Quick cygnus with nifty fifty

[kirkster501]

Cracking image.  Well done!

[Adamar98]

Cheers Steve! Just had a peek at your blog. You have some very nice images. I would love to own a baby Q.

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

Glad I could help, feel free to ask me any questions. I've got a lot to learn about tracked widefield imaging and processing, but as I've started recently some issues are fresh in my mind. My first attempt with the 50mm was imaging the Orion Nebula off a fixed tripod with a load of very short (3.2 sec) exposures under light-polluted skies. I was really surprised when a faint outline of the Flame Nebula also appeared.

Some issues I'm trying to resolve:

- What's the best aperture setting to use for different targets? Can star bloat be controlled in processing or does the lens need to be stopped down more?

- Why are my subs of variable quality (DSS gives a score for each one)? Is the focus ring slipping, the lens misting up or is the sensor temperature climbing?

- How do I go about getting a better polar alignment for longer subs? I have a vague understanding of drift alignment, but haven't had a go at it yet.

I'm not the most systematic learner, I tend to just try stuff and then read up when I hit a problem.

question 1 : Exposure triangle have a google at this , lets say you have a 50mm lens its a F1.8 , thats nice right big wide open apeture , but to get the best from the lens it has a sweetspot.

from between F2.8 to F4 , the MORE apeture the crisp a more full image. some folks are shooting at F11 to capture everything, the problem is the higher the apeture the LONGER the exposure and that means the MORE noise collected.

most of us will be shooting with fixed F numbers ie : telescopes between F4 and F7 these have optics with a fast apeture for imaging.

Question 2 : subs will vari  and mostly because of onboard heat generation, the colder the camera the better quality Signal to Noise ratio, the camera sees photons, but over time

it starts to record the Heat produced by the silicon chips and the power AMP on the sensor ( amp glow is seen as a orange/red blob in one corner of the sensor ), over time you will notice

you get better pictures in the mid depths of winter than those lovely hot summer evenings and nights. also dont forget air quality - location etc etc can all factor in.

Question 3 : Either via drift alignment and or polar alignment using a polarscope and then running system with guiding camera. 

i am still a newbie imaging wise, so the above is a newbies eye view on your problems, but i am sure others with more detail on imaging can

clarify with better detail, but i did find the exposure triangle a helpful thing to understand. 

google the 2/3rds rule , we split the screen into three rows and three collums , when people say the 2/3rd focus  

we just mean dont focus on the central object, focus for something  outside the central star wise. ( so instead of focusing for say orions nebula in the 50mm frame centered, you would just focus so orions belts

stars are in focus  even though these would be at the very topmost of the image

[kirkster501]

Cheers Steve! Just had a peek at your blog. You have some very nice images. I would love to own a baby Q.

Thanks mate,  I am sure you will own one eventually!   Great stuff you've done with the 50 mate.