Open: Monday, 23 October 2017, 1808 MST Temperature: 77°F

Session: 1154 Conditions: Clear

Equipment Used:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
2" 30mm eyepiece

Camera:
iPhone 8 Plus

After opening the observatory I did some mirror lock tests.

1851 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed the Moon, 102X.

Then I set up for imaging the Moon using the Spectrum Telescope 8X telephoto and adapter mounted on a GorillaPod:

I used NightCap Camera for the photos of the Moon. This one shows the Moon at 8X, with the inset a magnified view:

This is the Moon at 16X (8X telephoto + 2X camera lens) and a magnified view of the image:

The iPhone 8 Plus with the addition of a telephoto lens can do fairly good photos of the Moon.

I then mounted the iPhone on a 2" 30mm eyepiece using the Levenhuk adapter for this afocal 81X photo using NightCap Camera:

1926 MST: Wi-Fi ON. This was a test to see if it would work this night. It did. Whew. Maybe the RS-232 connectors were just dirty and my wiggling them on the previous session cleaned them off. 1931 MST: Wi-Fi OFF.

I then began preparing to image several Messier Catalog open star clusters for my new Messier Catalog iPhone Astrophotography album. 1941 MST: StarLock ON. These StarLock autoguided photos were taken using the iOS app NightCap Camera (Long Exposure, Light Boost, ISO 8000, 1/3sec, 1 minute exposure):

M18


M21


M23


M24


M25


M26


M29


M73


M39

2024 MST: StarLock OFF.

Next, I spent several minutes enjoying the night sky from my dark site. The view of the Milky Way high overhead and constellations was nice.

2050 MST: LX600 OFF.

After I closed the dome I saw this critter on the dome:

Close: Monday, 23 October 2017, 2103 MST Temperature: 68°F

Session Length: 2h 55m Conditions: Clear

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