2014/03/08 - Finally!! After months of preparation and testing, I (we) can present our first light of our robotic remote telescope which is located under perfect dark southern French skies! We chose a galaxy, because of course it's galaxy season. We began our preparations late 2012, started testing mid 2013, installed the setup onsite late 2013, and now I can present our first light. We still need to tweak lots of settings, but I'm very happy with this first product, up to the next one!
NGC 3198 is a classic grand design spiral galaxy in southern Ursa Major near the western back foot. Recent Cepheid measurements by the HST put it at 47.3 million light-years from earth. The redshift would indicate 41 million light-years.
Object information
Name
:
NGC3198 Galaxy
Type
:
Galaxy
Constellation
:
Ursa Major
Distance
:
41M light-year
Apparent dimensions
:
8.3'
Apparent magnitude
:
10.40
Image information
Image date
:
2014/03/08, 2014/03/07, 2014/03/06, 2014/03/05
Right ascension
:
10:19:56.287
Declination
:
45°33' 0.22"
Focal length
:
1687.01 mm
Focal ratio
:
f/6.64
Image resolution
:
0.660 arcsec/pixel
Field of view
:
34' 49.0" x 27' 10.8"
Sky quality
:
21.61 mag/arcsecond2
Sensor temperature
:
-25°C
Light frames
:
23 hours total exposure time
36x 900 sec. luminance unbinned
18x 900 sec. red unbinned
18x 900 sec. green unbinned
20x 900 sec. blue unbinned
Image acquisition with ACP Observatory Control Software, ACP Scheduler and Maxim DL
Auto-guiding with Maxim DL
Auto-focusing with FocusMax
Bias frames
:
100x unbinned
Dark frames
:
None
Flat frames
:
None
Processing
:
PixInsight for calibration, alignment and integration.
Adobe Photoshop CS6 for final touch.
Equipment information
Telescope
:
Orion Optics 10" ODK
Corrector
:
None
Focuser
:
Baader SteelTrack with SteelDrive
Mount
:
Mesu Mount 200 with Sidereal Technology SiTech Controller
Camera
:
QSI 683wsg-8 cooled CCD camera with Kodak KAF-8300 sensor and Off Axis Guide (OAG) port
