Open: Thursday, 2 November 2023, 1804 MST Temperature: 77°F

Session: 1928 Conditions: Clear

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

Camera:
iPhone 15 Pro Max

1813 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Saturn, 102X.

1823 MST: Viewed M31 (Andromeda Galaxy), 102X.

Removed a finderscope and mounted the ScopeStuff Camera Mount with Levenhuk Smartphone Adapter piggyback on the LX600 telescope.

1828 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench while waiting for the sky to become darker.

1832 MST: Took this photo of the constellation of Cassiopeia looking down on Cassiopeia. The Double Cluster and the constellation of Perseus are also visible in this handheld iPhone 15 Pro Max photo taken with the Camera app (Night Mode, 3 seconds, 1X lens).

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This handheld iPhone 15 Pro Max photo taken with the Camera app (Night Mode, 3 seconds, 1X lens) shows the Andromeda Galaxy at the center, along with several Earth-orbiting satellite trails.

The Summer Triangle and the Milky Way (and a satellite trail), handheld iPhone photo taken with the Camera app (Night Mode, 10 seconds, 1X lens).

Back in the observatory I attached the LiDAR Cover to the iPhone 15 Pro Max and mounted the iPhone piggyback on the telescope.

1900 MST: StarLock ON.

Took this StarLock autoguided iPhone 15 Pro Max image of M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) using NightCap Camera (ISO 17408, 1 sec, 1 minute, 5X lens). Apple Earbuds were connected to the iPhone with a USB-C to Lightning adapter and used as a remote shutter release.

I then tried using the AstroShader app (free) to image M31, but it severely overexposed the saved images even though the resultant image looked OK on the AstroShader screen. I need to work more with this app.

1924 MST: StarLock OFF.

Viewed Jupiter and the Galilean Moons, low in the eastern sky, 102X.

1936 MST: LX600 OFF.

I stepped outside of the observatory and took this handheld iPhone 15 Pro Max photograph of the eastern sky with the Pleiades (M45) at the center. The photo was taken with the Camera app (Night Mode, 3 seconds, 1X lens).

My final iPhone 15 Pro Max astrophotography test this session was of the Pleiades using the Camera app (Night Mode, 10 seconds, 5X lens, handheld). I tried several techniques to get the stars to be in focus, but nothing worked to get a sharp focus.

Unfortunately, Apple has not provided a way to set its Camera app to "infinity focus" even though I have requested it to Apple. For objects that are too far away for the LiDAR to function, the autofocus attempts to use image contrast to achieve a focus. However, this does not work reliably with some distant objects like clouds, airplanes and birds in flight, stars, and even the Moon at some phases. Third Party camera apps, while providing manual focus, do not provide the same HDR functionality as the Camera app in Night Mode. I hope that someday Apple will see the error of their decision in not providing an "infinity focus" button in their Camera app.

Close: Thursday, 2 November 2023, 2000 MST Temperature: 63°F

Session Length: 1h 56m Conditions: Clear

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