Planning for 1st June 25
Planning on heading out tomorrow. Hopefully the milkyway will be nice and visible tomorrow night, so try and get some shots of that, but mostly try and get some better images of M13 Hercules cluster - and use the 90-120 mins whilst that’s happening to work on learning the constellations. I’m aiming to have an Astroberry up and running to use as a way to platesolve and track more accurately, so fingers crossed for that! I also have some camping tweaks to try to combat the heat, but that’s for another post!
Astro targets
Probably just going for H13 and Milyway, but just in case I find i have more time…
| Target | Location (Sky) | Best Time | Recommended Settings | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M13 (Hercules) | High East → Zenith | 9:30pm–12:00am | ISO 800–1600, f/5.6–6.3, 60–240s (tracked) | Bright globular; good for plate solving test |
| Milky Way Core | SE to S | 10:30pm–12:30am | ISO 1600–3200, f/2.8, 10–15s (untracked) or 30–60s (tracked) | Use 16mm for wide shots |
| M57 (Ring Nebula) | Near Lyra, high East | 10:00pm–12:00am | ISO 1600, f/6.3, 120–300s (tracked) | Small target; check focus and tracking |
| Albireo (double star) | East, in Cygnus | 10:00pm–12:30am | ISO 800, f/5.6, 10–30s | Nice colour contrast |
Constellations to check out
| Constellation | Where to Look | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hercules | High East | M13 located in the keystone asterism |
| Lyra | East, near Hercules | Bright Vega; easy to spot |
| Cygnus | NE, rising higher later | Follow Deneb down the ‘cross’ |
| Scorpius | SE, low around 11pm | Look for bright Antares |
| Sagittarius | SE, near Milky Way core | Good for MW framing; teapot asterism |
| Boötes | High, above Arcturus | Kite shape; prominent and helpful anchor |
R7 📸 and Stellarmate cheat sheet
The default StellarMate OS password is smate The default StellarMate WiFi HotSpot password is stellar@mate
DSLR Camera Settings (First Time Only)
- Sensor Resolution:
6960 x 4640 - Pixel Pitch:
3.20 x 3.20