Am I the only one who thinks stacking 3 hours of subs is cheating compared to one 6 hour shot?

Jessica Carter · 2026-10-15T08:40:04.502812+00:00

Last Tuesday at my buddy's place outside Tucson we ran two rigs on the same target, his was 40 ten-minute subs, mine was 12 thirty-minute subs, and the final stacks looked nothing alike. His came out cleaner in the dim dust lanes but mine held way more faint detail once I stretched it. Then his autoguider dropped at sub 31 and he lost the rest of the night, while my 6 hour run finished with only 4 frames tossed. Now we can't agree on which pic is actually the better photo. Is long sub imaging a real skill or just better gear, and does anyone else think total time matters less than how you split it?

Vivisector

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Am I the only one who thinks stacking 3 hours of subs is cheating compared to one 6 hour shot? | Astronomy Photos - Vivisector