Open: Thursday, 4 July 2024, 1909 MST Temperature: 91°F

Session: 1991 Conditions: Clear, hazy

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

Camera:
D850 DSLR
iPhone 15 Pro Max

1918 MST: Relaxed on the observatory patio bench.

1937 MST: Sunset.

2000 MST: Back inside the observatory. Prepared the D850 DSLR for imaging later. Checked the coordinates for Barnard Object B43 which I had attempted to image last month. Turns out I had a typo in my list. Corrected the list.

2007 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision ON.

2012 MST: Back to the bench while waiting for the sky to get darker.

2050 MST: Back at the 12" telescope. Mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus + focal reducer, focused on the star Antares, locked the telescope mirror, and slewed to B43.

2058 MST: StarLock ON.

For some reason the StarLock could not locate a suitable guide star. I moved the Dome onto the PZT to ensure there was no obstruction from the dome. Didn't help. I reduced the exposure time to 30 seconds and increased the ISO to 5000 for this unguided image of B43. Some star trailing is evident.

To confirm that the StarLock was still working, I slewed to M20 (Trifid Nebula) and took this StarLock autoguided image (30 seconds, ISO 3200). StarLock worked as expected.

2126 MST: StarLock OFF.

Viewed the Trifid Nebula, 102X.

2136 MST: Handheld iPhone 15 Pro Max photograph of the Milky Way. Taken with the Camera app (Night Mode, 10 seconds, 1X lens).

I then began observing (or trying to) some more Barnard Objects dark nebula, 102X: B232, B233, B44a, B179, B45, B234, B235, B236, B237, B238, B239a, B239, and B239b. Two of these were very low in the southern sky at a Declination of -40°.

2212 MST: Dome ON.

Viewed NGC6822 (Barnard's Galaxy), 102X, low in the eastern sky.

2216 MST: Handheld iPhone 15 Pro Max photograph of the constellation of Cassiopeia rising in the northeast, Camera app (Night Mode, 3 seconds, 1X lens). The "W" pattern, which of course means "Weasner", is very evident.

Viewed M57 (Ring Nebula), 102X. Lastly, viewed the nice double star Albireo, 102X.

2222 MST: LX600 OFF.

2234 MST: Took a Sky Quality reading. Did not report it to Globe at Night due to thin clouds in the sky.

Close: Thursday, 4 July 2024, 2237 MST Temperature: 82°F

Session Length: 3h 28m Conditions: Mostly clear, SQM 20.87

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