bias and flat frames

[Neo_uk]

Hi,

can anyone please give me a insight to bias frames and how to take and use them ?.

Also i have read a few threads on here regarding flat frames and i thing i've got the idea in that you need to take a image of a evenly illuminated area but at what exposure time and do you take lots of flats and then stack them to make a master flat as with darks ?.

many thanks chris.

[Earl]

Bias Frames are a dark frame taken at the fastest exposure setting. think of a bias frame as the electrical fingerprint of the ccd/cmos

Exposure time on Flats is the biggest issue, I have read lots of different opinions on this, i think that an exposure which gives a Max ADU of 20000 is the right setting, however im really struggling with my Flats

[Stargazer Jack]

Do bias, flats and darks work on planets or are they just for DSO?

[Earl]

Do bias, flats and darks work on planets or are they just for DSO?

I believe they can be used for planetary imaging and do improve things.

How this is done I dont know though.

[Tinker1947]

DSS has a help file built in, tell you all you might want to know....

DeepSkyStacker - Free

[themos]

you need to take a image of a evenly illuminated area but at what exposure time

That depends on the available illumination. The idea is to keep the exposure fast enough so that no pixel is saturated (that is, receive more light than it can count) and slow enough so that most pixels get about half the maximum light they can absorb.