Saturday, 1 June 2019, the sky was very hazy and strong winds came up in the afternoon, continuing into the night. Unforecasted clouds arrived too. Did not open the observatory that night. Sunday, 2 June, the sky was still hazy with some clouds and wind, both of which were gone as sunset approached.

Open: Sunday, 2 June 2019, 1923 MST Temperature: 81°F

Session: 1359 Conditions: Clear, hazy

Equipment Used:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
Binoviewers 1.25" 20mm eyepieces

Camera:
None

1930 MST: sunset.

Relaxed on the observatory patio bench. I always enjoy watching the stars come out as twilight fades.

2030 MST: back in the observatory.

2033 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Slewed to the star Regulus and SYNCed the AutoStar. Then slewed to NGC3344 (galaxy). It was faintly visible, 102X, about 30 minutes before the end of Astronomical Twilight.

2048 MST: StarLock ON.

I checked the StarLock autoguiding. Within a minute it was obvious that seeing was not good enough again this night for imaging.

2055 MST: StarLock OFF.

Viewed M104 (Sombrero Galaxy), 102X.

Switched to the William Optics Binoviewers with 20mm eyepieces. Viewed M104 (Sombrero Galaxy), 122X. The view using the Binoviewers was very nice with the dust lane visible. A 3D effect was visible with the foreground stars appearing to be closer than the galaxy. Of course, this is just due to the bright stars tricking the brain into thinking the stars are closer than the faint galaxy.

2104 MST: Jupiter rising over the hill to the southeast.

Then viewed the following using the Binoviewers, 122X: M57 (Ring Nebula), M13 (Great Globular Cluster in Hercules), and Omega Centauri (globular cluster). All showed nice viewes using the Binoviewers.

Due to activities the next day I ended the session.

2119 MST: LX600 OFF.

Terminated a Kissing Bug in the observatory. This was the first one seen this season, which started late.

Close: Sunday, 2 June 2019, 2130 MST Temperature: 71°F

Session Length: 2h 07m Conditions: Clear

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I have posted my review of the ScopeStuff GEM Counterweight Bar Accessory Mount.

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