c/astronomy-photos

That $200 star tracker mount collects dust in my closet now

Last spring I drove all the way out to Big Bend National Park with a brand new star tracker mount, thought it would be the thing that finally got me those deep sky shots everyone posts here. Spent a full night fighting with polar alignment, the little LED circle never lined up right, and my phone app kept glitching. By 2am I had about 12 blurry frames of Orion that looked worse than my old 15 second exposures on a plain tripod. The thing was $200 with shipping, and I've used it maybe twice since, both times just to remind myself how much I hate the setup process. I know people swear by these things and I'm probably doing something dumb, but has anyone else found that a basic DSLR on a fixed tripod gets you 80% of the way for way less headache? Or is there a specific brand or model that actually works straight out of the box?

1 comments

richard_young80•1d ago

Gave the $2,500 telescope a shot, my $400 one beat it in 3 nights

Last month I borrowed my buddy's fancy astrophotography rig, the one with the computerized mount and all that. I figured my cheap refractor was holding me back, so I spent three nights trying to match his setup. Turns out his auto-guiding kept drifting and the software was a nightmare to align. My old scope with a manual star tracker gave me sharper shots of the Andromeda galaxy with zero fuss. The difference was the skill needed, not the gear price tag. Has anyone else found that the expensive kit just adds more problems than it fixes?

1 comments

the_claire•3d ago

A comment about my star trails made me redo my whole stacking workflow

Someone on a discord server pointed out that my star trail photos had these tiny gaps between each frame, and I never noticed for like 6 months. They said to use a 1 second overlap between exposures and then stack them differently in Sequator. I tried it on a batch from a night shoot near Lake Tahoe and the trails look so much smoother now. Has anyone else had a random critique totally change how they process their night shots?

2 comments

maxl93•4d ago

Star party near Tucson was mostly cloudy chaos

Drove 3 hours to the Kitt Peak visitor center for their monthly star party and half the telescopes were pointed at clouds. One guy kept yelling at kids for touching his eyepiece. Anyone else think these events are way overhyped?

2 comments

stella121•5d ago

My neighbor's backyard telescope photo of Jupiter last week vs. 3 years ago is NIGHT and DAY

3 years ago he had this cheap department store scope and got a blurry orange blob, but last week he upgraded to an 8-inch Dobsonian and the detail on the bands and Great Red Spot is insane. Did anyone else have a moment where gear completely changed your photo results or was it just me?

3 comments

torres.blair•7d ago

Had to pick between a tracking mount and a bigger lens for my camera

Been saving up for months and finally had enough cash to upgrade my astrophotography setup. I could either get a star tracker to let me take longer exposures or buy a 200mm lens with a faster aperture. I went with the tracker because I figured I could already take decent shots with my kit lens. First clear night I set it up in my backyard and it took me 45 minutes to get it aligned right, and then the battery died after an hour. Has anyone else been stuck between two gear upgrades and regretted their choice?

2 comments

stella121•7d ago

My buddy in Denver made me see old telescope photos differently

Was chatting with an old friend who works at a planetarium out in Denver last week. He was looking at my astrophotography shots on my phone and said something like, "You know, every single one of these is a time machine. That light left those stars before you were born." I never really stopped and thought about it that deep before. I just take pictures of pretty lights in the sky. But he made me realize every photo I take is literally ancient history hitting my sensor. Has anyone else had a simple comment like that change how you look at your own pictures?

2 comments

charles720•7d ago

Appreciation post: how a $10 light pollution filter changed my moon shots

I've been taking photos of the moon from my backyard in Tulsa for about 2 years. Last month I finally bought a cheap light pollution filter for my telescope camera. The before and after difference was wild. Before the filter, my moon shots always had a weird orange glow around the edges from city streetlights. After I put the filter on, the craters and details popped way more clearly. Has anyone else tried a basic filter like that and seen a big change in their night sky photos?

2 comments

samrodriguez•11d ago

Hated star stacking composites until someone pointed out my single exposures had way too much noise at ISO 3200

A guy on the Cloudy Nights forum said my Orion Nebula shots looked like they were taken through a snowstorm and suggested I try 30 shorter frames instead of one long one, so I spent last night stacking 45 seconds each and the difference was night and day. Has anyone else had that humbling moment where one piece of feedback totally changed your processing workflow?

2 comments

wren230•12d ago

Heads up about light pollution at Cherry Springs

I drove 4 hours to Cherry Springs State Park last weekend specifically for the dark sky photos and ended up with orange gradients in every shot. Turns out a new gas well flare up about 6 miles south is washing out the southern horizon now. Has anyone else noticed this ruining their long exposures there lately?

3 comments

charles_coleman•12d ago

PSA: Those fancy stacked astrophotos you see online are not what you get with a phone

I used to think I could just point my phone at the night sky and get those colorful nebula shots. Then I tried stacking 50 raw frames from my DSLR in DeepSkyStacker last month and realized it takes hours of processing to get that look. Has anyone else gotten fooled by the difference between processed shots and what you see through the eyepiece?

3 comments

phoenix_singh25•15d ago

Used to hate stacking photos until I tried Sequator last month

I always thought stacking astro photos was too much work for too little gain. Spent 2 years just taking single shots of the Milky Way and wondering why they looked so noisy. Then a guy on YouTube showed a side by side of a single 30 second exposure vs 20 stacked frames from Sequator. The difference was night and day. I downloaded it that night and stacked 15 photos of Orion from my backyard. The detail in the nebula came out way better than I expected and I didn't even have to buy expensive software. Has anyone else switched to free stacking tools and seen a big improvement?

2 comments

wader71•16d ago

My telescope mount just died during a Perseid shower shoot

Was out near Lake Tahoe on Saturday night trying to catch the Perseids with my old Celestron AVX mount. About an hour in the motor started making this grinding noise then just stopped tracking. Tried resetting it a few times but nothing worked. Had to pack up and just watch the meteors with my naked eye which was cool but I was bummed about the photos. Anyone else have an AVX drive fail on them out of nowhere? Thinking about trying to fix the motor myself or just saving up for a newer mount.

2 comments

kimw57•17d ago

Tried to snap a nebula photo from my backyard in Ohio last Tuesday

Spent 45 minutes setting up my telescope only to realize the lens cap was still on lol. Has anyone else ever done something this dumb mid-shoot?

3 comments

brooke_jones•18d ago

Guy at a star party tried to convince me his iPhone 12 could take better astro photos than my $2000 rig

I was out at Cherry Springs State Park last October for the annual star party. This dude walks up to my setup - an 8-inch Celestron on a tracking mount - and says "my phone can capture the Milky Way better than that thing." He pulls out his phone, takes a 5-second exposure, and it's just a blurry mess of light pollution. Then he gets mad and says I must have "rigged the sky" somehow. Some people man. Anyone else run into these phone evangelists at dark sky sites?

3 comments

the_claire•20d ago

Question about why everyone stacks their star photos wrong

I keep seeing these astro photos where people stack like 200 frames but the stars still come out blurry and trailing. I think the problem is they aren't checking their individual frames before stacking. Last week I shot the Orion Nebula in my backyard with a basic DSLR and a tripod, and out of 150 frames I had maybe 40 good ones. The rest had tiny movements from wind or me bumping the camera. I tossed those bad frames and my final stack came out way sharper. Am I missing something here or do people just get lazy with pre-selection? Has anyone else noticed this with their own stacked photos?

3 comments

ward.anna•21d ago

Three years ago I tried to photograph the Perseids near Boise and it was a total bust

Last August, drove out to Bruneau Dunes State Park around midnight with my old Canon Rebel. Set up my tripod, got everything ready, and then a convoy of pickup trucks rolled in with their headlights on full blast. They sat there for an hour, doors open, blasting country music while my eyes adjusted to basically nothing. I got maybe two usable shots out of four hours of trying. Has anyone else dealt with light pollution from people who just don't get the whole dark sky thing?

3 comments

lee689•21d ago

Switched from a phone camera to a used DSLR for aurora shots and the detail difference was insane

I spent 6 months trying to get decent northern lights photos with my iPhone 13 near Fairbanks and got nothing but blurry green smudges, then I borrowed a friend's old Canon 6D from 2012 and the first shot showed stars and curtains so sharp I almost cried, anyone else find a huge gap between phone and real camera for night sky pictures?

3 comments

jana769•22d ago

Debated between a 1.25 inch and 2 inch eyepiece for my new telescope last month

I was shopping for a wide field eyepiece to look at the Andromeda Galaxy. The 1.25 inch was cheaper at $80 but the 2 inch gave a way bigger view. I went with the 2 inch because I figured I'd regret not getting the wider view. First clear night I aimed it at the Pleiades and my jaw dropped. The stars filled the entire view like I was floating in space. Anyone else wrestle with which size to grab?

3 comments

-1

emma_baker61•26d ago

My 6 inch Dobsonian vs my friend's 10 inch - the light gathering difference is insane

I took my 6 inch Dobsonian out to a dark sky site last Saturday and my buddy brought his 10 inch. We both looked at M31 and I could see the core and a hint of dust lanes, but his view? Full spiral structure, like a photo in the eyepiece. The difference in light gathering (2.8x more area, right?) was way more dramatic than I expected. Do you think aperture really makes that much of a jump, or am I just bad at observing? I'm considering saving up for an upgrade now, but I don't want to haul around something huge if the gain isn't worth it. Has anyone else compared side by side and felt like their scope was suddenly useless?

3 comments

jordan_hill•28d ago

Noticed a big shift in how the Orion Nebula is processed in photos since 2018

I was looking through some old astrophotography forums and saw Orion shots from around 2018-2019 compared to now. Back then everyone was going for those bright, almost neon colors, but lately I see way more people pulling out the faint dust lanes and keeping the core natural. Is that just better stacking software, or did the community just decide that subtle looks better?

3 comments

zara_sanchez•1mo ago

Hot take: don't stack your telescope filters like I did

I thought I was being clever stacking a moon filter and a light pollution filter together to get a better look at Jupiter through my 8-inch dob in my backyard in Tucson. All I got was a blurry green blob that made me think something was wrong with my mirror. Turns out stacking filters on a planetary target just kills your contrast and sharpness. Learned this after 2 hours of frustration and a call to the guy at the local astronomy shop. He said one filter is plenty for viewing, and stacking them is only for specific astrophotography rigs. Has anyone else made this rookie mistake with their eyepieces?

3 comments

fiona_kim97•1mo ago

Warning: that viral Orion Nebula photo from last week has a hidden satellite trail

I zoomed in on the full resolution version and found a faint streak right through the Trapezium cluster that nobody mentioned. Anyone else catch this in their own astrophotos from that same night?

3 comments

fionafoster•1mo ago

Warning: My $50 star tracker mount was a total disaster

I spent $50 on a cheap star tracker mount from Amazon to get sharp long exposure shots of the Orion Nebula. It wobbled so bad after 30 seconds that every photo had star trails no matter how I balanced it. Has anyone else dealt with budget mounts falling apart or is there a decent one under $200 that actually works?

3 comments

singh.harper•1mo ago

One piece of feedback that changed how I shoot the Milky Way

I posted a photo of the Milky Way over a barn about 6 months ago and someone said my foreground was too dark. They suggested I take a separate exposure just for the ground and blend them. I tried it that weekend and the difference was huge. Now I always shoot a 2 minute foreground shot at ISO 800 and blend it with my sky stack. Has anyone else found a good trick for balancing light in astro landscapes?

4 comments