Saturday, 7 May 2022, I attended a Town Hall Meeting with Pinal County Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh. One of the topics the Supervisor talked about was the efforts by the County on Satellite TV Reform that I have been working on since 2013.

Saturday evening the sky was cloudy with strong wind. Sunday, 8 May, was clear but very windy. Clouds skies returned Tuesday evening, 10 May. Wednesday, 11 May, was cloudy and windy. Conditions improved on Thursday, 12 May.

Open: Thursday, 12 May 2022, 1809 MST Temperature: 74°F

Session: 1763 Conditions: Clear

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
2" 9mm 100° eyepiece
Focal reducer

Camera:
iPhone 13 Pro Max
D850 DSLR

Prepared the D850 DSLR for imaging.

1818 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed the Moon, 102X.

Took this handheld iPhone 13 Pro Max afocal 102X photo of the Moon in the bright blue sky using the NightCap Camera app (ISO 34, 1/3600sec, 1X lens).

Did some lunar observing, 102X and 271X.

1833 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench while waiting for an Oracle friend to arrive. She wanted me to check out her "new" telescope and show her how to use it. Took this iPhone photo of the Moon high in the eastern sky, Camera app (3X lens).

1915 MST: Sunset. Laurie arrived with her telescope.

The telescope was old but in pretty good condition. I showed Laurie how to assemble it and the basics of using it. Although the equatorial mount was a little flimsy, the optics of the refractor telescope were actually very good. It came with three eyepieces: 20mm, 12.5mm, and 4mm. Since the mount needed more tightening up than we were prepared to do this night, we only used the low power 20mm eyepiece to view the waxing gibbous Moon. Laurie was impressed with what she saw.

We then went to the observatory. I told Laurie some of the history of the observatory. She viewed the Moon, 102X and 271X, and was very impressed.

2120 MST: Laurie left.

I mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus + focal reducer and took this photo of the Moon (1/400sec, ISO 100).

2132 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Thursday, 12 May 2022, 2144 MST Temperature: 59°F

Session Length: 3h 35m Conditions: Clear

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Registration for the David H. Levy Arizona Dark Sky Star Party II has opened! More details will be added to the registration page as the schedule of speakers and events is finalized. I will be one of the many featured speakers. As the number of registrations is limited, don't wait too long to register if you plan to attend. Some events will be open to the public and we hope that much of the event will be livestreamed free of charge.

Tuesday, 10 May, I was on the Explore Alliance Live "Global Star Party" to talk about the "David H. Levy Arizona Dark Sky Star Party" 21-25 September in Oracle, Arizona. You can watch a replay here My portion begins at 19:55.

Thursday, 12 May, Scott Roberts, David Levy, Vince Micallef, Kent Marts, and I were on an Explore Alliance Live show to talk more about the "David H. Levy Arizona Dark Sky Star Party" 21-25 September in Oracle, Arizona. You can watch a replay here. The entire discussion runs about 1 hour 15 minutes.

I will be on future Explore Alliance Live shows leading up to the Star Party in September. You can also view the shows live on Twitter, Facebook, and Twitch.

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