Open: Thursday, 9 November 2023, 1805 MST Temperature: 70°F

Session: 1930 Conditions: Clear

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

Camera:
iPhone 15 Pro Max
D850 DSLR

1812 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

1818 MST: Wi-Fi ON.

Used SkySafari 7 Pro on the iPhone 15 Pro Max to GOTO Comet C/2023 H2 (Lemmon). Viewed the comet, 102X. It was a faint fuzzy object with a large coma. No tail was visible.

Viewed Comet Lemmon, 12x50 binoculars. It was not naked eye visible though.

Prepared the D850 DSLR for imaging the comet.

Took these handheld iPhone 15 Pro Max photos of Comet C/2023 H2 (Lemmon) in a fading twilight sky using the Camera app (Night Mode).

10 seconds, 1X lens

Mouseover or tap on image for pointer to comet

10 seconds, 5X lens

Then mounted the D850 DSLR on a camera tripod and took these photos of the comet.

f/4.5, 5 seconds, FL 70mm

Mouseover or tap on image for pointer to comet

f/5.6, 4 seconds, FL 300mm

Back in the observatory I mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus + focal reducer, focused on the star Altair, locked the 12" primary mirror, and slewed to the comet using SkySafari 7 Pro on the iPhone.

1906 MST: StarLock ON.

Comet C/2023 H2 (Lemmon), StarLock autoguided, 30 seconds, ISO 12800.

Comet C/2023 H2 (Lemmon), StarLock autoguided, 30 seconds, ISO 12800, showing movement in 104 seconds.

1925 MST: StarLock OFF, Wi-Fi OFF.

Viewed the comet, 102X.

Then viewed Saturn, 102X. Viewed Jupiter and the four Galilean Moons, 102X.

I saw that Jupiter was projected onto the observatory dome. Stepped outside of the observatory and took this handheld iPhone 15 Pro Max photo of Jupiter on the dome using the Camera app (Night Mode, 10 seconds, 1X lens).

1941 MST: LX600 OFF.

1948 MST: Took a Sky Quality reading and reported the result to Globe at Night.

Close: Thursday, 9 November 2023, 1952 MST Temperature: 52°F

Session Length: 1h 47m Conditions: Clear, SQM 20.77

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