Open: Tuesday, 11 May 2021, 1822 MST Temperature: 87°F

Session: 1635 Conditions: Clear

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

Camera:
D850 DSLR

1829-1905 MST: relaxed on the observatory patio bench.

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

1908 MST: viewed Venus, 102X. Nearly a full phase was visible. Then viewed Mercury, 102X. A fat crescent phase was visible.

1917 MST: sunset.

1918 MST: viewed Venus, 12x50 binoculars.

Returned to the bench to watch the stars (and planets) come out.

1921 MST: Venus now visible to the naked eye.

1923 MST: Mercury, 12x50 binoculars.

1931 MST: Mercury visible (with difficulty), naked eye.

1937 MST: Mercury now easily visible with the naked eye.

1956 MST: back inside the observatory. Prepared the D850 DSLR for imaging.

2002 MST: slewed to M52 (open star cluster) to observe Nova V1405 Cassiopeiae very low in the northern sky, but it was behind a tree.

2017 MST: dome OFF.

Viewed Markarian's Chain of galaxies (M84, M86, NGC4435, NGC4438, NGC4458, NGC4461, and NGC4473), 102X.

Mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus + focal reducer + UHC filter, focused on the star Regulus, locked the 12" primary mirror, and slewed back to M86.

2031 MST: StarLock ON.

I took several images of Markarian's Chain but autoguiding was too erratic. I managed to get only one good exposure (1 minute, ISO 12800).

I suspect the autoguiding issue is due to all the faint galaxies in this field-of-view.

2050 MST: dome ON.

Slewed to M52 for this StarLock autoguided image of M52 and Nova V1405 Cassiopeiae (30 seconds, ISO 12800, UHC).

Mouseover or tap on image for labels

The nova was only 4°26' above the northern horizon.

2058 MST: StarLock OFF.

2108 MST: viewed the nova and M52, 102X.

Then tried to view the nova, 12x50 binoculars, but it was too low in the sky.

2113 MST: LX600 OFF.

2123 MST: took a Sky Quality reading using the Unihedron-L meter and reported the result to Globe at Night.

Close: Tuesday, 11 May 2021, 2127 MST Temperature: 65°F

Session Length: 3h 05m Conditions: Clear, SQM 21.27

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