Open: Wednesday, 24 May 2023, 1818 MST Temperature: 83°F

Session: 1873 Conditions: Clear

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

Camera:
iPhone 13 Pro Max
D850 DSLR

After opening the observatory dome, I decided to do a "walkabout" the area surrounding the observatory. I used to do walkabouts every time when I would visit Oracle Observatory from 2005 to 2009 before moving to Oracle. Since then I have rarely done them and it had been a long time since my previous walkabout.

Here are some of the iPhone 13 Pro Max photos I took during this walkabout.

1850-1922 MST: After my walkabout I relaxed on the observatory patio bench while waiting for the Sun to set.

1924 MST: Sunset.

1925 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed the planet Venus, 102X. Then viewed the Moon, 102X.

1929 MST: Relaxed some more on the bench while waiting for the sky to get darker.

2002 MST: Took this iPhone photo from the bench showing the western sky with the Moon, Earthshine, and the planets Mars and Venus.

Mouseover or tap on image for labels

2019 MST: Began preparing to image the crescent Moon projected onto the observatory dome, 102X.

2025 MST: Handheld D850 DSLR photo (f/2.8, 1 second, ISO 4000, FL 24mm) of the observatory, the Moon on the dome, and stars.

I then mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus and took these images of the Moon (1/320sec, ISO 400) and Earthshine (1 second, ISO 800).

I tried to do more Herschel 400 galaxies observing even with the bright moonlit sky. I slewed to NGC3900, but it was too faint to be visible in the bright sky. Since all the other Herschel 400 galaxies I was hoping to observe this session were similar in Magnitude, I decided to wait until after the Full Moon to resume Herschel 400 observing.

2051 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Wednesday, 24 May 2023, 2101 MST Temperature: 71°F

Session Length: 2h 43m Conditions: Clear

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