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In a matter of weeks, I will be performing my first observation using a 25-cm Newton telescope (+CCD camera) and would be grateful for advice regarding an otherwise basic research that I have decided to try out due to this occasion.

I will be observing eclipsing binary stars (type Algol), yet have never used any program or site. Just to determine which binaries will be visible at my location on a specific date at a specific time - which sites do you use for this?

Also, what should be my main goals when taking photos in terms of timing and exposition?

Later on, I will use APT for photometry and estimate the time length of the eclipse, which will be my objective.

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    $\begingroup$ Starting tonight go out there and practice finding objects (stars) and taking single and bracket photos. You want to be really comfortable and calibrated well before the specific event of interest comes along. $\endgroup$
    – Carl Witthoft
    Apr 17, 2018 at 18:30

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www.skymaponline.net might be the one you want.

Main goal when taking images in terms of timing and exposition: 1. Choose time with good sky condition (e.g., clear sky, no wind) 2. Expose long enough for good S/N ratio, but not too long that CCD is saturated. 3. If you want to measure the length of the eclipse, you can follow since it is coming in until going out. Or, you can take a couple of images at different epochs, then assume some trajectory and just doing some math.

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The AAVSO eclipsing binary section is a good place to start reading. Their how-to articles address eclipsing binary specific issues such as predicting times of minimum. To get a list of observable Algol-type stars, try their observation planner tool with variable type EA. When you've selected a target, you can use their variable star plotter to make finder and comparison charts. Finally their guide to CCD photometry has technical advice on image capture and analysis.

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