During the day on Thursday, 27 February 2025, there were strong winds blowing in southern Arizona. Even here at 4350' elevation the sky became very dusty and brown looking. That night some special visitors from Indiana University, my alma mater, were scheduled to come to Cassiopeia Observatory. I decided to open the observatory a little early to prepare.

Open: Thursday, 27 February 2025, 1738 MST Temperature: 84°F

Session: 2077 Conditions: Clear, very dusty sky

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

Camera:
None

1747 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Venus, 102X

1751 MST: Received a phone call from the special IU visitors. They decided to cancel the visit due to the poor sky conditions. They would be leaving Tucson on Friday.

As the sky conditions were so poor, I decided to close the observatory.

1755 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Thursday, 27 February 2025, 1809 MST Temperature: 75°F

Session Length: 0h 31m Conditions: Very dusty sky

1817 MST: As the Sun was setting I took these iPhone 15 Pro Max photo (1X and 5X lenses).

1837 MST: This iPhone photo (1X lens, cropped) 20 minutes after sunset shows the dust in the sky.

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