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> Would the Star Adventurer be controllable by ASCOM?

To the best of my knowledge, no...I don't know of an ASCOM driver for the SA, it not being a GoTo mount. However, if memory serves, it DOES have a guide port, so it's possible there's something out there.

> How would I use APT, Stellarium, and the tracking mount to do automated plate solving?

No experience with APT, so I can't speak to details of configuration. I know it will DO plate solving though.

Stellarium doesn't really enter into the equation here as far as plate solving goes, though I suppose you could use its Sync command to sync the mount once you found where you were.

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Without a GoTo mount you're unlikely to have any success automating the plate solving process. While there's dozens of different utilities to DO plate solving, and dozens more for sequencing and ASCOM device control and so on, the general process is going to be the same...and require a GoTo mount :

1. Ask mount where it thinks it is.
   

• Take picture
  
• Plate Solve picture
  
• Tell mount where it actually is
  
• Tell mount to slew to desired RA/Dec
  
• Repeat 1-5 until "Mount thinks it's at X" and "Mount is actually at X" agree.
  
  What you CAN do however is exactly what you asked about, manually :
  
  > So I guess I’m looking for guidance with finding, framing, and focusing with a motorized mount.
  
  
• Use Stellarium, google, whatever, to get the RA and Dec of the object you want to image.
  
• Polar align your mount (a topic in and of itself)
  
• Use Stellarium, or whatever other "planetarium software" you wish, or Star Charts, or a copy of Turn Left At Orion to point yourself more or less in the right place.
  
• Take a picture
  
• Upload/feed/open/post that image to whatever your platesolving engine of choice is. The astrometry link above is probably the easiest option here
  
• Get the results. They will tell you exactly what RA and Dec your scope was pointing at when it took that picture.
  
• Use setting circles, hand controller, or a wild guess that you eventually get better at with experience, and adjust your mount in RA and Dec in the direction of your intended target.
  
• Lather, rinse, repeat.
  
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  Is this "better" than "Take a long exposure and hope you see the target"? Who knows? Depends on a zillion variables like "How faint is the target?" and "How sensitive is the camera?" and "How patient is OP?" and "How good is OP at recognizing other objects/star patterns/indications nearby?" and so on. None of us can know all those variables.
  
  Some of us enjoy "star hopping". Maybe you're one of those. If so, then ignore all this and just...shoot a pic, find the same pattern in stellarium, and move where you need to. Don't sell this method short..it's a great way to learn your way around the sky, and you never know what other cool thing will show up as some faint fuzzy in your frame, and distract you from your intended target!
  
  However, platesolving is a repeatable and exact method of finding your target that eliminates a great many of those variables. Plate solve an image your camera took, and you will know, with no doubt or uncertainty, exactly where your telescope is pointed. 99% of success in this hobby is removing uncertainty and guesswork wherever you can. :)

You watch a ton of videos on YouTube, and practice A LOT.

You'll quickly realize that the initial steps are essentially the same for most objects (crop, gradient removal, noise reduction), until you get to near the end, where you actually make your image look good (saturation, contrast, brightness, etc).

Astrobackyard has made a ton of tutorials on Photoshop processing for astrophotography. He also has a paid guide which I assume goes much more in-depth than his YouTube tutorials. I haven't looked at it so I can't tell you if it's good.

There's also a lot of books dedicated to image processing on Amazon, like this one by Charles Bracken: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0999470906/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I own it and can recommend it. He does a basic rundown of how to process images in PixInsight and Photoshop.

Here's a snippet from the book about a workflow you could use in Photoshop: https://imgur.com/jfUSwut - Just look up how to do each step on YouTube (like colour balancing).

PixInsight is the single best thing you could purchase to improve your images. Once you feel comfortable with PS, or feel like it is limiting how good your images are, download the PixInsight 45 day trial and start practicing it a lot.

There are so many tools in PixInsight like deconvolution that don't have an equivalent in Photoshop. PixInsight has extremely powerful gradient removal tools, and colour balancing is a 1 click operation, depending on which tool you use.

If you share your (stacked) Pleiades data, I can process it in PixInsight, and point out any problems in your imaging train / acquisition.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Baader-Planetarium-AstroSolar-Solar-Filter/dp/B072XPB9NS I was thinking of this, apparently Baader are quite good make

Celestron 51630 Star Pointer Telescope Finderscope, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009X3UU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Gf8SDb6XS65VB

And this

Alstar Silver Plate for The Flash Shoe of DSLR Cameras - Mount The 1X40RD Reflex Red Green Dot Sight to DSLR Cameras https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077GQR2FJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Zg8SDb2CAKXVV

Align the finder with the camera and then use an app like sky guide or stellarium and let it show you where the objects you’re looking for are.

The other option is to use the camera view finder and star hop.

Edit: just to add some context I personally have both of these items and you simply replace the base of the finder scope with the silver plate. 3 screws total it takes about 30 seconds.

Then it will slide right on to the hot shoe and sit there pretty firmly. Even if I turn my camera completely upside down and shake it, the finder stays in place.

I’ve had very little trouble framing objects with a Celestron red dot finder scope and a small DSLR hotshoe mount design I found online and 3D-printed at my school (could probably be purchased somewhere too). I live in a bortle 7 or 8 area and can’t see Andromeda with the naked eye, but it didn’t take more than a couple minutes to find and center it at 200mm. It’s also forced me to become more familiar with the night sky and comfortable with star-hopping to find object locations.