Saturday, June 29, 2013

Preparing for Golden State Star Party

I want to attend this years Golden State Star Party. Had to figure out how to make my entire setup mobile:
  • Need 2 large batteries (with all the equipment, my scope draws several amps now) and a recharger - check
  • Need to redo my Pelican case (because of all the equipment changes, the old foam does not fit anymore) - check
  • Need another Pelican case for the imaging train (so that I don't have to assemble it, but can take it in one piece) - check
  • Need some new equipment: chair, table, head lamp ... - check
  • Need to make sure that I bring absolutely everything (tools, eyepieces...) that I might need to repair or fix anything
  • A red screen for my laptop to dim it down during the night - check
  • And of course everything to stay out there: ropes for fixing the scope during the day (can get windy) aluminet for the scope and my tent to protect it from the sun during the day and all kinds of camping equipment that I don't have anymore - check
I want to use the star party primarily for imaging (imaging time is 10:20pm - 4am). IC 1287, NGC 6888 and NGC 7635. Here is my plan:

  1. Night:
    • Until Midnight: Collimation (using CCDInspector), Alignment (using PEMPro), White Balance measure (using CCDAP)
    • Midnight-4:00: NGC 7635 (13 x 10min Lum, 13 x 7.5 min R = 3h 50min)
  2. Night
    • Evening Flats
    • 10:20 - 12:30: NGC 6888 (13 x 10min Lum = 2h 10min)
    • 12:30 - 4:00: NGC 7635 (13 x 7.5 min G, 13 x 7.5 min B = 3h 15min)
  3. Night
    • Evening Flats
    • 10:20 - 4:00: NGC 6888 (13 x 7.5 min R, 13 x 7.5 min G, 13 x 7.5 min B = 4h 55min)
  4. Night
    • Evening Flats
    • 10:20 - 4:00 IC 1287 (10 x 10 min Lum, 10 x 7.5 min RGB = 5h 25min)
With my Nikon/Polarie, I'll do some wide angle shots:
  1. Try a nebula region (e.g. north america nebula?) - witht the 50mm lens
  2. An ultra-wide angle shots of the milky way - with the ultra-wide lens
  3. Cygnus region

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