Tuesday evening, 10 October 2023, I was on the live Explore Alliance Global Star Party to talk about the Eclipse Festival that will be held in my Indiana hometown for next April's Total Solar Eclipse. You can view the video replay below. Drag on the timeline to fast forward; I come on at 2:15:52 and talk for 12 minutes.

Click to view video

Open: Thursday, 12 October 2023, 1810 MST Temperature: 82°F

Session: 1923 Conditions: Mostly clear, hazy

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece

Camera:
D850 DSLR

SYNCed the observatory clock to WWV. Then prepared the D850 DSLR for imaging.

1824 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Saturn, 102X.

1827 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench to watch the stars come out.

1850 MST: Back in the observatory. Checked what Barnard Objects I would try to image this session to catch up with my project. The dark nebulae I wanted to image and later observe were low in the southwestern sky. Then mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus, focused on the star Altair, and locked the 12" primary mirror.

1905 MST: High Precision ON. Slewed to B184.

1908 MST: StarLock ON.

Imaged the following Barnard Objects, StarLock autoguided, 2 minutes, ISO 3200. The low altitude in the sky made for slightly fuzzy images. Also, there was a slight pointing error that placed the objects off-center. I plan to re-image the unidentified objects in 2024 when they are higher in the sky.

B184


B295


B297 (?)


B298


B299 (?)

1933 MST: StarLock OFF.

Observed the following Barnard Objects, or tried to, 102X: B300, B183, B301, B302, B303, B90, B91, B304, B305, and B92 (Barnard Black Hole). Only B92 (Barnard Black Hole) was positively identified. I will re-observe the unidentified objects in 2024 when they are higher in the sky.

Observed Saturn, 102X.

2009 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Thursday, 12 October 2023, 2018 MST Temperature: 65°F

Session Length: 2h 08m Conditions: Clear, hazy

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