Open: Tuesday, 9 May 2023, 1808 MST Temperature: 77°F

Session: 1865 Conditions: Mostly clear, breezy

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
2" 14mm 100° eyepiece

Camera:
D850 DSLR

1813 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Venus, 102X and 174X.

1818 MST: Dome OFF.

1819-1908 MST: I relaxed on observatory patio bench.

After returning to inside the observatory, I observed Venus, 174X.

1915 MST: Sunset.

Prepared the D850 DSLR for prime focus imaging.

1919 MST: High Precision ON.

Slewed to NGC3242 (Ghost of Jupiter, planetary nebula). It was not yet visible in the bright twilight sky.

1922-1955 MST: Relaxed on the bench to watch the stars come out.

1957 MST: Viewed NGC3242 (Ghost of Jupiter, planetary nebula), 102X and 174X. The nebula was nice at 174X. Breezes were still blowing.

Mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus, focused on the star Regulus, locked the 12" primary mirror, and slewed to NGC3242 to begin Herschel 400 imaging.

2009 MST: StarLock ON.

NGC3242 (Ghost of Jupiter, planetary nebula), 30 seconds, ISO 800


NGC3226 (galaxy, above) & NGC3227 (galaxy, center), 269 seconds, ISO 3200


NGC3245 (galaxy), 258 seconds, ISO 3200


NGC3277 (galaxy), 60 seconds, ISO 3200

Seeing, and hence autoguiding, was getting worse as the wind increased while I was imaging. I was only able to get a 1 minute exposure for the last image, at which point I gave up imaging on this session.

2053 MST: StarLock OFF.

Viewed M104 (Sombrero Galaxy), 102X and 174X.

2102 MST: LX600 OFF.

2107 MST: Dome ON.

Close: Tuesday, 9 May 2023, 2113 MST Temperature: 65°F

Session Length: 3h 05m Conditions: Clear, windy

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