Imaging run

[martin_h]

How do you lot plan your imaging run?

Because of the moon at the moment I'm doing Ha only runs and am imaging 2 targets(not at the same time!) I start just on the West side of the Meridian (away from the moon) and image that target untill it gets to low below obs wall, by which time the moon is roughly due South, so I move on to somewhere near the "handle" of Ursa Major which has risen above the house and image that till dawn/cloud stops me.

[Glider]

Yep, that's the logic I'm using too. Keep the Moon to my back, as it were. So Bubble Nebula for another 30mins then Owl Nebula.

[martin_h]

Yep that's my thinking - keep the scope on the opposite side to the moon

[Tim]

I start on a target as soon as it becomes visible. The first few subs are either not dark enough, not high enough etc, but by the third sub, typically 20 - 30 mins in length, the rig has settled, camera cooled etc and so then follow the target for as long as possible before the flip. Re-align after the flip, I can just about get another couple of hours before the trees get in the way, and then, if still clear, and if I still have the mental capacity to cope I swtich to another target in the NE which will allow me a couple of hours sleep till dawn or so.

Have to say though, the last few clear nights I have had enough by 3 am or so, but that will have been 6 or 7 hours on the target. Just recently I installed software to enable me to do everything except focus and open/close the obsy from inside, which is nice

As a rule, because I like to gather at least 25 x 20 mins per channel for narrowband if possible, then as much time as possible on one target is what I aim for. Typically need 10-20 clear nights to achieve that though

Current targets = M1 and M97. Last night I tried my longest ever subs to see how the Ha filter coped with a WHOPPER of a full moon. 5400 seconds, or 1.5 hours Still plenty of detail in the Crab, even with the moon so close.

What gets me, why is it always full moon when it is clear

[martin_h]

Tell me about it! It was exactly the same last full moon!

[Whippy]

I'm the same as Tim, start as early as possible and see what happens. I don't have a great southern view, and the West is a complete waste of time due to LP so I tend to look towards the North and East as objects are rising and take it from there.

Tony..

[Psychobilly]

Pick it up ASAP as my easterly skies are my darkest then image as long as poosible - no worries about the meridian flip - its about the only good thing about using a fork mounted SCT on a wedge as the "mount" as theres no need to "flip"... with the widefield setup on the HEQ5 I cheat and start with the weight as low as possible on the Eastern side of the mount and use the B&S heads to point the cameras at the target...

Billy...

[MartinB]

I too stick to narrow band with the moon up. I adjust exposure times depending on the background skyglow. I like to keep sub lengths to the minimum required to get over the read noise. On a dark night, high up this can be over 30mis but close to a full moon it can drop to less than 15 mins. Despite this it is remarkable what little impact the moon has through a 7nm Ha filter. Having said that, last night the moon was a gnats whisker away from Thor's helmet so I switched to the Rosette!

[Catanonia]

At 8nm Ha the moon has to be very close to my target to cause any real problems.

I jsut pick a target that requires no flip or one that is 6+ hours away and go for 10 or 20 min subs.

1.5 hours TJ... wow, hope those stars were round