Clouds arrived mid-day on Saturday, 13 May 2023. As cloudy nights and even rain are in the forecasts, I decided to try to image a few more Herschel 400 objects.

Open: Saturday, 13 May 2023, 1932 MST Temperature: 77°F

Session: 1868 Conditions: Partly cloudy

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

Camera:
iPhone 13 Pro Max
D850 DSLR

1935 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Venus, 102X.

1942-2010 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench to monitor the clouds, as seen in these iPhone 13 Pro Max photos of views to the south and west, respectively.

Mouseover or tap on image for labels

Back in the observatory I prepared the D850 DSLR for imaging. Mounted the D850 at prime focus, focused on Regulus, and locked the telescope primary mirror.

2020 MST: High Precision ON.

Slewed to NGC3310 (galaxy).

2022 MST: StarLock ON.

Imaged the following Herschel 400 galaxies, StarLock autoguided, ISO 3200, 5 minute exposures, except for the last one, which was 2 minutes at ISO 6400 due to poor seeing.

NGC3310 (galaxy)

2033 MST: Dome OFF.

NGC3294 (galaxy)


NGC3432 (galaxy)


NGC3486 (galaxy)


NGC3489 (galaxy)

2128 MST: StarLock OFF.

Observed some more Herschel 400 galaxies, 102X: NGC3504, NGC3521, NGC3556 (M108), and NGC3593. I have now observed 212 Herschel 400 objects and imaged 208 of them since beginning this project in October 2022.

2146 MST: Dome ON.

Viewed Omega Centauri (globular cluster), 102X. Always a nice sight low in the southern sky.

2148 MST: LX600 OFF.

2156 MST: Took a Sky Quality reading and reported the result to Globe at Night.

Close: Saturday, 13 May 2023, 2200 MST Temperature: 67°F

Session Length: 2h 28m Conditions: Mostly clear, SQM 21.01

---

Comments are welcome using Email. Twitter users can use the button below to tweet this report to their followers. Thanks.

Tweet

---

Previous report

Cassiopeia Observatory Home Page