With possible thunderstorms in the forecasts, Monday morning, 23 October 2023, I put the Dome Cover ON. That evening there was rain in the area, as seen in this view to the west shortly after sunset.

There was also some lightning in the area. Mid-day on Tuesday, 24 October, I saw this impressive Mammatus Clouds structure over Mt. Lemmon while I was in Oro Valley (south of Oracle).

Had some nice rain at Cassiopeia Observatory during several mid-afternoon thunderstorms (0.55").

Open: Thursday, 26 October 2023, 1810 MST Temperature: 76°F

Session: 1926 Conditions: Mostly clear

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
2" 5.5mm 100° eyepiece
2" 50mm eyepiece

Camera:
iPhone 13 Pro Max

Upon arrival at the observatory I took the Dome Cover OFF.

1821 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Saturn, 102X and 443X.

Attached the LiDAR Cover to the iPhone 13 Pro Max and mounted the iPhone on the 5.5mm eyepiece. Took this afocal 443X image of Saturn using NightCap Camera (ISO 400, 1/25sec, 1X lens).

I used the Filmic Legacy app (which has full manual exposure settings control) to take an afocal 443X video of Saturn (ISO 985, 1/240sec, 240fps, 10 seconds, 1X lens). This is a stack of 2593 video frames.

I then viewed the waxing gibbous Moon, 102X and 49X. Mounted the iPhone on the 50mm eyepiece and took this afocal 49X image of the Moon using NightCap Camera (ISO 34, 1/200sec, 1X lens).

I stepped outside of the observatory and took these Moon on Dome handheld photos using the iPhone Camera app (Night Mode, 3 seconds, 1X lens).

These were my final iPhone 13 Pro Max photos. I expect to use a new iPhone 15 Pro Max for my next iPhone astrophotography.

Lastly, I viewed Jupiter and the four Galilean Moons, 49X and 102X.

1917 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Thursday, 26 October 2023, 1927 MST Temperature: 63°F

Session Length: 1h 17m Conditions: Mostly clear

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