Image of M42 & M43 from Chile

[PMSchu]

I've had trouble getting my reservations on the iTelescopes & using ST4i to set up a Plan takes me a while. I've had folks grab a scope while I was preparing a Plan before & didn't want to miss this opportunity.

What I do is make the reservation first, then add the plan later. But you can't do that, you say? You used to be able to do that without attaching a plan. In fact, you used to be able to make a reservation and then show up and run things more or less manually. Anyhow, the trick is to always have a plan available for that scope. Any plan. I attach that one temporarily, and then when I have a new one ready I open the reservation and attach the final one.

Thanks for your explanation. I know how one can be in a hurry. Sometimes opening the Exposure Calculator can give you quick answers. My guess is that longer exposure may have had a better result. That's the way it usually goes under dark skies. But I haven't used T71 much.

I hadn't thought of using a dummy plan to satisfy the reservation system. Thanks. 

I'm in the Eastern time zone & using the iTelescopes is usually a last minute thought before I turn off the computer.

T71 is an f/2.8 system so I expected it to record images quickly. It did pretty well with 30 sec images even with only 270 seconds of blue capture time. The mount's also allowed to track down to 0°! Much of that's probably due to the quality of the atmosphere at the site. I shoehorned the reservation between two other reservations as M42 was setting, so I'm happy to get this result.

Phil S.