Equatorial Tracking Study

Time/Date

20230213T1800-2330

People

Roy, Shreyansh, Matt, Connor, Gabriel, Natalie, Tara, Azzan

Spaces Occupied

401, 433C, Dome

Goals

1. Set standards for measuring seeing with DFM Scope

2. Discuss calibration frames for DFM Scope

3. Plan and execute observation plan

Log

1. CC:

   1. DFM TCS

   2. ASCOM Dome

   3. TheSky6

2. DC:

   1. Blue Iris Admin

   2. SharpCap

3. CC: Opened Dome; ASCOM Dome: Connect > Open

4. Connected Cameras

   1. Planetary Camera to On-Axis, using LBD1 Cable

   2. Deep-Sky Camera to Finder Scope using Icron Extender Box

5. Cameras connected without issue

6. Collected flats on planetary camera

7. Opened Mirror Doors

   1. CC: DFM TCS; Telescope > Misc > Switches/Mirror Doors > Open Mirror Doors

8. CC: TS6; Established Connection; 

9. Chose to point on Capella (not Mars) :'( ← Matt

10. Had to true-up dome-telescope azimuth alignment

11. Couldn't point on Capella → went to Mars ... it kinda worked

12. Moved to small star to adjust focus, got to 11 FWHM

13. Auto-doming didn't work

    1. It just didn't track to NGC 2068. We manually aligned using Scope/Dome reported azimuth

    2. While manually moving the dome, it kept going .... had to disable

14. Cataloged all transit times for NGCs Connor provided

    1. Decided to go for NGC 2068, then NGC 2232, then NGC 2301

15. Set each for 3 frames five minutes apart

16. Argument about pineapple on pizza ensued

17. Telescope and dome are again out of alignment

18. TURNS OUT ROY LEFT THE DOME TRACKING SWITCH OFF

19. Looked at Great Orion Nebula, looked at Mars, 

20. attempted look at 3c273 too close to the horizon to see

21. Azzan and Matt went around on the roof to check the location of the dome relative to DFM scope 

22. briefly looked at a software to find a way to get objects' transit time and altitude instead of handwriting them

    1. astroplan was too messy 

    2. Roy looked at something else but it must not have worked?

23. argued about how to pronounce LaTeX and gif 

    1. Decided Roy was correct

24. Slewed to zenith

25. Closed mirror doors

26. Closed dome

27. Took down cameras

ToDo

Get Pizza (w/ pineapple) NO

Notes

15.042''/s in AUX TRACK is NOT the same as 15.042''/s in TRACK – no idea why

Still need to:

1. Set standards for measuring seeing with DFM Scope

2. Discuss calibration frames for DFM Scope

Weather

Weather Forecast: 6-7% cloud coverage, humidity in the 40-50% range. 

Wunderground: Below 4% cloud coverage after 8pm, humidity ~45%. 

Astrospheric: Cloud coverage is excellent, transparency is pretty good, seeing is below average. 

ClearDarkSky: Both cloud coverage and transparency is excellent, seeing is poor. 

Data

Flats saved in "D:\SharpCap Captures\2023-02-13"