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.