AstronomyUkraine Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 All astrophotographers ask themselves the same question. "Have I taken enough data". We hear about diminishing returns on data aquired, but what is your criteria for saying enough is enough? There are formulas out there, but with so many different combinations of setups, I don't see how they can be applied.I tend to evalute background noise in determining whether I have enough data or not. My laptop controlling the mount is on my local network, so stacking as I'm imaging is quite easy. I don't live stack, but will start a quick stack after 30-5 minute frames in Pixinsight, then every subsequent 10 frames, comparing them as I go along. Once I see no improvement in signal, or noise, I stop.Personally, I have been guilty of taking too many frames, especially in Ha, but prefer to be on the safe side, and have too many than not enough. How do members evaluate when they have enough data? Time limits, noise evaluation, or if you live in the UK, grab what you can, when you can? ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulB Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 You can never have enough data to play with. I am currently using a modified Canon T3I and I have found, I need more subs than I do with a CCD camera.With me. I would like to take as many as possible. But it all depends on sky quality and personal stamina.I take 180 second exposures at typically 800iso. So I try and aim for two hours of data. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don4l Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 I never gather enough data. I become impatient, or the target moves out of my rather small patch of sky.I am getting better, though. Two years ago, anything more than two hours was rare for me. Now the average seems to be about 5 hours.Part of the change is an improvement in efficiency. If something goes wrong, I seem to be able to get going again much more quickly. I'm also nailing focus in a fraction of the time that it used to take, and this is making a huge difference.Accurate, and easy to use, platesolving is also making a big difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstronomyUkraine Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 Posted by: @don4l Accurate, and easy to use, platesolving is also making a big difference.Yeah, with platesolving it's possible to go back to the same target time after time, even the following year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstronomyUkraine Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 Posted by: @PaulB But it all depends on sky quality and personal stamina.Automation takes a lot of the grunt work out of astrophotography. I use SGP myself, but NINA also seems to be a great option too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don4l Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 @astronomyukraine I'm using CCDCiel, but I use it in "manual" mode. It integrates incredibly well with both Cartes du Ciel and ASTAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 Since getting ASA Sequence to play nicely I've been able get a lot more data than before, as I can leave it running all night, only closing up in the morning. This assumes that no rain is forecast before I surface.I've now been able to regularly integrate 20+ hours on a single target. On occasion I will schedule more than one target per night of one is getting too low while it's still dark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstronomyUkraine Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 Posted by: @don4l I'm using CCDCiel, but I use it in "manual" mode. It integrates incredibly well with both Cartes du Ciel and ASTAP.ASTAP is brilliant. I thought Platesolve 2 was good, until I started using ASTAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstronomyUkraine Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 Posted by: @DaveS Since getting ASA Sequence to play nicely I've been able get a lot more data than beforeHave to admit ASA sequence is a new one to me. Will have to check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 You'll have a job. it's part of the software that is supplied by ASA with their DDM mounts. The cheapest new mount is the DDM100, currently on pre-order at £24k. DDM owners hang on to theirs like grim death. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstronomyUkraine Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 Posted by: @DaveS The cheapest new mount is the DDM100, currently on pre-order at £24k.I don't think I'll be buying one of those, unless my lottery numbers come up. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 Haha, me neither. The two I already have are quite enough 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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