Saturday, 30 April 2022, was cloudy and windy. Sunday, 1 May, was clear and hazy (dusty), but very windy. As the winds were forecast to diminish after 1900 MST, I went to the observatory Sunday evening.

Open: Sunday, 1 May 2022, 1850 MST Temperature: 76°F

Session: 1758 Conditions: Clear, dusty, very windy

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
2" 30mm eyepiece

Camera:
iPhone 13 Pro Max

1854-1956 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench to watch the stars come out and to wait for the strong winds to calm down.

1908 MST: Sunset. Still very windy.

2001 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

2005 MST: Viewed M60 (galaxy), NGC4647 (galaxy), and Supernova 2022hrs in NGC4647, all in the same field-of-view, 102X. Then viewed M63 (Sunflower Galaxy), 102X and 81X.

2009 MST: The wind was slightly calmer now. Mounted the iPhone 13 Pro Max on the 30mm eyepiece using the Phone Skope adapter with LiDAR Cover, locked the 12" telescope primary mirror.

2014 MST: StarLock ON.

Took the following Messier Catalog galaxy images, afocal 81X, StarLock autoguided, using the iPhone with NightCap Camera (Long Exposure, Light Boost, ISO 32000, 1sec, 1 minute, 1X lens).

M63 (Sunflower Galaxy)


M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy)


M101 (Pinwheel Galaxy)


M102


M83 (Southern Pinwheel Galaxy)

This is how M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy) appeared on the Apple Watch using NightCap Camera.

2053 MST: StarLock OFF.

Viewed the galaxies M83 (Southern Pinwheel Galaxy), M102, M101 (Pinwheel Galaxy), and M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy), 102X.

2106 MST: LX600 OFF.

2114 MST: Took a Sky Quality reading (with a dusty sky) and reported the result to Globe at Night.

Close: Sunday, 1 May 2022, 2120 MST Temperature: 66°F

Session Length: 2h 30m Conditions: Clear, dusty, windy, SQM 20.90

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