[JA]

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

Not sure where you are going with this....rather than heroic efforts to salvage average data....maybe get better data?

Yes...True that Peter Originally I had not started this with a view towards creating an image, but rather as a study to visually demonstrate the effect on noise of stacking an increasing number of dithered images, as I had done in another thread.... This sort of thing ....


Unfortunately a tiny shift (error?) in focus after the tenth image in the 64 image run, meant I couldn't really do that to my "scientific" satisfaction, as normally I use 20 times or so enlargements of a selected image area, so instead I decided to make something arty, albeit somewhat dark. (In the meantime I used some other images for an unfortunately too short, similarly targeted 45 image run, which I may post in another thread when completed.)

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

Vixen Polarie's are compact, cheap, and work well. (there are other options, but a good quality tracker will help immensely)

Sure imaging from the burbs is not much fun, but if you do, it is all about maximising signal and minimising noise. Seems the first and critical bit, is being ignored here: let the signal build without being ruined.

I have tracking mounts, but I chose not to use them so as to (lazily) take advantage of the inherent "auto" dithering afforded by using a fixed tripod as I wanted to look at the noise as a function of the number of exposures in a dithered stack, (in particular the colour mottle from a DSLR) but still did not want excessive star trailing as I was using a 35mm lens on full-frame and I went for a 13 second exposure at my favourite ISO800, fairly wide open at f/2. That's really as much "build" as i could afford on a fixed tripod, given my aim.

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

Stick with it, but it will be hard to do much better leaving things as is.

Thanks Peter. I may get it better with some real flats, rather than lens corrections, given the funky gradients/artifacts from Sequator's Light Pollution reduction algorithm, which I have to say is amazing from certain perspectives. (I haven't yet graduated to Pixinsight, etc...)

Best
JA