Open: Friday, 20 December 2019, 1803 MST Temperature: 57°F

Session: 1417 Conditions: Mostly clear

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
SkyTracker Pro
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
Focal Reducer

Camera:
D850 DSLR

I set up the SkyTracker Pro and D850 DSLR on the observatory patio to photograph some SpaceX Starlink satellites from the second launch batch.

1820-1850 MST: watched for and photographed some Starlink satellites. I saw six ranging from Mag. +3 to +5. This photo (f/2.8, 25 seconds, ISO 2500, FL 24mm) shows a Starlink satellite (at left, upper trail) along with another satellite (left, lower) and an airplane.

1900 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

1911 MST: viewed M1 (Crab Nebula), 102X. Breezes came up.

I then began doing some more tests (finally) of my new Optolong SHO filters and Starizona Filter Slider System. I hope to complete my review soon. Until then here is a teaser image of M1 (Crab Nebula), Starlock autoguided, 5 minutes, ISO 6400, White Balance 5560K, through the OIII filter.

1950 MST: with the planned tests completed for this night I mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus + focal reducer. I used the Stella Wi-Fi Adapter and SkySafari 6 Pro to GOTO Asteroid (1602) Indiana, Mag. +14.7, which was named for the State of Indiana and Indiana University (my Alma Mater).

2005 MST and 2105 MST: took Starlock autoguided, 5 minutes, ISO 6400, images. The top image shows the marked position of Asteroid Indiana. The bottom image shows the motion of Asteroid Indiana over the one hour period.

And just because Orion was now visible I took this Starlock autoguided, 30 seconds, ISO 1600, WB 5560K, image (slightly cropped) of M42 (the Great Nebula in Orion), prime focus + focal reducer.

I then viewed M42, 102X.

2132 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Friday, 20 December 2019, 2139 MST Temperature: 48°F

Session Length: 3h 36m Conditions: Mostly clear, breezy

---

I have posted my review of the Meade Bahtinov Mask.

---

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