Sunday, 10 June 2018, dawned clear, with a clear sky forecast for the night. The wind returned mid-morning and continued through the day.

Open: Sunday, 10 June 2018, 1921 MST Temperature: 81°F

Session: 1249 Conditions: Clear, breezy

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

Camera:
D850 DSLR

1931 MST: Viewed Venus (easy) and Jupiter (more difficult) naked eye.

1934 MST: sunset. Calm now.

1935 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Venus, 102X. Viewed Jupiter, 102X. The Great Red Spot and four moons were visible.

1942 MST: began observing Jupiter with the 8-24mm zoom eyepiece. Good views with the full zoom range of 102X to 305X. Disks of the four moons easily seen, 305X, especially Ganymede (the largest moon). The best view of the planet was with 203X.

2002 MST: began preparing the D850 DSLR for the night's imaging after the end of Astronomical Twilight (2112 MST). Slewed to Spica and SYNCed the AutoStar.

2014 MST: viewed M104 (Sombrero Galaxy), 102X. It was faintly visible. It would be the first imaging target.

2016 MST: Kissing Bug #1 terminated.

2029 MST: M104 galaxy was looking nice, 102X.

2046 MST: Kissing Bug #2 terminated.

2049 MST: saw a bright short pass of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

2100 MST: mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus of the 12" telescope. Focused on the star Spica.

2107 MST: Kissing Bug #3 terminated.

2112 MST: StarLock ON.

I first did ten 1 minute, ISO 6400, White Balance 4000K, StarLock autoguided exposures of M104 for a stacking test using some software I'm testing. This is one of those images, unedited:

I then began my Extragalactic Supernova Project imaging. The first galaxy for the night was of course M104 (Sombrero Galaxy, NGC4594). All exposures were 5 minutes, ISO 6400, WB 4000K, StarLock autoguided. I eventually turned High Precision ON to aid in centering the fainter galaxies.

NGC4594 (M104, Sombrero Galaxy)


NGC3486


NGC3521


NGC3556


NGC3675


NGC3726

2241 MST: StarLock OFF. Done with Project imaging for the night.

Added the focal reducer. Slewed to Deneb, focused, and SYNCed. Slewed to NGC6888 (Crescent Nebula).

2256 MST: StarLock ON.

Did a 1 minute exposure framing test of NGC6888. Framing was OK. Then did this StarLock autoguided, 5 minutes, ISO 6400, WB 4000K, exposure of NGC6888 (Crescent Nebula), slightly cropped:

2305 MST: StarLock OFF. Done imaging.

Saw a dead Kissing Bug on the floor. Apparently I had stepped on it sometime during my imaging. #4 terminated.

2314 MST: the Milky Way was a nice sight.

SYNCed on Antares. Viewed Saturn, 102X.

2319 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Sunday, 10 June 2018, 2329 MST Temperature: 73°F

Session Length: 4h 08m Conditions: Clear

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