Polar alignment in the polar scope is the main thing and getting ready at dusk to go as soon as octans is visible.
You could trial Astro Pixel Processor which runs in Mac and which will stack and add dark, bias frames etc. takes a little longer but is a complete package cheaper than PI.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AstroViking
Hello all,
Thanks for the words of support and encouragement. I look at the images presented by other forum members and am always impressed with how stunning they are. You all give me inspiration to work harder at this and to get better.
For this image of M8, I had:
EvoStar 72ED + Reducer
HEQ5-Pro
Nikon D7100
Unknown Bortle level, but lots of light pollution
200 subs at ISO 800, 13 seconds exposure
50 darks
Ray - I have a Mac machine for my editing & processing, so that counts Deep Sky Stacker out. (I have Sequator running inside 'CrossOver', a sort-of Windows emulator / runtime and it works well. DSS refuses to play with CrossOver.)
As someone else mentioned - getting flat frames and bias frames will help a lot with calibration. I'll try to get them next time, too.
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