Telescope: Celestron Comet Catcher 5.5” f/3.6 Schmidt Newtonian, Orion Atlas EQ-G
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC Pro, -10C; Gain: 200
Filter: 1.25” Hutech IDAS LPS2
Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm, Meade DSI Pro II, PHD
Exposure: 5x(16x60sec) saved as FITS
Darks: 32x60sec saved as FITS
Flats: 32×0.01sec tee shirt flats taken at dusk
Average Light Pollution: Red zone, fair transparency, bright moonlight
Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.1 mag/arc-sec^2
Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.
White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic
Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop
In early March we had a rare series of consecutive clear evenings and I was able to grab a series of images of Vesta taken at about the same time (9 o’clock) on 5 consecutive evenings. Vesta is the 3rd largest asteroid with a mean diameter of 326 miles and at the time these images were taken it was 127 million miles away and an easy binocular object shining at magnitude 6.0 as it swept past Chertan in Leo (Theta Leonis). Vesta is currently located off to the west of Chertan at a distance of 171 million miles shining at Mv 7.4 and is still and easy target for binoculars and small telescopes.
Vest is currently well placed in central Leo and is high in the south as the sky darkens.
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