0413-AstronomyReport

Astronomy Report

Date of exercise: 12APR2016

Astronomer: Otsmar J. Villarroel

Sky conditions: Clear

Wind conditions: Calm

Observation Start Time: 9:30 p.m.

Observation End Time: 11:30 p.m.

Summary:

Last night the crew got informed about the fifty-five years first human exploration of space anniversary and we decided to celebrate it using the telescope. Several celestial bodies were observed. Part of the crew was invited to the observatory to observe them. Please see the list below for more details about the observed objects. It was a beautiful night last night. Everything went as planned except I could not get any image using the crew DSRL camera. I don’t know why I could not focus the objects using the camera attached to a T-mount. Any comment/suggestion will be much appreciated.

Also, can mission support send me a report of the conditions for the next couple of nights? Thanks in advance

Problems encountered:

The power for the dome and shutter controls were sluggish. Waiting on mission support for information about the new batteries.

Objects Viewed:

Moon, Jupiter and some of its moons, Orion Nebula, Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Vega, Polaris, Merak, Spica and Sirius.