Friday, 26 June 2020, was mostly overcast and smokey. Oracle continued to be at the SET evacuation status. This article on Wildfire Today shows a nice 3D map of the map and surrounding area. Oracle is in the lower left corner. The clouds cleared somewhat in the late afternoon. Very little smoke was in the sky here. Wind from the west kept the fire and smoke from moving northward during the day. Shortly before sunset the threat to Oracle was determined to have been reduced and the evacuation status was lowered to READY. After sunset I checked the mountain and could see very little smoke on the northern side. As of Friday evening the Bighorn Fire had burned 88,046 acres since it was started by lightning on 5 June and was now at 40% containment. With the sky mostly clear I decided to open the observatory for a short session.

Open: Friday, 26 June 2020, 2030 MST Temperature: 87°F

Session: 1492 Conditions: Mostly clear, some smoke

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
2" 14mm 100° eyepiece
2" 5.5mm 100° eyepiece
2" 9mm 100° eyepiece

Camera:
iPhone 11 Pro Max

There was a faint smell of smoke from the Bighorn Fire inside the observatory when I arrived.

2036 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed the Moon, 102X.

Took this handheld iPhone 11 Pro Max afocal 102X photo of the Moon using the iOS app NightCap Camera (ISO 32, 1/800sec, 1X lens).

Then I did some lunar observing, 174X, 443X, and 271X. Seeing was not good enough to use 443X but the views at 174X and 271X were very nice. I saw something I had never noticed before on the Moon. A line of five small craters (top-to-bottom: Linné G, Linné H, Linné F, Linné B, and Linné A;) in Mare Serenitatis near the terminator was very obvious. I took this handheld iPhone afocal 271X photo with NightCap Camera (ISO 32, 1/120sec, 1X lens).

Mouseover or tap on image for marker to craters

I then viewed M85 (galaxy). I considered imaging the galaxy to try to capture Supernova 2020nlb but the Moon was too close. The last report I saw of the supernova said it was Mag. +16.

2059 MST: LX600 OFF.

The smoke smell was now a little stronger.

Close: Friday, 26 June 2020, 2111 MST Temperature: 83°F

Session Length: 0h 41m Conditions: Mostly clear, some smoke

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