Open: Thursday, 25 February 2021, 1816 MST Temperature: 65°F

Session: 1603 Conditions: Clear, hazy

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
2" 30mm eyepiece
1.25" 15mm eyepiece
2" 9mm 100° eyepiece
2" UHC filter

Camera:
iPhone 11 Pro Max

1818 MST: sunset.

1823 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed the Moon, 102X. A slight terminator was visible.

1841 MST: viewed the Moon, 81X.

Mounted the iPhone 11 Pro Max on the 2" 30mm eyepiece using the Levenhuk adapter. Took this afocal 81X image of the Moon using the iOS app NightCap Camera (ISO 32, 1/610sec, 1X lens).

1900 MST: High Precision ON.

Slewed to M82 (Cigar Galaxy). The galaxy was faintly visible in the bright twilight and moonlit sky, 81X.

This handheld iPhone photo taken with the Camera app (Night Mode, 10 seconds, 1X lens) shows the Big Dipper with the 12" telescope pointed at M82 (Cigar Galaxy). The double star Mizar is visible in the handle of the Big Dipper; M82 is not visible in the photo.

Mouseover or tap on image for labels

1915 MST: M82 was now more visible, 81X.

1920 MST: High Precision OFF, StarLock ON.

I took the following iPhone 11 Pro Max, StarLock autoguided, images of M82 (Cigar Galaxy) using three different eyepieces and without and with the Explore Scientific 2" UHC filter. These reduced size images are unedited for comparison. The images on the left were taken with NightCap Camera (Long Exposure, Light Boost, ISO 12500, 1sec shutter speed, 1 minute exposure, 1X lens). The images on the right were taken with the Camera app (Night Mode, 30 seconds, 1X lens).

Afocal 81X, no filter


Afocal 81X, UHC filter


Afocal 163X, no filter


Afocal 163X, UHC filter


Afocal 271X, no filter


Afocal 271X, UHC filter

Using the UHC filter dimmed the galaxy too much for iPhone astrophotography.

However, without the filter, the NightCap Camera app and the Camera app with Night Mode yielded fairly nice images, as seen in these edited images.

Afocal 81X, NightCap Camera app


Afocal 81X, Camera app


Afocal 163X, NightCap Camera app


Afocal 163X, Camera app


Afocal 271X, NightCap Camera app


Afocal 271X, Camera app

2018 MST: StarLock OFF.

Viewed M82 (Cigar Galaxy), 102X. Then viewed M81 (Bode's Galaxy), 102X.

2026 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Thursday, 25 February 2021, 2039 MST Temperature: 44°F

Session Length: 2h 23m Conditions: Clear

---

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