Night sky photography incl stacking

[stardust steve (Steve)]

Hi everyone. I have a few questions to try and get the best out of my Cannon 500D with 18-55mm kit lens and 55-250mm kit lens. I have done a few shots of the Moon, Jupiter and some constellations. Recently i got out and got some ok pics of Comet Lovejoy and am trying to stack the with CombineZP. I have managed 1 ok stack but all the other attempts do mirror type images of stars and little squares appear as stars sometimes. Is this because i have moved the camera too far for the stacking program to work? Also i tried to use Registax but the program says the pics are too large and wont even start. What is the best way to reduce their size? What is the best Photoshop program to use also? Just lately has been a massive learning curve for me and photography and am keen to get the most out of the equipment i have. Thanks for your time

[rcheshire (Rowland)]

Steve. Try DSS (Deep Sky Stacker). It's also free. Sounds like things are not aligning as they should.

If you only have a few frames PS or GIMP can be used to manually calibrate and align using the layers function, with reasonable results.

[bojan]

Steve,
Have a look at the link, below, post #37
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...cessing&page=2
There you will find how I am doing those things, it is very easy and quick procedure with reasonable results.
DPP should have come with your camera, DSS(as mentioned by Rowland) is freeware, but excellent software for stacking deep sky images.

[stardust steve (Steve)]

Originally Posted by rcheshire

Steve. Try DSS (Deep Sky Stacker). It's also free. Sounds like things are not aligning as they should.

If you only have a few frames PS or GIMP can be used to manually calibrate and align using the layers function, with reasonable results.

Ok great thanks Rowland. I just downloaded DSS and got a lot more detail after stacking a few frames. I found i had to adjust the RGB to the left to get a darker image as they were coming out grey. Sometimes it says can only stack 1 frame? out of a set of 5 or so. I did not add any flat or dark frames as i dont know what they are yet...i will be solving that mystery soon I will have a look at PS and GIMP aswell

[stardust steve (Steve)]

Originally Posted by bojan

Steve,
Have a look at the link, below, post #37
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...cessing&page=2
There you will find how I am doing those things, it is very easy and quick procedure with reasonable results.
DPP should have come with your camera, DSS(as mentioned by Rowland) is freeware, but excellent software for stacking deep sky images.

Thanks Bojan. This post link looks like it will answer many questions i have...so many questions haha. I will get out asap and start taking some trial frames to stack to get the basics down with these programs. I am going to look now for the software that came with the camera...its around here somewhere. thanks again

[stardust steve (Steve)]

I also have a cheap Celestron powerseeker 76 AZ.
D=76mm, F1=700mm, F/9 on a standard non tracking mount. I am thinking if it is worth it or not getting a adapter for my 500D. I think the extra weight might pose a problem on the already average mount. I have had a quick look around the websites incl Ozscopes and they sell T Ring Adapters i think they are called that might work for my type of telescope. I have a birthday coming up and may have to put in a wish list