Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Canon 7D Canon 300mm L f/4 ISO 100 255 seconds and run through Lightroom.
21 lights stacked in Autostacker.
Little bits of stack droppings scattered around but better than what I started with.
No Darks or Flats.
I know. Shoot darks and flats..
:oops:

M31

(Download)

Marc G Loc: East Grinstead, West Sussex, England

Getting better & better.
Too cloudy here in the UK for night time pursuits at the moment.
Marc

Singing Swan

This one gave me duckbumps!! Just too darned cool!!

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

Nice work!

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Thank you Marc.
I need to follow Nikonshooters example and shot a lot of shorter exposures and a lot more of them.
I also need to remember darks and flats.
Baby steps. We all have to take em.

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Thank you Singing Swan,
Did you ever get your question answered regarding the morning sky?
Let me know if you didn't and I will try to figure it out for you.
;)

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Thank you.
I guess I am trying to club the shot into submission and need to try a little bit more finesse.
I should be able to quite easily shot at 30 second lengths and lots of them. Shooting darks and flats then become something I can do will taking the scope down.
I appreciate all of the examples you have done in the past few days. I think I might be able to pull my head out and do a better job.
Either that or go crazy and shoot my computer.
Thank you again.
Jim

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Nice job Jim, I finally got DSS working.
Craig

Singing Swan

No, but thanks. It's just great enough that I saw the configuration and to know there are others that scan the skies :) And that you guys share these photos with us. I truly enjoy them all :) I know you all have greater patience than I.

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Thanks Craig.
I did something the other night that might make this easier. I added my lights or subs into an AVI file using the best of the lot and centering them when they process in.
I don't know if it is going to work because I ran out of play time. It might work better if I shoot lots of short shots.
That remains to be seen.

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Do you remember which day it was? In you message you just said the other day. I'd be glad to play around and see what I can come up with for you.

Singing Swan

I'm not sure I remember correctly...I think the 3rd or 4th of Dec between 4:30 - 5 am. ?? You needn't worry over it too much. You know what they say about curiosity killing the cat and I'm pretty sure by now I've used up a life or two :) :) :)
and who knows...it might have been a fleet of alien ships :roll:

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

This is what my view was on the 3rd looking east.
Time is set for 04:20.
I hope this helps.
Polaris is in the description at the top left but that's not what I was pointed at. Sorry for any confusion.
Jim

Stellarium Screen Shot

(Download)

Oknoder Loc: Western North Dakota

I like this image it shows the massive amount of progress you have made, in a relatively short amount of time. I have found it is never fruitful to try chasing someone who has produced a better image as it is almost always a losing battle, better to examine their process and see if there are portions you can emulate into your own workflow.

Not wanting to single out NikonShooter or even Algol, as their images are outstanding, but on a side note, they are more than likely not in their first year or two. Many of us are still cutting our teeth, so to speak.

Think back it wasn't too long ago when you were probably excited just to have the faint fuzzy on the frame of the image sensor. Personally I did not fathom the sheer amount of time that can be spent playing with an image, hours upon hours if not days to only throw the whole process in the trash bin and start over.

I do agree and have said many times calibrated data is just much cleaner and easier to work with. Bias, and dark frames are by far the most important though as these remove the dreaded noise that is inherent with long exposures at high ISOs, where as flats eliminate vignetting and dust motes along with sensor intensity variations, in your image train, which is much easier to fix in post without destroying valuable data.

Keep shooting, we have nothing but time and these objects aren't going anywhere soon
Matthew

Singing Swan

I'm blond...don't worry about confusion, they tell me it 's an incurable condition :)

I took the liberty of downloading this star map and marking the stars I think were the ones I could see. I just thought it was so unusual that morning to see that circle of stars because the moon was rather bright and the other stars surrounded it like children around a storyteller.

The small red one at the bottom marks the position of a faint light...that one might have been the alien ship :) :) :)

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. I know it subtracts from your star time and I appreciate you!!!

(Download)