Friday, 5 May 2017, began clear but the sky turned cloudy mid-day. The sky cleared on Saturday, 6 May, but was hazy with strong winds blowing.

I met an amateur astronomer who lives part of the year in Oracle and has his own observatory here. He came to see my observatory on Saturday, and then I visited his observatory. We are each looking forward to seeing more of each other and looking through our respective telescopes.

And look what arrived from Meade Instruments on Saturday:

I will be posting a full report of my experiences with this new ETX model.

Open: Saturday, 6 May 2017, 1857 MST Temperature: 85°F

Session: 1110 Conditions: Mostly clear, hazy, windy

Equipment Used:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
2" 50mm eyepiece

Camera:
iPhone 6s Plus

Although it was very windy I went to the observatory for the main purpose of doing some tests of the iOS app ScopeBoss for the developer. As these tests did not require viewing through the telescope I left the dome closed for the duration of the tests due to the wind. I hoped that the wind would decrease once the sun set.

1904 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

1915 MST: GC Wi-Fi Adapter ON. Performed the ScopeBoss tests. 1920 MST: Wi-Fi OFF. Notified the developer of the test results.

1924 MST: dome open. The sun had already set. Still windy.

Slewed to the waxing gibbous Moon. Using the 2" 50mm eyepiece viewed the Moon, 49X.

Grabbed this quick handheld iPhone 6s Plus afocal 49X photo of the Moon using the app NightCap Camera (ISO 25, 1/600sec):

Switched to the 2" 24mm UWA eyepiece (102X) and took a quick look at the Moon.

Then slewed to Jupiter for a quick look, 102X. The Great Red Spot and the four Galilean Moons were visible.

1931 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Saturday, 6 May 2017, 1938 MST Temperature: 80°F

Session Length: 0h 41m Conditions: Mostly clear, hazy, windy

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I have posted my review of the Spectrum Telescope Smartphone 8X Telephoto Kit with Solar Filter. If you have only a smartphone and want to photograph this year's Total Solar Eclipse, check it out.

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