Dithering for optimal results with DSLR astrophotography

Dithering for optimal results with DSLR astrophotography

With astrophotography we are in a constant battle with unwanted signal, trying to capture the faintest signals from space and get it to stand out above the noise. I’ve discussed the benefits of stacking a lot of frames previously, as this will greatly help to improve our SNR and dynamic range. Now it’s time to look at dithering and how that will benefit your images. What is dithering? When talking about dithering in astrophotography, we…

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Stacking subsets vs stacking all subs at once

Stacking subsets vs stacking all subs at once

The question if stacking all subs at once will give you the same result as stacking subs into subsets and stack those subsets together is one that pops up quite often. You might have a lot of frames to stack and you’re computer has trouble handling it, or you might have data from several nights and want to combine them; are you better of stacking all individual subs together or can you just stack each…

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The benefits of adding more subs to your stack

The benefits of adding more subs to your stack

Adding multiple exposures to create a single image is one of the key elements of doing astrophotography. It enables us to get rid of bad pixels, satellite trails, noise while increasing signal to increase the overall signal-to-noise ratio. It truly is one of the most important aspects of astrophotography. But stacking remains a bit of a mystery to most people and they will keep having questions like ‘How many frames should I stack?’, ‘Am I…

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Top 10 astrophotography mistakes

Top 10 astrophotography mistakes

Astrophotography is a challenging hobby. With so many things to keep in mind and to sort out, one is bound to make some (obvious) mistakes. And they are really silly ones in most cases. At least, I certainly make plenty of silly mistakes ;). When in Namibia and spending so many hours under the clear night sky doing astrophotography, I made all the obvious mistakes I can think of. And then some… So here are…

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Light leaking through dslr viewfinder

Light leaking through dslr viewfinder

The topic of the possibility of light from the viewfinder falling on your dslr sensor seems to be a topic that is either unclear/controversial or overlooked altogether. However, it is something everyone should be aware of! Light leaking through the viewfinder; Nikon D5100 When testing the thermal noise in dark frames on the Nikon D5100 vs Nikon D7000 vs Nikon D600 (more on that later ;)) I ran into the issue of having a clear…

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Composition in astrophotography: 5 tips for better astro images

Composition in astrophotography: 5 tips for better astro images

Astrophotography in itself can be quite challenging, especially when you’re doing deep sky photography. Because of this we tend to focus on all the technical details and aspects of astrophotography; aligning your mount, balancing equipment, flexure, telescopes, guiding, camera’s, processing the image etc. For some people this is also what makes astrophotography fun, and they are less interested in the end result. For the majority however, the goal is to make an interesting and beautiful…

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