Some people say an image is made outta mud But a real good picture's made 'o muscle and blood Muscle and blood and zeros and ones And a brain that's fried and a budget that's done You image all night and what do you get Another dead batt'ry, a scope soaking wet Tell my friends not to call me 'cause I can't go I owe my soul to the 'stronomy store I was born one evening when the moon didn't shine I hooked up my s-big  and connected the wires Loaded Mira and Maxim and imaged 'til four I used up bits 'till there weren't any more You image all night and what do you  get Less space on your drive and closer to debt The sun is a-rising and I gotta  go I owe my soul to the 'stronomy store

Apologies toMerle Travis &Tennessee Ernie Ford

Planning an Planning an Imaging Imaging SessionSession

oror

What to do when the What to do when the sun is upsun is up

At the end of a good At the end of a good nightnight

You saw or image what you planned

Your equipment cooperated, mostly

You are not badly hurt

You are still on good terms with your neighbors

As well as As well as

You are ready for the next night

Your battery is charging

You have multiple copies of all your data

You can sleep soundly

A Good NightA Good Night

Organizing a sessionOrganizing a session

Three things need to be considered

Setting up your equipment

Selecting Objects

Viewing and imaging effectively

Organizing Your Organizing Your EquipmentEquipment

Testing new equipment

Power and connections

Computers

and, your Telescope

Dealing with New Dealing with New EquipmentEquipment

Always test before heading out

Test when the stores are open

Do not let it be the single point of failure

Know that it never works as advertised

Battery PowerBattery Power

You can never have enough

Cold (<10 C) greatly reduces battery life

Take a second battery, they’re light!

Have a plan to move to another source

Computers/PDAs/GotoComputers/PDAs/Goto

Boot okay, NO untested software!

For portables, spare batteries and power adapters

Plenty of disk space – Comet videos are BIG!

Keep them warm, no sudden temp changes

Eyepieces and CamerasEyepieces and Cameras

When was the last time you checked your eyepieces?

Windows clean, filters clean and moving smoothly

You did pack ALL your cables, right?

Rigidly attached, no set screws!

Your TelescopeYour Telescope

Balance, way more important than you think

Dec axis should be balanced

RA slightly heavy to the east

Careful when removing those Naglers or camera

Cable forces can change

Managing Telescope Managing Telescope AccessoriesAccessories

To focal reduce or not. Just remember which.

Is your motorized focuser really working?

Guide scope/finder aligned with scope

Once around to tighten it down

It’s Dark, Now What?It’s Dark, Now What?

Pick an object, any object

Use your scope visually?

Panic?

Execute your “Objects to Image” plan!!!

Objects to Image PlanObjects to Image Plan

Keys to optimizing your dark time

Plan ahead – That is what daylight is for

Stick to the plan, but be ready to be flexible

Be realistic – Not every night is a Messier Marathon

Selecting ObjectsSelecting Objects

Determine what you want to view or image

Galaxies, Nebula, Clusters, Double’s, Nova, Comets?

Make a master list of all the objects you want

Make a list first, then use your criteria for selection

Size, brightness, location

Selecting Your Images - Selecting Your Images - SizeSize

Pick images that match your ‘scope and camera

We all want to see NGC 6826, but it’s pretty small

Selecting Your Image - Selecting Your Image - BrightnessBrightness

Pick objects that you can actually see

NGC 1560 looks big and bright in The Sky…

4 hours later

Location, Location, Location, Location, LocationLocation

NGC 5128 is a neat looking galaxy

But it is only 1 degree above my home horizon!

NGC 253 is way higher, sort of

Wait until it gets near transit, be patient

What about the Cocoon Nebula?

You Bet!

Tools to Help You SelectTools to Help You Select

All sorts of software - unfortunately

Web based tools – difficult in the middle of nowhere

What did your buddy do last time out?

Recent issues of magazines

Tools for planningTools for planning

NGCView, DeepSky 2000, Sky Tools, Cartes du Ciel

TheSky, Guide, RealSky, DSS, Atlases

Great for filtering and optimizing dark sky time

Useful for getting an idea of the size, guide star, reality check

Selection ToolsSelection Tools

NGCView

Sky Tools

Framing Tools Framing Tools

TheSky Wide View

TheSky CCD View

Sanity Check ToolsSanity Check Tools

Vickers CCD Atlas STScI Digitized Sky Survey

Make a List, Check it Make a List, Check it TwiceTwice

Iterate and come up with a nice # of objects for imaging or viewing

Use NGCView or SkyTools for selecting from list

Use TheSky to check for size, guide stars, bloomers

Use Atlases to see what the images really look like Start thinking about exposure times

Watch for transit time

Start framing the image

An Evening’s Wish ListAn Evening’s Wish List

CocoonCocoon NGC 891NGC 891 NGC 253NGC 253

HorseheaHorseheadd

NGC 256NGC 256 M1M1

Helix NebHelix Neb NGC NGC 78147814 IC 342IC 342

Note how short the list is. Take time to enjoy the objects

NGC 891 PlanNGC 891 Plan

NGC 891

Finish before meridian flip

Note that camera must flip

Image from 10:30-2:00

Focus PhilosophyFocus Philosophy

Focus early, focus often

Temp CTemp C RoboFocRoboFocusus

9.79.7 20502050

8.38.3 20472047

6.56.5 20422042

5.05.0 20402040

4.14.1 20382038

2.82.8 20332033

- Each Robofocus unit is 0.001” - For my refractor, the depth of field is about +/-.003”

(2050-2033)/(9.7-2.8) = .0025”/C

Pay attention to cablingPay attention to cabling

Cables change the forces on the mount as the scope movesthrough the sky.They also are way too easy totrip over

Are You Practicing Safe Are You Practicing Safe StorageStorage

Take the time to copy data over as soon as possible

A great reason to have two computers around when you are imaging

Allows you to process while you are imaging

Organizing an Imaging Organizing an Imaging Session - SummarySession - Summary

Make sure your equipment is well behaved

Construct a well thought out list of objects

Optimize your dark sky time by planning ahead

I was born one morning, it was cloudy again Deconvolution was my middle name I was raised in a lab by an old Fortran man Said, "ain't no such thing as have'n too much  RAM" You image all night and what do you get Lights, darks and flats; all are well met The rain is a-coming so I'd better go If I don't get to work they'll show me the door If you see me exposing, better put out the lights A lotta men didn't, and it just don't seem right One scope doing film, the other making bits If the emulsion don't get you, then the silicon will You image all night and what do you get A gig worth of images and you are all set The imaging's over and I gotta go Been gone a whole week - there's a big lawn to mow