Open: Wednesday, 6 September 2023, 1840 MST Temperature: 87°F

Session: 1921 Conditions: Mostly clear

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
Focal reducer
12x50 binoculars

Camera:
iPhone 13 Pro Max
D850 DSLR

1844 MST: Sunset.

Prepared the D850 DSLR for imaging. Then reviewed my plan for Barnard Objects (dark nebulae) imaging this session.

1854 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench.

1936 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision ON.

Viewed M11 (Wild Duck Cluster), 102X.

Returned to the bench while waiting for the sky to get darker.

1950 MST: Back in the observatory. Mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus + focal reducer, focused on the star Altair, locked the 12" primary mirror, and then slewed to B288.

As I looked up from the observatory I saw a train of SpaceX Starlink satellites. I quickly pulled out my iPhone 13 Pro Max and using the Camera app I got this image (Night Mode, 3 seconds, 1X lens) and a short video.

Click to view video

2002 MST: StarLock ON.

Took the following images of Barnard Objects, StarLock autoguided. B288 was a 5 minutes exposure and B84a was a 3 minutes exposure, both at ISO 1600. Seeing and autoguiding were not good so I increased the ISO to 3200 and used 2 minutes exposures for the rest of the images.

B288


B84a


B290


B291


B292


B293


B294


B87 (Parrot's Head Nebula)

I then took this StarLock autoguided image, 1 minute, ISO 800.

M11 (Wild Duck Cluster)

2134 MST: StarLock OFF.

2141 MST: Began observing some Barnard Objects, or at least the area of the objects, 102X: B184, B295, B297, B298, and B299.

Next, using 102X magnification, I observed Saturn, M31 (Andromeda Galaxy), M32 (M31 satellite galaxy), and M110 (M31 satellite galaxy).

2204 MST: LX600 OFF.

Using 12x50 binoculars I observed M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) and M33 (Triangulum Galaxy).

2220 MST: Took a Sky Quality reading and reported the result to Globe at Night.

Close: Wednesday, 6 September 2023, 2224 MST Temperature: 75°F

Session Length: 3h 44m Conditions: Clear, SQM 20.92

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