19:00 – 22:15
Continuing with my Messier targets tonight. I will start with M103 the Open Cluster in Cassiopeia. I’ll aim to grab 3-4 hours at 60s subs to stack for the final image.
The weather is crystal clear for once, but cold at -1º by 9pm. I’ll stop imaging M103 at around 10pm when it is due to cross the meridian. That way I don’t need to worry about realigning the dome. I’m currently managing that through the SkyX with a simulated telescope.
Well 10pm came and went and the dome was finally interfering with the scope, however M103 was at 80º altitude so almost directly overhead. So I have slewed to another object instead. This time M77 a galaxy in Cetus.
Unfortunately we had a power cut around 10:30pm so nothing else worked. I will reimage M77 tonight if the power plays ball.