Sky Association.

Thursday, 19 November, dawned clear but windy. The sky stayed clear and the wind subsided by sunset.

As I headed out to the observatory I saw this shape in a tree by the pathway:

Using the camera flash I got this photo of the owl:

Open: Thursday, 19 November 2015, 1815 MST Temperature: 62°F

Session: 883 Conditions: Clear, calm

1824 MST: viewed the Moon, 83X. Then set up for imaging the Moon using the iPhone 6s Plus. Mounted it on the 8" LX200-ACF using the Orion SteadyPix adapter. Used the iOS Camera app for these Moon images. This is the Moon, afocal 77X:

These are views along the terminator, afocal 154X:

I tried some slo-mo (240 frames per second) video recordings but poor seeing did not allow useful stacking of the frames. However, this frame from one of the videos shows the Straight Wall, 154X:

1843 MST: I removed the camera and SteadyPix and did some lunar observing, 166X. The crater Moretus near the south pole was a fascinating view with its central peak and terraced crater walls. Viewed it at 222X and 444X, but the seeing was not good enough for a good view at 444X. I added a 2X Barlow Lens to the 2X PowerMate with the 26mm eyepiece and mounted the iPhone using the SteadyPix for this 308X image (cropped from full-frame) of the crater Moretus:

1907 MST: resumed lunar observing, 222X. Some great views at times.

1930 MST: I decided I should TRAIN DRIVES for the LX200-ACF AutoStar. I had last done it in August 2009, shortly after the telescope was installed in the observatory. However, this night I could not locate a usable distant light source for the training. Will have to do it in the daytime using some distant object.

1935 MST: slewed the telescope back to the Moon. I noticed that the Moon's image was nicely visible projected onto the observatory dome. I placed the D7200 DSLR on the POD Roller Desk and took this photo, f/3.5, 20 seconds, ISO 1600, FL 18mm:

Close: Thursday, 19 November 2015, 1953 MST Temperature: 54°F

Session Length: 1h 38m Conditions: Clear

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Check out the video about Kitt Peak National Observatory and one of the guys who works there in this article by Rob Sparks of NOAO.

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