More EAA of Mars and DSOs

I went out again to take advantage of another moonless night with clear skies (albeit washed out again). I wanted to try a new approach for aligning the platform and also try and get some calibration frames to get rid of vignetting.

I started with a brief visual observations with A (see below).

Then I tried a new approach for aligning the platform. Instead of using the laser to point to Polaris which is only possible from one part of the yard, I decided to use the camera. I centered as best as possible the platform top on its base and mirror box above. Then use plate solving while rotating the base of the platform until I got as close as possible to 0 deg north. After that, it felt like the alignment was pretty good although I did not do a lot of EAA. The weak part of the process is probably the lining up of the mirror box and platform top to its base.

Next, I did some calibration frames: flats with a white cloth and a LED flashlight, darks and biases with the coat over the telescope. The only flats that were not completely saturated were with 0.01s exposures.

I then turned my aim to the Andromeda Galaxy and the Pleiades which are always plagued by too much vignetting. I felt that the flats helped a bit although it was too bright in one corner and there were also some weird color changes. Next time, I should save the single frames and try stacking offline with different calibration frames to figure out the best ones.

At that point, I switched from the ASI294MC with 0.75x FR to the ASI678MC with no FR. I could not plate solve or stack at bin1, but it worked at bin2. At bin2, it's like having 4 μm pixels. Compared to the ASI294MC with 0.75FR, it is therefore zooming in by a factor of (4.7/0.75)/4 = 1.6x.

I imaged Mars first and then a few DSOs (see below).

Observations (visual)

Jupiter and its 4 moons - could not get a sharp focus with the binoviewers, so switched to the Baader zoom and it helped a bit - could see the two bands
Mars - A says it could see part of the disk being slightly darker
M31 Great Andromeda Galaxy
M45 Pleiades

Observations (asi294mc with 0.75x FR)

M31 Great Andromeda Galaxy and M32 Galaxy - tried 2s, 2.5s, 3s, with and without flats
M45 Pleiades - Taurus - with and without flats - with flats it shows more of the nebulosity, and when made black and white, it looks almost decent

Observations (asi678mc)

Mars - tracking was definitely better than last time thanks to the improved alignment
M1 Crab Nebula - Taurus
NGC 1514 Crystal Ball Nebula - Taurus
C2 Bow Tie Nebula - Cepheus
M76 Little Dumbbell Nebula - Perseus
M31 Great Andromeda Galaxy and M110 Galaxy