Strong wind (and Red Flag Warnings) and clouds arrived Sunday afternoon, 21 March 2021. Fortunately, the wind calmed down and the clouds began going away by sunset. I decided to try to image Nova Cas 2021, now designated as "Nova V1405 Cas".

Open: Sunday, 21 March 2021, 1902 MST Temperature: 70°F

Session: 1613 Conditions: Mostly clear, breezy

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

Camera:
D850 DSLR

1906 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Slewed to Capella and SYNCed the AutoStar.

Mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus + focal reducer, focused on Capella, and locked the 12" mirror.

Slewed to M52 (open star cluster), which was about 25' from Nova V1405 Cas in the constellation of Cassiopeia.

1919 MST: StarLock ON.

Did a few framing test images to get the nova and M52 nicely positioned.

This is a StarLock autoguided, 30 seconds, ISO 1600, White Balance 4550K, exposure, cropped slightly from the full-frame image. North is to the right.

Mouseover or tap on image for labels

1936 MST: StarLock OFF.

The nova was now too low in the sky and hidden behind a tree.

1941 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Sunday, 21 March 2021, 1951 MST Temperature: 59°F

Session Length: 0h 39m Conditions: Mostly clear

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As I had been a guest panelist at the virtual Leprecon Convention, Sunday night after closing the observatory I attended the Closing Ceremonies via Zoom.

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