I'm just starting out on astrophotography and I'm looking for general advice and where can I stack photos for free?

[Lotinsh]

So I got a camera and an adaptor for my telescope, I'm looking forward to taking some pictures, I know the basics flat files, bias, light/darks etc. but whenever I'm stacking photos in deep sky stacker it says only one frame will be stacked. And this is bothering me as I can only stack one frame. I tried stacking moon and some stars (both well in focus) and it only stacked one frame, are there any other platforms I could use for free? Also any beginner advice is welcome.

[Astro Noodles]

Hi Lotinsh

I had that happen with DSS a few times. I realised that it was that my data was no good and DSS couldn't match the frames. In my case it was twofold. Firstly, taking frames before it was properly dark, and secondly because my lens was affected by dew.

[Lotinsh]

Is there a fix to this? I'm pretty sure the pictures I took were good enough. Also, what do you mean by data no good? I would like to know if I made a mistake somehow so I wouldn't do it again

[Astro Noodles]

1 minute ago, Lotinsh said:

Is there a fix to this? I'm pretty sure the pictures I took were good enough. Also, what do you mean by data no good? I would like to know if I made a mistake somehow so I wouldn't do it again

Yeah, I was scratching my head too for ages, as the subs looked ok - no visible star trailing, but just wouldn't stack.

I don't know what kit you are using, how long your exposures are etc, so I can't really say why it isn't working for you. 

I bought a generic lens heater like this for about £20.00 off amazon.

I power it with a USB battery brick. Since using it I haven't had the same issue with stacking.

[Lotinsh]

So the temperature affects image? never thought the data would actually be different depending on temperature...

I'm using a 130p telescope with a nikon d3300, that's pretty much it. My exposures are for the moon 1/60 and for stars 1.5-2.5 sec, 2 seems to be the good spot for me

[Astro Noodles]

2 minutes ago, Lotinsh said:

So the temperature affects image? never thought the data would actually be different depending on temperature...

I'm using a 130p telescope with a nikon d3300, that's pretty much it. My exposures are for the moon 1/60 and for stars 1.5-2.5 sec, 2 seems to be the good spot for me

It just raises the temperature enough to prevent dew forming on the lens.

But I see you are using a 130p. I have one of those. Are you using a tracking mount? Do you need to use a barlow lens to get inward focus? 2 seconds is a very short exposure time.

Also, in DSS, there is a function which allows you to select how many stars you want DSS to align. I think that if you set the number too high it will throw out frames with to few stars.

[Lotinsh]

I'm not using a tracking mount, as far as I know they are expensive and that kind of money for a mount I do not have. I don't understand what you mean inward focus, but I did need to shorten my 130p's tube to get focus. Does the star detection needs a higher number or lower? I tried with minimum and it did work, but the picture turned out worse in my opinion than the only one frame stacked, though I am new so I don't know if it's actually worse or it's just my opinion. 

[Astro Noodles]

I'm not sure whether it is possible to stack moon pictures on DSS. I'm sure someone will be along who can give an answer to that.

What focal length have you got now that you have shortened your 130p? What ISO have you got set?

2 seconds seems like a long exposure for the moon.

 

 

[Lotinsh]

No I said for the moon 1/60 exposure. For the moon I used 100 or 200 iso and for the stars I think 800 or 1600. How can I know what focal lenght it is now? Idk how to check that. 2 seconds was for stars

[Astro Noodles]

8 minutes ago, Lotinsh said:

No I said for the moon 1/60 exposure. For the moon I used 100 or 200 iso and for the stars I think 800 or 1600. How can I know what focal lenght it is now? Idk how to check that. 2 seconds was for stars

I think you will struggle to get star photos without tracking with a 130p. Using the '500 rule', your maximum exposure time without trailing stars is slightly less than .5 of a second assuming a focal length of 650mm.

[Lotinsh]

Yeah, you're right, but I do not have much of an option to be honest. I would love to get a tracking mount, I'm not willing to buy one for 200 though, if I could find someone selling second hand under 100, I would definetly buy. 

Here is one picture I took (not processed only converted to jpg) If this helps. Exposure is 2 seconds and iso 3200

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by Lotinsh

[Astro Noodles]

It looks like the stars are just trailing a bit. Maybe that is what DSS doesn't like.

You could get a Right Ascension motor for your mount. I got one for my 130p setup before I realised the futility of imaging with it.

Sky-Watcher RA Motor Drive for Starquest and AZ-EQ Avant Mounts | First Light Optics

You could use it as a camera tracker (not man enough for the 130). You can't properly polar align with it but I have been able to get 20sec subs with a 200mm camera lens.

I'm not recommending it as a good bit of kit but it is adequate enough for short exposures and isn't very expensive.

[Lotinsh]

Interesting, so maybe I can buy something like that. It's like a motor that turns the telescope? If so, for like 40-60 eur, if it works well maybe I should buy something like this? 

[Astro Noodles]

Yeah, a battery powered motor. I'm assuming you have an equatorial mount rather than an alt/az. It works ok. As I said, up to 20 seconds with a 200mm camera lens. 

[Lotinsh]

Idk if I have an eq or an az mount, I have the stock 130p mount, which came with it.

[Astro Noodles]

Ah no, that's a Dobsonian mount. I don't think you will be able to do it with that. For Astrophotography you would need an equatorial mount like the one on my 130p.

 

[Lotinsh]

Oh, that's unfortunate, so that means I can't right? damn thats uncool 😕

[vlaiv]

54 minutes ago, Lotinsh said:

Yeah, you're right, but I do not have much of an option to be honest. I would love to get a tracking mount, I'm not willing to buy one for 200 though, if I could find someone selling second hand under 100, I would definetly buy. 

Here is one picture I took (not processed only converted to jpg) If this helps. Exposure is 2 seconds and iso 3200

Before you do anything else - try binning your files a bit.

DSS expects stars to be roughly round. Your stars appear ok when you look at them with reduced image size - but DSS looks at them at 100% zoom level, which means they look like this:

DSS simply does not recognize those shapes as stars.

If you reduce size of the image by binning (and improve SNR a bit) - it might be able to figure out that those are stars.

You don't have to bin right away - you can simply reduce size to say 25% and try to see if DSS will stack images like that.

[Astro Noodles]

No, it wouldn't work with you setup. 😕 Never mind, for observing, that's really good instrument.

I suppose you could get a camera mount and start with really wide angle shots with the DSLR and something like a fast 50mm lens. That would give you 6 second exposures. Then perhaps move up to a skytracker and longer lens when funds/inclination allows?

Edited May 26, 2021 by Astro Noodles

[vlaiv]

Indeed - simple camera/lens with barn door tracker is very nice way to start.

You can DIY EQ platform for your scope maybe? It is similar to barn door tracker used for cameras - except it is used for dob mounted telescopes.

In either case - simple DC motor that runs off battery should be good for short exposures - and stepper motor with gearing will be more precise.

[Lotinsh]

Yeah, I could try binning, today is a clear night I'll also try shorter exposure and more pictures, maybe that will work. 

Yeah, I can try wide angle 6 sec exposure. But wont light pollution in a city ruin a wide angle picture? 

DIY eq platform sounds good, maybe I can try something like that. That could be a neat project, I'll just have to look if I'd have all the necessary tools.

Edited May 26, 2021 by Lotinsh

[Astro Noodles]

12 minutes ago, Lotinsh said:

 

Yeah, I can try wide angle 6 sec exposure. But wont light pollution in a city ruin a wide angle picture? 

You won't know until you have tried it.🙂 City light pollution is a major nuisance. Most people use filters to mitigate it.

[Lotinsh]

So I went out and took some pictures with iso 3200 and exposure 1.6 seconds and this time the stacking worked, after stacking I edited the pictures in photoshop, obviously they aren't the greatest as I'm still trying to understand what I need to do to make my pictures look good.

One I'm pretty sure was out of focus. Any tips on improving? Like what should I do to make my pics look better? Also how can I achieve focus easly? On my cameras small screen I can't see if they're on focus or not, is there some sort of a trick I'm missing? 

 

 

[Astro Noodles]

It's very difficult with such a small screen. You could use a Bahtinov mask to help you focus. Also, you could plug your camera into a laptop and use a program like APT (Astro Photography Tool) to enlarge the image you are seeing.

https://astrophotography.app/

Where abouts in Europe are you, because if you are up North like me, it doesn't get fully dark in the summer.

Also, it's a full moon tonight so you won't get good pictures of anything (except the moon) because of the moonlight.🙂

Edited May 27, 2021 by Astro Noodles

[Lotinsh]

I'm from a country Latvia, city Ventspils. I didn't think about the moonlight, I'll try to take more images when it's not full moon aswell, just wanted to try out today, this was my 2nd time  The mask idea could work, I'll see if I can get one maybe