Cloudy skies and wind returned on Monday, 18 April 2022. Wednesday, 20 April, the sky was clear, but hazy with strong wind. Thursday evening, I gave a talk to the Saddlebrooke Ranch astronomy club:

Friday, 22 April, had clouds, strong winds, and dust.

Saturday, 23 April, I was at Oracle State Park all day and into the night for the "Earth Day Musical Trail Event and Dark Sky Party". This was a celebration of Earth Day, International Dark Sky Week, and the 7th Anniversary of Oracle State Park becoming an IDA International Dark Sky Park. Click the first link to see my report.

Sunday afternoon, 24 April, I set up new a Bluetooth speaker inside the observatory. It replaced speakers I had received in 2005 and had been using in the observatory since 2009 that did not provide good volume with the iPod Touch that I bought earlier this year. (The iPod Touch had replaced my iPod Classic that was a retirement gift from Northrop Grumman in 2007). This is the new onn Portable Bluetooth Speaker inside the observatory:

As sunset approached on Sunday, the sky was very hazy, but I still opened the observatory.

Open: Sunday, 24 April 2022, 1834 MST Temperature: 84°F

Session: 1753 Conditions: Clear, hazy, some wildfire smoke

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

Camera:
D850 DSLR

1842-1930 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench, which was much needed after spending nearly 14 hours the previous day and night at Oracle State Park.

1901 MST: Setting Sun taken with the D850 DSLR (f/2.8, 1/1250sec, ISO 200, FL 70mm, cropped).

1903 MST: Sunset.

1931 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF.

Slewed to M60 (galaxy). NGC4647 (galaxy) and Supernova 2022hrs in the galaxy would also be in the same field-of-view once the sky became darker. Prepared the D850 DSLR for imaging.

1940-1956 MST: Relaxed on the bench.

1959 MST: Viewed M60 and NGC4647, 102X. Using averted vision, Supernova 2022hrs was visible in the twilight sky (20 minutes before the end of Astronomical Twilight), which was surprising since it was still about Mag. +13.

Mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus + UHC filter, focused on Arcturus, and locked the 12" primary mirror.

2011 MST: StarLock ON.

Began imaging M60, NGC4647, and Supernova 2022hrs. Unfortunately, seeing was pretty bad and autoguiding was not very good. I managed to get one exposure that was good, StarLock autoguided, 2 minutes, ISO 6400, White Balance 5560K.

Mouseover or tap on image for labels

2035 MST: StarLock OFF.

I plan to re-image the supernova on the next session. Hopefully conditions will be better.

2041 MST: Viewed Viewed M60, NGC4647, and Supernova 2022hrs, 102X. The supernova was easily seen without using averted vision.

2043 MST: LX600 OFF.

2050 MST: Took a sky quality reading and reported the result to Globe at Night.

Close: Sunday, 24 April 2022, 2055 MST Temperature: 59°F

Session Length: 2h 21m Conditions: Clear, hazy, SQM 20.95

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