Tried stacking 30 second exposures of M31 and got my first clear spiral arms

I have been dabbling with astrophotography for about a year now, mostly just taking moon shots and the Orion nebula. Last weekend I decided to try my hand at the Andromeda Galaxy with my DSLR and a cheap tracking mount. I shot 45 frames at 30 seconds each, ISO 1600, with my 200mm lens. When I stacked them in DeepSkyStacker and stretched the histogram, I could actually see the spiral arms. I was shocked because I always thought you needed thousands of dollars in gear to get that kind of detail. What I learned is that dark frames and a properly calibrated polar alignment matter way more than expensive glass. Has anyone else had a similar breakthrough with budget gear?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivanlewis2d agoMost Upvoted

Just a heads up, ISO 1600 might actually be noisier than 800 for your camera.

johnb952d ago

...my buddy Mike tried this with an old Canon 450D and a vintage 135mm lens he got for like 50 bucks, and his first Andromeda stack came out way cleaner than mine with way pricier gear. Surprised the hell out of him too.