Open: Thursday, 14 December 2017, 2117 MST Temperature: 53°F

Session: 1176 Conditions: Clear, breezy

Equipment Used:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
2" 30mm eyepiece
1.25" 15mm eyepiece

Camera:
iPhone 8 Plus

2123 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed M42 (Great Nebula in Orion), 102X. Then viewed M78 (nebula) and M79 (globular cluster), 102X.

Next, began setting up for some iPhone imaging for my iPhone Messier Catalog Album. Mounted the iPhone on a 2" 30mm eyepiece using the Levenhuk Smartphone Adapter. Used the iOS app NightCap Camera for these StarLock autoguided images of the nebulae M42, M43, and M78.

2142 MST: StarLock ON.

M42 & M43, afocal 81X, 1/3sec, 1 minute exposure, ISO 2500 & ISO 8448 merged


M78, afocal 81X, 1/3sec, 1 minute exposure, ISO 8448

Slewed to M79 (globular cluster) and switched to a 15mm eyepiece. M79 was a little too low for good imaging but I imaged it anyway.

M79, afocal 163X, 1/3sec, 1 minute exposure, ISO 8448

2210 MST: StarLock OFF. Ended iPhone imaging.

2223 MST: GC Wi-Fi Adapter ON. SYNCed the AutoStar on the star Algol. Used the iOS app SkySafari Pro to GOTO asteroid 3200 Phaethon. Began trying to identify the rapidly moving asteroid using the 2" 24mm UWA eyepiece (102X). 2240 MST: sighting confirmed. The asteroid seemed to be moving a little faster than it was on the previous night, which is to be expected since it is getting closer to the Earth, with closest approach on Saturday, 16 December. (I imaged Phaethon on the previous night and hope to image it again on the next session.)

2246 MST: Wi-Fi OFF.

Viewed M41 (open star cluster), 102X.

2251 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Thursday, 14 December 2017, 2301 MST Temperature: 48°F

Session Length: 1h 44m Conditions: Clear, breezy

---

Comments are welcome using Email. Twitter users can use the button below to tweet this report to their followers. Thanks.

Tweet

---

Previous report

Cassiopeia Observatory Home Page