Pradines Part 1: Astronomy and Astrophotography adventures in South France
This video documents a trip to Pradines in the South of France for astronomy and astrophotography. It covers the journey, setting up the equipment, and initial challenges faced during the first night of imaging.
Key Points:
The journey to Pradines was split into two parts, with a stop in Beaune, a town in the French wine district, to avoid traffic in Antwerp and Paris.
The video showcases drone footage of the area around the hotel in Beaune.
Upon arrival in Pradines, the weather was beautiful with clear skies, ideal for stargazing.
The initial setup involved the Epsilon telescope and testing the network connection for the PC.
Cable management issues were encountered with the CEM60 mount, highlighting the importance of dry runs in light conditions to identify potential problems.
The presenter prefers using a pop-up tent to protect the telescope from the elements over using blankets, which can trap moisture.
The video captures the Milky Way crossing the night sky in Pradines.
Unexpected failures occurred during the first night:
Cartes du Ciel 4.2 failed to find Lynd-Dark Nebula objects.
The Epsilon telescope experienced dew issues.
Despite the failures, the system was successfully set up and polar aligned, and the first image run was completed.
The presenter is seeking to resolve the sky chart issue using NINA with an offline atlas.
The video is part one of a series, with part two to follow shortly.
Clear Skies
Neil