Open: Saturday, 24 June 2023, 1812 MST Temperature: 92°F

Session: 1895 Conditions: Mostly clear, hazy, breezy

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
1.25" 26mm eyepiece
2" 4X Powermate
2" Variable Polarizing Filter 1
1.25" Atmospheric Dispersion Filter

Camera:
D850 DSLR

1819 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Venus, 102X and 375X + VPF1 + Atmospheric Dispersion Filter (ADC). Really nice view at 375X.

Prepared the D850 DSLR for imaging Venus.

1852 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench.

1900 MST: Back at the 12" telescope. Viewed Venus, 375X + VPF1 + ADC.

Mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus + 4X Powermate + VPF1 + ADC. Took this full frame image of Venus (1/400sec, ISO 1600).

Then did a 1080p, 60fps, 30 seconds video recording (1/400sec, ISO 1000). This is a stack of 1440 video frames.

1920-1938 MST: Relaxed on the bench.

1939 MST: Sunset. Clear and calm now. The sky was still hazy.

Viewed Venus, 375X + VPF1 + ADC. Next, viewed the Moon, 102X and 406X. Nice view of Rima Ariadaeus (a linear rille).

1948-2010 MST: Relaxed on the bench.

Mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus. Took this image of the Moon (1/250sec, ISO 400).

Mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus + 4X Powermate. Took this image of Rima Ariadaeus at center (1/30sec, ISO 3200).

Mounted the D850 at prime focus, focused on the star Spica, and locked the telescope mirror.

2033 MST: High Precision ON.

2035 MST: StarLock ON.

Began doing some Herschel 400 galaxies imaging. The bright moonlit sky limited imaging of the faint galaxies. All images were StarLock autoguided except for the last one.

NGC4660 (galaxy, 5 minutes, ISO 3200)


NGC4665 (galaxy, 5 minutes, ISO 3200)


NGC4666 (galaxy, 169 seconds, ISO 3200)


NGC4689 (galaxy, 5 minutes, ISO 3200)


NGC4697 (galaxy, 60 seconds, ISO 3200)


NGC4698 (galaxy, 30 seconds, ISO 6400)


NGC4699 (galaxy, 60 seconds, ISO 3200)

2157 MST: StarLock OFF.

I am now done with observing and imaging Herschel 400 objects until about 5 July after the Full Moon on 3 July. Monsoon Season will start kicking in soon, causing cloudy and stormy nights. Since starting this project in October 2022, I have observed and imaged 321 Herschel 400 Catalog objects.

2204 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Saturday, 24 June 2023, 2214 MST Temperature: 75°F

Session Length: 4h 02m Conditions: Clear, hazy

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