Milky way - First time using a tracker

Hi Rory,

Looks great! Am Curious as to what tracker you used?

Thanks

Matt
 
However you did it, you got a lovely result.

Well done Rory.

:D
 
Excellent work. I really must give it a go sometime.
 
Trappe said:
Well it was my first go using a Star tracker and 14mm Samyang lens. I just walked up to a location quite near and set the tracker up using polestar laser alignment.

I took around 12 frames at 30 seconds each. Might try a 2 min exposure next time.

Llan ffestiniog below the milky way by Rory Trappe, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Great effort.

I find around 60-90 seconds to be my sweet spot for exposure.
 
I’ve shot almost exclusively with my tracker over the last year when doing Astro. I admit I am still finding my feet with exposure. I see some images quoting 4 minutes at ISO 400, personally I am nervous of this length it’s a lot of time to invest if polar alignment isn’t absolutely perfect.

I prefer to shoot 60- 90 sec at longer focal lengths I could not achieve without the tracker.

I wonder if there is an improvement in image quality from stacking more images at 60 sec vs fewer images at 3-4 minutes and lower iso. Maybe need to invest a night in a comparison.
 
Excellent work, well done :)
 
that's bloody awesome! I would have thought the light from the town would have overwhelmed the sky, Well done sir!
 
Awesome, i was meaning to get out with my tracker (second year of having it) but have been waiting for the daylight to subside so we get a true darkness, however I think i might have missed the core? oops!
 
A_S said:
Awesome, i was meaning to get out with my tracker (second year of having it) but have been waiting for the daylight to subside so we get a true darkness, however I think i might have missed the core? oops!
Click to expand...

Shame. You don't need true darkness.
 
That is lovely.

Maybe I should take up one of these Move Shoot Move offers I get :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: A_S
A_S said:
one for next year then maybe, but I'm off to scotland on 24rd sept I am guessing i may be too far north to see the core?
Click to expand...

But at this time of the year the excellent part of the Milky Way through Cygnus and Scutum will be easily visible.

Dave
 
alan72 said:
I’ve shot almost exclusively with my tracker over the last year when doing Astro. I admit I am still finding my feet with exposure. I see some images quoting 4 minutes at ISO 400, personally I am nervous of this length it’s a lot of time to invest if polar alignment isn’t absolutely perfect.

I prefer to shoot 60- 90 sec at longer focal lengths I could not achieve without the tracker.

I wonder if there is an improvement in image quality from stacking more images at 60 sec vs fewer images at 3-4 minutes and lower iso. Maybe need to invest a night in a comparison.
Click to expand...
You should get better quality with lots of short ones rather than one long one. For these reasons:
Tracking is easier.
Brighter objects will not be so over exposed; star images will be smaller.
30 x 30 secs is equivalent to 15 mins single exposure.

There is a lower limit though; 60x 1 seconds will not be the same as 1x1 minute for something faint because for stacking to work there has to be a bit of subject on each frame and for very short exposures it won't appear on some of the frames. 30 seconds is good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top