Open: Saturday, 24 September 2016, 1802 MST Temperature: 90°F

Session: 1015 Conditions: Clear

Equipment Used:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
Wireless AutoStar II handset
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece

Camera:
D7200 DSLR

1818 MST: spotted Venus in southwestern sky with naked eye.

1819 MST: sunset.

1820 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

1824 MST: viewed Venus, 102X. Gibbous phase visible.

1826 MST: viewed Saturn, 102X. Titan not yet visible due to still bright sky. 1837 MST: the moon Titan was now visible, 102X. 1844 MST: the moon Rhea was now visible, 102X. Seeing at Saturn was getting worse. 1851 MST: the moon Dione now visible, 102X. 1900 MST: the moon Tethys now visible, 102X.

1904 MST: viewed Mars, 102X. Seeing not good, but there was a hint of a limb cloud.

1926 MST: took this handheld D7200 DSLR photo of the constellation of Cassiopeia, f/3.5, 2 seconds, ISO 5000, FL 18mm:

1934 MST: mounted the DSLR at the 12" prime focus + focal reducer for imaging some deep sky objects (DSOs). High Precision ON. Slewed to IC1396 (Elephant Trunk Nebula). After doing a 2 minute, ISO 6400, exposure to check and adjust framing, I took this (black-n-white) image of the Elephant Trunk Nebula, 5 minutes, ISO 6400, White Balance 4000K, StarLock autoguided:

Next, I took a series of 1 and 2 minute, ISO 3200, White Balance 4000K, StarLock autoguided, exposures of some open star clusters in the constellation of Cassiopeia:

NGC129


NGC225


NGC457


NGC559


M103


NGC654


NGC659


NGC663


M52


NGC103


NGC136


NGC743

Next, I took this (cropped) image of star HD7924 in the constellation of Cassiopeia, 1 minute, ISO 3200, White Balance 4000K, StarLock autoguided:

This star has 3 "super Earth" planets.

2138 MST: ended DSO imaging.

Close: Saturday, 24 September 2016, 2202 MST Temperature: 62°F

Session Length: 4h 00m Conditions: Clear

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