sterec

Yes it is very easy to slip over the event horizon. To start on the journey, you may wish to find stuff by Trevor Jones whose website is Astrobackyard.com. He lays out the options and seems to provide helpful information about starting out and what to expect with varying setups and progression through the obsession. You could look at https://www.photographingspace.com/beginner-dslr-astrophotography/ for an more ideas about settings and equipment and another view on using a dslr camera. A Canon is a good choice for astrophotography. Finally the only really helpful advice I can give you is to get a Batinhov mask.

See how easy a Magnitude 8-10 object, say, is to capture with your proposed setup. Stellarium would give you an idea then of what is available.

I think that if there is movement only in the RA axis the problem is with periodic error which is typically a mechanical problem due to manufacturing inaccuracies in the worm.

Re DaveS comments about Rupert - I absolutely agree.

I thought something similar about my computer but TPM 2.0 can be activated in the BIOS. If often has a different name depending on the motherboard manufacturer.

Stars look tight, lots of faint Ha all over, all you need is more subs. I think the message is "Yeah, you can do this now."

You use the dark flats to calibrate the flats and then make a masterflat. Then you use the masterdark and masterflat with no masterbias to image calibrate the light frames.

I would agree with the above.

I know that the image is the thing, but calibration files are really worth the extra effort. Having said that, it knocks my first image of M27 into a cocked hat.