I was wrong about needing a $2000 mount for deep sky shots

I was out near Sedona trying to shoot the Andromeda galaxy with my old, basic tripod and a cheap motor drive, convinced my blurry results were just gear limits. After three hours of tweaking the polar alignment with a phone app and taking thirty 90-second exposures, I stacked them and the detail was shockingly clear. Has anyone else pulled off a decent DSO image without pro-level hardware?

3 comments

3 Comments

logan6323mo ago

Honestly, that's a lucky break with the seeing conditions more than proof the gear doesn't matter. A cheap drive will fail you most nights when you need longer subs. The real test is getting that result again next time.

lane.angela3mo ago

Lol guess the real pro gear was the phone app we downloaded along the way. My wallet feels personally attacked.

diana15511d ago

...wait, you're telling me you actually got usable Andromeda detail from a phone app polar alignment and 90 second subs on a cheap drive? That's insane. I've seen people with thousand dollar mounts struggle to get that kind of result on a good night. And you just stacked thirty frames and it came out clear? That's like winning the lottery on your first ticket, honestly. Next time you try it, the seeing could be totally different and you'll be pulling your hair out, but for now, damn, that's a serious flex on the gearheads.