Saturday, 15 October 2016, I was at Oracle State Park for a "Super Moon" event. You can see my report on the Oracle Dark Skies Committee web site. Sunday, 16 October, was cloudy. Monday, 17 October, the sky cleared.

Open: Monday, 17 October 2016, 2042 MST Temperature: 72°F

Session: 1024 Conditions: Clear

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

Camera:
iPhone 6s Plus

2046 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

2048 MST: viewed the waning gibbous Moon, 102X.

Then set up for iPhone afocal imaging using the Orion SteadyPix adapter. Using a 26mm eyepiece (94X) the Moon's disk was slightly too large to be fully visible in the image. Removed the SteadyPix and switched to a 2" 30mm eyepiece (81X), which did allow the entire lunar disk to be photographed.

This is a handheld afocal 81X iPhone photo of the Moon using the Camera app:

I did some lunar observing, 81X and 102X.

2111 MST: viewed the planet Uranus, 102X, followed by Neptune, 102X. 2113 MST: as I was observing Neptune a very faint Earth orbiting satellite passed very near the planet's disk.

Lastly, I did some planning for imaging targets for the next few sessions in the observatory.

2124 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Monday, 17 October 2016, 2133 MST Temperature: 69°F

Session Length: 0h 51m Conditions: Clear

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I have posted a review of the PhotoPills for iOS sky astrophotography planning app. If you do sky astrophotography and have an iOS device, you want this app.

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