NGC 3184 / M94

 3/8/2026 -- Clouds are gradually clearing out and the moon is not set to rise until after midnight...so working to capture light frames from a well-positioned galaxy -- NGC 3184.  Checked polar alignment with PHD2 running on the Odroid C4...drift alignment showed near 0 error (after an extended period of drifting).  Due to sudden heat wave (to 70F), manually adjusted the focus (turned primary mirror focus knob left 1/2 turn, total). 


Seeing forecast for 03/08-09/2026 from meteoblue (top) and cleardarksky (bottom) suggesting clearing skies through midnight...with the moon appearing after 00:49.

Set up the scheduler with NGC 3184 collecting UV/IR light frames through 01:35 and M94 collecting until 05:45.  Set the chiller on the Sv405cc to 0C to match existing calibration frames but also since the temperature is predicted to fall to 45F overnight.

Overnight, 80x80s NGC 3184 light frames and 59x80s M94 light frames were collected.  The external (PHD2) guider was not started at the beginning of the M94 collection (started with the second run through 20x80s light frames) and so light frames 001 through 20 are unguided (likely unusable..especially just after a dither). 

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