Open: Tuesday, 23 May 2023, 1907 MST Temperature: 82°F

Session: 1872 Conditions: Clear

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

Camera:
D850 DSLR

1923 MST: Sunset.

1924 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Venus, 102X. Viewed the Moon, 102X.

1929-2010 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench while waiting for the sky to get darker. Enjoyed seeing Mars, the Moon with Earthshine, and Venus in the western sky, as seen in this handheld D850 DSLR photo (f/8, 1 second, ISO 1600, FL 70mm).

Mouseover or tap on image for labels

I prepared the D850 DSLR for prime focus imaging. Mounted the camera at prime focus and took these images of the Moon (ISO 1600, 1/640sec and 1 second, respectively).

I then focused on the star Regulus using a Bahtinov Mask and locked the 12" primary mirror.

2026 MST: High Precision ON.

Slewed to NGC3619 (galaxy) to begin more Herschel 400 galaxies imaging in the moonlit sky.

2031 MST: StarLock ON.

All images are StarLock autoguided, 5 minutes, ISO 3200, except NGC3619 and NGC3729 which had no guide star so were taken at ISO 12800, 60 seconds and 30 seconds, respectively.

NGC3619 (galaxy)


NGC3726 (galaxy)


NGC3729 (galaxy)


NGC3813 (galaxy)


NGC3877 (galaxy)


NGC3893 (galaxy)


NGC3898 (galaxy)


NGC3810 (galaxy)

2205 MST: StarLock OFF.

I have now observed and imaged 233 Herschel 400 objects since beginning my Herschel 400 Catalog project in October 2022.

Viewed M101 (galaxy) and its supernova 2023ixf, 102X.

2214 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Tuesday, 23 May 2023, 2224 MST Temperature: 68°F

Session Length: 3h 17m Conditions: Clear

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