Thursday, 15 October 2026, was clear but windy. Friday daytime, 16 October, there were no clouds (or storms) but it was very windy (High Wind Warning) with a dusty sky (Dust Warning and Air Quality Alert). Clouds arrived after Sunset. Late Saturday night, 17 October, there were thunderstorms in the area, but only received 0.01" rain here. Sunday night, 18 October, had a brief thundershower (0.03"). Monday mid-morning, 19 October, had another brief thundershower (0.13"). Mid-afternoon on Thursday, 22 October, there was a brief thunderstorm here. Lots of dime-sized hail! It was very noisy when I called in my weather spotter report to the National Weather Service.

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The meteorologist could hear the hail hitting the house! A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Oracle a few seconds later! Total precipitation from the storm was 0.13". Friday morning, 23 October, with several clear nights in the forecasts, I removed the Dome Cover.

Open: Friday, 23 October 2026, 1803 MST Temperature: 76°F

Session: 2158 Conditions: Clear

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
2" 5.5mm 100° eyepiece
1.25" 40mm eyepiece
2" 9mm 100° eyepiece

Camera:
iPhone 15 Pro Max

1808 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed the waxing gibbous Moon, 102X.

Did a tour of the lunar terminator, 443X. Some nice views.

Viewed the Moon, 61X.

Attached the LiDAR Cover on the iPhone and mounted the phone on the 2" 40mm eyepiece. Took this afocal 61X image of the Moon using the Camera app (1X lens).

Did some beta testing of a Camera app.

1831 MST: Stepped outside of the observatory and took this iPhone handheld photo of the Moon projected (61X) onto the observatory dome. Some stars are visible in the sky. Taken with the Camera app (Night Mode, 3 seconds, 1X lens).

Viewed the Moon's southern region. Attached the LiDAR Cover on the iPhone and mounted the phone on the 2" 5.5mm eyepiece. Took this afocal 443X image of the southern region using the Camera app (1X lens). Tycho is the large crater at the upper right.

1843 MST: Took this handheld iPhone photo of the Moon on the Dome (102X) using the Camera app (Night Mode, 3 seconds, 1X lens). More stars are visible.

1845 MST: Wi-Fi ON.

Used SkySafari 7 Pro on the iPhone to GOTO Palomar 6 (globular cluster). I wanted to determine if the faint cluster was visible in the bright moonlit sky. It wasn't.

1852 MST: Wi-Fi OFF.

Viewed Saturn, 102X and 271X. Nice view at 271X.

1858 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Friday, 23 October 2026, 1906 MST Temperature: 64°F

Session Length: 1h 03m Conditions: Clear

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