Open: Tuesday, 11 October 2016, 1804 MST Temperature: 89°F

Session: 1021 Conditions: Clear

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

Camera:
D7200 DSLR
iPhone 6s Plus

1810 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

1812 MST: viewed the waxing gibbous Moon, 102X. Earthshine was not visible this night.

Then slewed to the star Altair and did some field-of-view (FOV) measurements with the Baader Zoom 8-24mm Eyepiece. At 24mm the FOV was 25'11" and at 8mm the FOV was 14'22". The updated FOV Measurements spreadsheet (Excel) is available online for those who want to modify it for their equipment.

1825 MST: returned to the Moon. Some breezes had come up. Switched to the William Optics Binoviewers at 122X. The view of the Moon was lovely. It was like being in a high orbit over the Moon as the telescope was slewed over different areas of the Moon. Impressive views. The 3D effect was very strong. And some colors were actually visible on the lunar surface. The colors were very similar to what is seen in the enhanced color saturated image below. I then added the 1.6X Barlow Lens (195X). Seeing was not great but there were lots of good details visible in Crater Gassendi.

1850 MST: ended lunar observing. Began setting up for lunar imaging with the D7200 DSLR at prime focus + focal reducer. This is a 1/400sec, ISO 200, exposure with the colors enhanced:

1901 MST: after ending DSLR imaging, I set up to photograph the waxing gibbous Moon projected onto the observatory dome. I used the iPhone 6s Plus with a clip-on fisheye lens mounted on a GorillaPod. The GorillaPod was placed on my "POD Roller Desk". Using NightCap Pro (NCP) on the iPhone I was able to get this photo (Long Exposure, Light Boost, 1/3sec, ISO 3200, 22 seconds exposure):

I had to manually adjust the focus for the fisheye lens. The fisheye lens image looked fairly sharp at a focus setting of 75-78 in NCP. Normally it would be 100 for the iPhone camera by itself. I used the Apple Watch as a remote shutter release and as a viewing aid, as seen in these two Watch screen captures of the live view from NightCap Pro:

1920 MST: LX600 OFF. Began closing up for the night.

Close: Tuesday, 11 October 2016, 1929 MST Temperature: 76°F

Session Length: 1h 25m Conditions: Clear

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