In typical Monsoon Season fashion, Thursday morning, 20 July 2023, was clear, but clouds began appearing in the eastern sky in late afternoon. I had hopes that a clear night would give me a chance to catch up on my Herschel 400 Project and do some tests with a new telescope accessory. As the western sky was still mostly clear, I decided to open the observatory and do some Venus observing and accessory tests.

Open: Thursday, 20 July 2023, 1806 MST Temperature: 116°F

Session: 1909 Conditions: Mostly clear

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
2" 30mm eyepiece
1.25" 15mm eyepiece
Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector

Camera:
iPhone 13 Pro Max

When I entered the observatory I saw that my "temporary" air conditioner hot air duct repair had failed.

The tape adhesive had given up and the hot air from the air conditioner had not been exhausted to the outside of the observatory. The maximum temperature inside the observatory that day had reached 125°F. Obviously, I will have to look at doing an alternative repair.

I then took the Dome Cover OFF.

1817 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Attached the Thousand Oaks Optical Solar Filter to the 12" telescope. Did a GOTO "Sun as Asteroid". Viewed the Sun, 102X and 81X. Many sunspots were visible. Mounted the iPhone 13 Pro Max on the 30mm eyepiece and took this image using NightCap Camera (ISO 34, 1/4400sec, 1X lens). The Sun was getting behind a tree when I imaged it, hence the dark areas on the left and right sides of the image.

Removed the solar filter. Viewed Venus, 102X and 163X + Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector (ADC). Mounted the iPhone on the 15mm eyepiece + ADC and took this afocal 163X image of Venus using NightCap Camera (ISO 34, 1/16000sec, 1X lens).

I then did a 10 seconds video using the iPhone (slo-mo, 240fps, 1X lens). This is a stack of 1994 video frames, afocal 163X.

1858 MST: The eastern sky was getting cloudier.

1900 MST: I began working on another temporary repair of the hot air duct. The temperature inside the observatory was still 100°F.

1925 MST: Some mammatus clouds appeared in the southeastern sky.

1933 MST: Sunset. The clouds made for a pretty western sky.

1936 MST: Finished the temporary duct repair. I will check this repair during the daytime as long as the current excessive heat wave continues.

The sky was now mostly cloudy. I took a final look at Venus through some clouds, 163X + ADC and 102X.

1942 MST: LX600 OFF.

Put the Dome Cover ON as thunderstorms remain in the forecast.

1959 MST: The crescent Moon and Venus in the western sky. Taken with the iPhone using the Camera app (3X lens).

Close: Thursday, 20 July 2023, 2003 MST Temperature: 95°F

Session Length: 1h 57m Conditions: Mostly cloudy

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