I was out last night trying to get some star trails with my Canon EOS T6.

I set it to BULB and used an intervalometer to shoot 1, 2 and 4 minute exposures. I was also using the Canon EOS "tethering" utility connecting the camera to a laptop so I could see a quick review of the shot. Also, it was easier to focus using the laptop rather than the viewfinder or LCD screen on the back of the camera.

After the shot completed, it took roughly the same amount of time after the shutter closed before the "BUSY" message disappeared from the LCD screen and the quick review showed up on the laptop. So, on a 1 minute exposure, the camera stayed busy for about a minute, for a 2 minute exposure, it stayed busy for about 2 minutes, and so forth.

I have a Class 10 8Gb SD card in the camera so it should write the file quickly. It doesn't take long for the usual fractional-second exposures. The size of the RAW file would, I think, be the same.

Can anyone tell me why this is happening, and if there is a setting that needs to be changed to remedy. Eventually, I'd like to shoot multiple exposures with a short delay between shots, but this delay is prohibitive of any future plans.

Any help from this community would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Thanks to Europa and Craig. More moon pics coming up next month. Should be getting the 5" scope out when the weather gets a little milder.

I'm partial to capturing very thin waxing or waning crescent moons.

When a thin crescent, you can see the "dark" part of the moon illuminated by earthshine. (When the moon is new or near new, the earth is full or near full, and thus will reflect sunlight to the moon.)

This moon is only 2 days old, about 4% illuminated. Therefore, the earth is about 96% illuminated and able to cast lots of light on the "dark" part of the moon.

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This is my first post in the Photo Gallery.

I was able to get the young crescent moon on New Years Day (3 days old, 13% illuminated) along with Venus. The part of the moon that isn't illuminated by the sun is illuminated by reflected "earthshine."

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Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

Tonight is supposed to be clear and in the 40s, so I'm planning on going out and experimenting. I will share what I learn.

One more question:

Since there is a lot of ambient light, would I be better off using a lower ISO, say 100 or 200 and going for longer multiple exposures?

I have a Celestron Advanced VX equatorial mount for tracking. I have a Canon T6 with a 70-300mm telephoto lens. I use the Canon EOS Utilities for focusing and setting the exposure and a Neewer remote control shutter device (intervalometer?) for setting the number of repeating exposures, length of exposure and delay time between exposures.

I am not shooting through a telescope.

What settings should I use for night sky photos to be subsequently stacked using Deep Sky Stacker? I am in a suburban setting with considerable ambient light.

Any help would be appreciated.
Ken

What was the cell phone mount you used to attach it to the scope? I tried the Gosky Universal Cell Phone Adapter Mount, but I have an HTC M8 with a curved back and the phone didn't quite fit right. I could never get the phone oriented properly over the scope eyepiece. Yours looks like it has fingers that could reach around my phone.

As I stated in my OP: Canon Custom Accessory Pack, which included a lens cleaning kit, a UV filter and 2 3V Lithium CR2 batteries. The only additional info is: For Rebel 2000/IX Lite - S5.

I didn't actually purchase this; it was from my credit card rewards.

Not the same. CR2 is a little larger in diameter than a AA, but about half the length and twice the voltage.

I recently purchased the Canon Rebel T6 kit with 18-55mm lens and the Canon Custom Accessory Pack, which included a lens cleaning kit, a UV filter and 2 3V Lithium CR2 batteries.

I have never seen this size battery before. Can anyone tell me what they're used for?

Thanks,
Ken

I went out this morning to try and get pics of the crescent moon 1 day before new moon. But I couldn't even see it. I'm guessing that it got lost in the blooming sunrise.

There were a few wispy clouds high in the sky, but no clouds on the eastern horizon where the moon (and the sun) rises. Today, the moon rose at 6:09 and the sun at 7:40. I guess that the moon rises too close to the time of sunrise and therefore will be invisible.

I'm hoping to try again in the days immediately after the new moon, when it will set later than the sun. I am hoping for some better results, but I would love to hear from those who have more experience.

I am using a Panasonic Lumix superzoom set at 12x optical zoom (no digital zoom). I intend to use a variety of exposures so I can eventually get some frames where the "dark" part is underexposed and the thin crescent is optimally exposed, and then shoot the "dark" part optimally and the crescent would therefore be overexposed. Then I can use Photomatix Essentials to get an HDR composite.

Thanks.
Ken