My First Attempt at Capturing the Andromeda Galaxy: A Backyard Bortle 5 Journey

So the other night I tried to capture my first astrophotography image from my backyard (Bortle 5 skies), and I chose the Andromeda Galaxy as my target. Safe to say it did not go exactly to plan, however I did capture a very faint and fuzzy blob that is the Andromeda Galaxy, along with a lot of noise. This is a single exposure as my attempt at stacking was unsuccessful.

Acquisition Details:

• Camera: Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D, ISO 1600
• Lens: Quantaray 70-300mm f/4-5.6 @ 200mm and f/5.6
• Tripod: Dolica Proline AX620B100
• Accessories: Photoolex intervalometer, Bahtinov mask for focus assistance
• Exposures: 800 x 1-second light frames (only ~50 usable), 50 each of bias, flats, and darks.

Processing Woes and a Glimmer of Hope:

My lights were extremely noisy, and a significant portion had to be discarded due to an unexpected low exposure time (1/100 sec) despite intervalometer settings. My attempt at stacking in Siril was unsuccessful. I then decided to focus on finding the best single light frame and forgo calibration frames. After opening the raw image in the Windows Photos app and saving it as a JPEG, this is what I managed to capture.

A Leap into the Rabbit Hole:

I knew my camera was old, but I wanted to give it a shot with what I had. I was genuinely surprised that any detail of Andromeda was visible through the noise in a single exposure. This experience was enough to convince me to invest in more modern equipment – a Canon T7i and a new lens. Hopefully, my next post will showcase a much-improved result!

This hobby is already proving to be an addicting one, and I'm diving headfirst into learning more about Siril and GIMP for processing. I've also upgraded my tripod and am looking forward to getting a tracker eventually. With college starting soon and a move closer to Bortle 3 skies, I'm optimistic about future captures!