(meteorobs) O.T. -Opportunity to make Sentinel dark frames.

[Larry]

During this slow period of shower activity it might be useful to use one 
night or a night of foul weather to make dark frame pictures with the camera 
covered with a light tight bag. If a film bag is not available then a couple 
black plastic trash bags can be used at night.

This should be done when camera has been running and is stabalized at its 
normal night time temperature.

The purpose of the dark frames is to collect where the hot pixels are 
located on the Sentinel images . It should be done with a single frame 
snapshot and definetly as a stacked image too.

These photos can be used with Registax(e.g.), by astrometric analysts to do 
dark frame subtraction so that the remaining points of light in a meteoroid 
or fireball image are only stars, not hot pixels too.

Future evolutions in Sentinel software (might) contain automatic dark frame 
subtraction. In the meantime it might prove useful to have those frames at 
hand it should a significant event occur that analysts are interested in.

New dark frames should be taken every 6 months on low light cameras.

YCSentinel