Saturday night, 17 June 2023, I attended the "Singalong and Star Party" at Oracle State Park, our local International Dark Sky Park.

Sunday, 18 June, was cloudy. Cloudy skies continued until Tuesday, 20 June.

Open: Tuesday, 20 June 2023, 1812 MST Temperature: 89°F

Session: 1892 Conditions: Clear, breezy

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
1.25" 5.5mm eyepiece
1.25" Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector

Camera:
D850 DSLR
iPhone 13 Pro Max

1822 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Venus, 102X and 443X + Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector (ADC).

1830-1855 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench.

Back at the telescope. Viewed Venus, 443X + ADC.

Prepared the D850 DSLR for prime focus imaging.

1902-1929 MST: Relaxed on the bench.

Viewed Venus, 443X + ADC and 102X.

Mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus.

1938 MST: Sunset.

1943-2000 MST: Relaxed on the bench while waiting for the sky to get darker.

2002 MST: Took this image of the Moon, 1/160sec, ISO 400.

2005 MST: Back to the bench.

2019 MST: Took this iPhone 13 Pro Max photo of the western sky using the Camera app (3X lens). Mars is at the upper left, then Venus and the crescent Moon with Earthshine.

2030 MST: Back inside the observatory. Calm now. Took this D850 DSLR image of Earthshine, prime focus, 2 seconds, ISO 400.

I then focused on Spica and locked the mirror.

2038 MST: High Precision ON.

Slewed to NGC4442 (galaxy) to begin imaging more Herschel 400 objects.

2041 MST: StarLock ON.

As on recent nights, imaging was challenging due to poor seeing. With some objects the StarLock autoguider could not find or stay locked onto a guide star, necessitating short exposures with a high ISO.

NGC4442 (galaxy, 30 seconds, ISO 6400)


NGC4478 (galaxy at center, 248 seconds, ISO 3200)


NGC4448 (5 minutes, ISO 3200)


NGC4449 (109 seconds, ISO 3200)


NGC4450 (5 minutes, ISO 3200)


NGC4459 (4 minutes, ISO 3200)


NGC4473 (30 seconds, ISO 6400)


NGC4477 (30 seconds, ISO 6400)


NGC4485 (bottom) and NGC4490 (top) (30 seconds, ISO 6400)


NGC4494 (115 seconds, ISO 3200)

2236 MST: StarLock OFF.

Viewed the following Herschel 400 galaxies, 102X: NGC4526, NGC4527, NGC4535, NGC4536, NGC4546, NGC4548 (M91), NGC4550, NGC4559, NGC4565, NGC4570, NGC4594 (M104, Sombrero Galaxy), and NGC4596

I have now observed 308 Herschel 400 objects and imaged 296 of them since beginning the project in October 2022.

2308 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Tuesday, 20 June 2023, 2317 MST Temperature: 72°F

Session Length: 5h 05m Conditions: Clear, hazy

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