As sunset approached, a local coyote came by for a visit:

Click or tap on image for larger version

Open: Wednesday, 13 January 2016, 1803 MST Temperature: 57°F

Session: 907 Conditions: Mostly clear, some clouds low in the west

1810 MST: viewed the crescent Moon, 8" LX200-ACF, 83X. I then used my D7200 DSLR with the Tamron 150-600mm lens at FL 600mm for these handheld, full-frame, photos:

Crescent Moon, f/6.3, 1/800sec, ISO 1600


Earthshine, f/6.3, 1/20sec, ISO 6400

I then attached the iPhone 6s Plus to the 8" telescope using the Orion SteadyPix Universal Smartphone Telescope Photo Mount and took this afocal 77X photo using the iOS Camera app:

I added the Meade 3X TeleXtender (231X) and did some lunar observing. That was followed by this sequence of lunar images taken with the iPhone 6s Plus, afocal 231X, Camera app:

1846 MST: resumed lunar observing but used the William Optics Binoviewers, 100X. Watched a star get occulted at 184823 MST. Although seeing was not ideal, the views of details on the Moon through the Binoviewers were very nice.

1900 MST: slewed to M42 (Great Nebula in Orion) and viewed it with the Binoviewers, 100X. The moonlit sky interferred somewhat but there was still a lot of nebulosity visible, making for an impressive view through the Binoviewers.

Prior to closing the observatory I switched back to the 2" 24mm UWA eyepiece (83X) and viewed M42. A nice view.

Close: Wednesday, 13 January 2016, 1926 MST Temperature: 49°F

Session Length: 1h 23m Conditions: Clear, breezy

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