EuroForth 2022

1. Place and level the mount (typically 10 - 25kg)
2. Polar align the mount
   • Polar telescope built into the mount (2 minutes, accurate enough)
   • Optimizing star drift in the eyepiece (15 minutes)
   • Software assisted (15 minutes, most accurate)
3. Place the telescope
4. Attach the filter wheel and camera
5. Connect electronic cables

1. Open the scripting application (more later)
2. Connect to the mount, focuser, filer wheel and camera drivers
3. Take a test image
4. “plate solve” to confirm celestial coordinates
5. Synchronize the mount to the coordinates

1. Slew to target
2. Select a filter (L, R, G, B)
3. Autofocus
4. Take a set of long exposure images (typically 5 - 15 minutes each)
5. Periodically plate solve and re-slew to target (tracking errors)
6. Periodically refocus (changes in temperature, equipment flex)

1. Dark frames with the shutter closed (subtract out CCD “dark current”)
2. Flat frames against a uniform sky (divide out vignetting in illumination)

1. Specialized astronomical image processing software

→ Software components

← A brief introduction to astroimaging