0309-AstronomyReport

Astronomy Report

03/09/2016

Sol 3

Eriko Moriyama

Sky Conditions: Clear

Wind Conditions: Calm

Observation Start Time: 03/08/2016 9:00 P.M.

Observation End Time: 03/09/2016 1:40 A.M.

Summary:

It was the first night to use the telescope

for Crew165. I was handed over the observatory from the previous rotation, but I

did two-star alignment just for my skill experience. I used Sirius, Capella and

Spica for alignment and calibration. I was struggling with star alignments

because I lost the first star Sirius from the finderscope after I aligned it

with the eyepiece. It took me more than 2 hours to finish the alignment so I

decided to have one calibration star. I may try another two-star alignment next

time. We visually observed Jupiter with the eyepieces and took photos with my

DSLR camera (see attached). All crew members were very excited.

Objects viewed: Jupiter

Problems encountered:

The Quick Guides says in “Closing Procedure

during the Mission”, UTILITIES -> SET SWITCH POSITION, but I couldn’t find “SET

SWITCH POSITION” in the menu. Instead, I choose UTILITIES -> HOME POSITION

-> GOTO to move the telescope to the home position then turned off the

telescope. The Quick Guides should be updated.

I hope I can improve my image of Jupiter. I

adjusted the position of camera adapter so that image got close to be focused

but not really enough. I couldn’t make better only with the adapter adjustment and

Robofocus did not make that much change. I appreciate if you can give me tips

for better astrophotography.