My Second Attempt at the Andromeda Galaxy!
Hello fellow space enthusiasts!
I'm back with my second attempt at capturing the stunning Andromeda Galaxy. This was shot last night under Bortle 6-7 skies. I used my trusty Canon Rebel T7 with a 70-300mm lens, which I pushed to 135mm for this capture. I'm still very much in the early stages of my astrophotography journey, so I'm always open to any tips and tricks you all might have!
Equipment & Settings:
- Camera: Canon Rebel T7
- Lens: Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 (shot at 135mm)
- Mount: Star Adventure Tracker
- Total Exposure: 512 x 30 second subs
- Calibration Frames: 30 flats, 30 darks, 30 biases
- Processing Software: Stacked and edited in Siril, Graxpert, and GNU. Starnet was used for star removal.
Challenges and Learning:
One of the biggest hurdles I'm facing right now is focusing my lens, especially when trying to capture faint objects like galaxies. I've been relying on test shots and judging focus by how tight the stars appear, but even then, it's a struggle. When I zoom in on live view to focus, everything often goes black, making it difficult to see the stars.
I received some fantastic advice in the comments regarding focus. One suggestion was to crank up the ISO significantly when focusing, even if it introduces noise. The idea is that the noise won't matter as long as you can see the stars clearly enough to achieve sharp focus. You then bring the ISO back down to your imaging settings once focus is locked.
Another helpful tip was about using a remote shutter with timed exposures. My current remote doesn't allow for longer timed shots in bulb mode, which is why I'm sticking to 30-second exposures. Investing in a better remote or exploring alternative methods for longer exposures is definitely on my to-do list. A Bahtinov mask was also highly recommended for achieving critical focus, and I'm eager to try that out!
What's Next?
I'm excited to keep experimenting and learning. Next time, I might try pushing the focal length a bit further, though I'll need to improve my focusing technique first. Any additional advice on getting stars to appear clearly in live view for focusing would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for looking!
