alacant

Not really. You can have a sky which looks amazing. Diamonds on velvet I once saw as a description. But, if they're bouncing around all over the place... Nada. With your 72ed/dslr though, you should be able to go with most conditions. Here for example, it's rare to get more than say two nights per month good enough to hold up 1000mm focal length at decent resolution with any camera. Otherwise, we recommend something shorter. Enlarge it if you have to. The shorter the fl, the less fussy (and easier) it becomes. There are arc second per pixel types of stuff to describe all this if you like, but we prefer just to go out and do it. Hands on and experiment.

+1. To which I would add that clear, stable (good seeing) skies also help enormously. The mount I would also place of higher importance than the optics. Probably the camera too.

It depends on the data. For your image, I used StarTools.

FWIW, we gladly allowed our PI trial to expire.

@TiffsAndAstro I really think you're doing great. Your data is fine. Keep it simple. With processing, perhaps don't overthink it. 5 minutes in StarTools gave me this. Rough around the edges? Yes. But if you have the patience (I haven't!) , there's the basis to make a good image. Just keep adding frames. Cheers and HTH

May I help? If you compare the galaxies, you see this:

Hi You can trace what happened from the log at: ~/.local/share/kstars/logs Although I'm sure you'll know, a few pointers anyway... If you're certain the computer clock is correct and your park position is toward the pole, don't sync. Rather, slew somewhere away from the pole and solve there. e.g. for m101, Mizar would be good. Finally, kstars EKOS uses local time or perhaps better said, whatever time the computer is set to use, usually local time. Make sure kstars time is synchronised with computer time and that the computer clock is correct (kstars -> time -> set to now). My money would be firmly on the time being wrong. Cheers and HTH

gso203: 50 x 90s, 120s Lost a lot of the fainter stuff around the edges, I'm certain 50 x 300s would work better.

Hi everyone Experiment with loadsa short exposure frames rather than fewer longer. Not sure. Thanks for looking.

Three at 120º around base and four in the focuser itself, 1 in each corner labelled -rather hopefully- fixing screw in the reference you cite. If you're serious about it and you don't like the idea of metal to metal, you may wish to fit a paper gasket instead of the rubber. HTH

Hi Tilt is certainly a contributory factor. When you attach the camera, the focuser axis moves; a well known issue with the budget swds focusers. If you haven't done so already, remove the (7 off and usually damaged) rubber washers in the focuser. Take the slack instead using the push-pull pairs of adjuster screws alone. You can't properly assess the sensor back spacing until the tilt is fixed and you are certain of collimation. Cheers and HTH

Loafsa stuff to do to a budget Newtonian to bring it up to imaging standard. All of it quick, cheap and easy. As well as take flat frames, to address the ring artefact you could start with... velvet lined tube and focuser. Shower cap covering the 1° end of the tube, darken the edges of the secondary, tape the focuer drawtube... Some would advise a dew shield, but since you have a 800mm model already fitted, any longer may be overkill. The next stage is modifying the the tube and its elements so that collimation is retained at all tube angles. The next stage, correction of the star shapes etc etc. It just depends upon where you decide enough is good enough. Cheers and HTH

A proper telescope. Nice! Excellent m51. The aperture makes it a lot easier, but did you take flat frames? They're not really optional and you'll find it much easier to process. Cheers.

Hi Well done. There's some nice detail. Maybe have a look at the individual frames and remove any with clouds. Then stack again. Be ruthless! Keep it simple. Go gently with the processing. Be careful not to delete faint stuff. It needn't take hours sat in front of a screen. A quick go with the latest ST: