Open: Monday, 30 January 2017, 1812 MST Temperature: 70°F

Session: 1067 Conditions: Mostly clear

Equipment Used:
SkyTracker Pro
12x50 binoculars

Camera:
iPhone 6s Plus
D7200 DSLR

I opened the dome this night but did not use the 12" LX600 telescope. I dedicated this session to doing more sky astrophotography tests with my new iOptron SkyTracker Pro.

I set up the SkyTracker, a chair, and table outside of the observatory:

1828 MST: Polaris was now visible so I polar aligned the SkyTracker Pro.

With the Vortex 12x50 binoculars on the SkyTracker Pro I viewed the crescent Moon. Earthshine was very nice. There was also a bright star in the field-of-view. This quickly done handheld iPhone photo, taken using the iOS app NightCap Pro, hardly does the view justice:

I removed the binoculars from the SkyTracker Pro. While waiting for the sky to get darker I did some 12x50 binoculars observing: Orion Nebula, Pleiades, Double Cluster, Andromeda Galaxy, and several open star clusters. Very enjoyable.

1930 MST: began setting up for my sky astrophotography tests with the SkyTracker Pro. I will be posting the results on my upcoming review, but here is a teaser showing the open star cluster M44 (Praesepe):

2223 MST: ended my tests.

Close: Monday, 30 January 2017, 2245 MST Temperature: 50°F

Session Length: 4h 33m Conditions: Clear

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