Warning: I was stacking my astro photos wrong for months

I was trying to get a clear shot of the Orion Nebula from my backyard in Phoenix, stacking about 30 frames. The result was always a soft, noisy mess. Last week, a guy in a different forum asked to see my single raw frames. He pointed out my focus was drifting slightly between shots because my tripod leg wasn't fully tight. I fixed that one loose knob and the next stack was razor sharp. How do you guys check your gear stability before a long imaging run?

3 comments

3 Comments

alice_kim1d ago

My old Celestron mount had a tiny bit of play in the RA axis that ruined a whole set of Horsehead Nebula shots. After that, I started doing a pre-run checklist. I balance everything, then gently push on the scope from different sides while watching a bright star at high magnification on the laptop screen. If the star jumps and settles back fast, I know it's solid. That wiggle test @kim373 mentioned is key, I do it every single time now. It feels a bit silly but it saves so much frustration later.

kim3732d ago

That "one loose knob" problem hits home. I once spent a whole night on the Andromeda galaxy only to find my whole setup had a tiny slow creep from a cheap mount. Now I give everything a solid wiggle test and leave my camera running for a test shot while I walk around the tripod. You can see the vibration in the live view if it's bad.

elizabeth9001d ago

Solid advice. That wiggle test is a game changer, stops you wasting hours on bad data. I also check all the cable slack so nothing pulls during tracking.