Your First Plan (TheSky, with rotator)

Your first plan should be for a single target night. Plan ahead! Don't wait till it's time to start your run!

1. Run TheSky Plan Capture. TheSky and Planner will automatically start.
2. If needed, set TheSky's Data/Location to your observatory.
3. Set TheSky's date/time for the start of your run (later tonight!) and stop time flow if needed.
4. Make sure only the correct Field of View Indicator (FOVI) is enabled. Only one FOVI must be enabled.
5. Locate your target in TheSky. It must be "up" high enough to image when you run starts (the time set in TheSky, right?).
6. Zoom in with TheSky until your target is within the FOVI.
7. Compose your image, including rotation. Do not move the FOVI!
   1. In TheSky X, drag the sky under the FOVI. In TheSky 6 right-click away from any object in TheSky and drag to move the sky behind the FOVI.
   2. Rotate the FOVI until the guide chip rectangle encloses a suitable guide star. Try to get it close to the center of the guide chip.
   3. Repeat until you have the target where you want it and the guide star as close to the center of the guide chip as practical.
8. Capture the target: In TheSky Plan Capture, click the Add Target from FOVI button.
9. The Planner window will appear, and you'll see a target in the list called "FOV Coordinates". Rename it to something meaningful like the name of your target.
10. Add images. If you have filters, add some images for each filter and binning you want.
11. Click the Update button. The total imaging time (including overhead) will appear in red. The time in TheSky will jump to the end of your run, showing you where your target will be then.
12. Adjust your images and click Update again until the total time is what you want (the target is not too low in the west!).
13. Select File/Save and save your plan, for example FirstPlan.txt. It should go into My Documents, ACP Observing, Plans.
    1. Enter any comments you want in your plan in the form that appears.
    2. If the ACP Start window appars, answer No.

That's it! Either run your plan on your local ACP or upload it to the remote observatory and run it there. Of course, the observatory must be ready to image and it must be the date for which you made the plan. The plan will wait till the time you set in Step 3 above, then start imaging.

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