Thorriz

I had the same problem, but I shamefully have to admit. That in the hazy twilight, at a new position in the garden, I managed to polar align on Kochab.

Again, thanks for the replies. Haven't been able to find anything Siril. I think the website might be down. Haven't tried APP, but I'll give it a look. Anyway. Finally got a clear sky. So I tried to boost the signal by upping my ISO and aperture. I also took a few images, then moved the target a bit with the hand-controller. And my end result was pretty good by my standards. I really need a better lens though. Focusing is near impossible. Another thing to mention. I did a bit of read on Deep Sky Stacker, and learned that when you have a low signal. Too many darks can have a negative effect - pretty much what you suggested Alacant. So this image I only used 3. Here's my first run though of the data. I think I will redo it. Got a nasty orange flow and got I too aggressive at some points. But the main thing is hardly any banding. Only got 78 x 30s subs because I knocked my mount when changing the battery on the camera. Yay ISO 1600, 3 darks, 4 bias, Nikon D700, 70-300mm Sigma Lens ø55, at 300mm Nexstar 4SE mount, "polar aligned" using the wedge - I got lucky

I saw Olly mention it too. I'm not that experienced, so I had to look it up what it meant. But it sounds like a really good idea. in my case. So again, thanks for emphasizing its importance

Okay. Thanks for the tips! I don't have photoshop, but at least I know what's i called now So I might be able to find similar tools. Until then I'll try to get more exposure. 👍

I have a problem in processing, where horizontal saw-like noises shows up if I stretch too far. These problems are also enhanced when I stack. It's pretty strange, because I don't see them in my darks og bias. And I've tried to lower my ISO, but that didn't work either I use an old and pretty worn Nikon D700 What could possibly be the cause, and is it possible to avoid? I've added two images: A single frame, and a stacked image (Both aggressively modified)

Last month, I dusted of my old gear (A Nexstar 4SE), and finally got started in astrophotography again (after about 10 years). And I discovered that I actually had an old account from 2009 here, but still a hello should be in order. During the last month, I've studied a bunch of YouTube videos, and discovered that I made a lot of mistakes 10+ years ago - which of course meant that there were a lot of room for improvement. Yay! So last night, I was unsure about the weather, so I decided not to drive 40 minutes for a darker spot. But simply to try out a bunch of new things from my backyard, surrounded by streetlamps, cars etc... The weather was even a bit hazy, and my red dot finder didn't work. So I did not expect much result anyway. The Nexstar 4SE mount couldn't handle the telescope and my camera (Nikon D700), because it was simply too of balance. So I decided to use my 70-300mm Sigma lens on a dovetail. Not having a finder made it quite hard to polar align. I used my telescope to get better accuracy. The 4SE mount is an AZ mount with a flimsy wedge, but I managed. Next I did a one-star alignment to Castor (finding the right stars was hard), and then replaced the telescope with my camera. And found M42. I tried out a few settings, because I wanted to push the limits to how long exposures I could get, before the stars got elongated. Also I knew focusing would be an issue, because the Sigma lens really is horrible. So I ended to with an aperture of 11, 30s exposure, at 300mm (dx cropped - so that's about 480mm I think) And let me say, YouTube paid off (Thank you Astro Biscuit, AstroBackYard, Cuiv the Lazy Geek, Nebula Photos and many more) - Despite this was far from ideal conditions, this is still by a long shot, my best M42 (and M43) to date. The stars are a bit elongated... but still good by my current standards. Mount: Nexstar 4SE Camera: Nikon D700 (not modded), ISO 1000, f/11 40 x 30s exposures 15 flats 13 darks 10 bias Software: DeepSkyStacker + Affinity Photo