Monday, 20 May 2024, was mostly cloudy and very windy. Mid-afternoon we even had a mild dust storm, which is very rare at our altitude.

Tuesday, 21 May, was clear, but due to an early morning commitment Wednesday morning I did not open the observatory that night. Wednesday, 22 May, was clear and breezy with some smoke in the sky from wildfires in the state.

Open: Wednesday, 22 May 2024, 1818 MST Temperature: 78°F

Session: 1972 Conditions: Clear, breezy

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
2" 14mm 100° eyepiece

Camera:
iPhone 15 Pro Max

1826 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench while waiting for the strong breezes to calm down.

1920 MST: The setting Sun, iPhone 15 Pro Max (5X lens).

1823 MST: Sunset. Calm now.

1945 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Slewed to Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3). The comet was not visible in the bright twilight sky, nor did I expect it to be. I hoped to observe the faint comet before the rising near full Moon interfered.

1952 MST: Back to relaxing on the bench to wait for the sky to get darker.

1957 MST: The southeastern sky was brightening from the rising near Full Moon.

2002 MST: The Moon began rising over the hill to the southeast. The Moon was noticeably yellow due to wildfire smoke in the sky.

2014 MST: Tried again to view the comet, but the bright moonlit sky obscured it.

2015 MST: Viewed the Moon, 102X and 174X. The entire lunar disk was visible in the 2" 14mm 100° eyepiece field-of-view, 174X. A very slight terminator was visible.

Took this handheld afocal 102X image of the Full Moon using the iPhone 15 Pro Max, Camera app (1X lens).

Stepped outside of the observatory and took this handheld iPhone photo of the Moon projected onto the observatory dome, Camera app (Night Mode, 10 seconds, 1X lens). Some stars are visible in the sky.

2038 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Wednesday, 22 May 2024, 2044 MST Temperature: 68°F

Session Length: 2h 26m Conditions: Clear

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