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Page 8
Centering and final exposure
Assuming that your target object is already in the field of view of
the CCD, you should now do a longer exposure to assist with cen-
tring. Choice of exposure length will depend a lot on your telescope
configuration and the object being observed, but 5 seconds should
be enough to record the position of most bright deep-sky objects.
Binning is also very useful, since it greatly enhances the sensitiv-
ity, and it also leads to a dramatic reduction in the time taken to
download the full frame. Try binning 3x3 (in the Exposure window)
or more to see the difference.
After centring, it is time for the final exposure. For this the exposure
duration will also depend on the telescope and object, but you'll
want to do the longest exposure that your system can achieve,
depending of course on the object being observed. For example,
a 5 minute exposure on the Andromeda galaxy will burn out the
core for sure, but it will nicely record the outer arms. You can do
two exposures of different lengths, and then combine them using
image processing software.
An installer for Dawn is included on your CD, together with some
introductory videos.
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