Open: Friday, 4 August 2023, 1803 MST Temperature: 95°F

Session: 1913 Conditions: Clear

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
1.25" 9.7mm eyepiece
Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector

Camera:
iPhone 13 Pro Max
D850 DSLR

1808 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Venus, 102X and 251X + Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector (ADC).

Mounted the iPhone 13 Pro Max on the 9.7mm eyepiece.

Venus, iPhone, NightCap Camera (ISO 34, 1/2500sec, 1X lens).

Did a 11 seconds video recording using the Camera app (slo-mo, 240fps, 1X lens). This is a stack of 1972 video frames.

1824 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench.

1857 MST: Venus too low in the western sky to observe using the telescope in the observatory.

1921 MST: Cactus Longhorn Beetle came to visit.

Click to view video

1935 MST: Viewed Mercury, 251X + ADC. About a half-phase visible.

2004 MST: Back to the bench to watch the stars come out.

2030 MST: The Milky Way taken with the iPhone using the Camera app (Night Mode, 10 seconds, 1X lens, handheld).

2031 MST: Back inside the observatory. Mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus of the 12" telescope, focused on the star Arcturus, locked the primary mirror, and SYNCed on Arcturus.

2037 MST: High Precision ON. 2039 MST: StarLock ON.

Took the following StarLock autoguided images of Herschel 400 objects, ISO 3200. Galaxies were 5 minutes exposures; the rest were 1 minute exposures. 2158 MST: Near the end of the imaging, the sky was brightening from the rising waning gibbous Moon.

NGC6118 (galaxy)


NGC6144 (globular cluster)


NGC6171 (M107, globular cluster)


NGC6235 (globular cluster)


NGC6284 (globular cluster)


NGC6287 (globular cluster)


NGC6293 (globular cluster)


NGC6304 (globular cluster)


NGC6316 (globular cluster)


NGC6355 (globular cluster)


NGC6369 (planetary nebula)


NGC6356 (globular cluster)


NGC6342 (globular cluster)


NGC6207 (galaxy)


NGC6217 (galaxy)


NGC6229 (globular cluster)

2218 MST: StarLock OFF.

Viewed these Herschel 400 objects, 102X: NGC6401 (globular cluster), NGC6426 (globular cluster), NGC6440 (globular cluster), NGC6445 (planetary nebula), NGC6451 (open cluster), and NGC6514 (M20, Trifid Nebula). The bright moonlit sky interferred with doing more Herschel 400 observing.

2236 MST: LX600 OFF.

Current Herschel 400 Project summary:

Close: Friday, 4 August 2023, 2255 MST Temperature: 79°F

Session Length: 4h 52m Conditions: Clear

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