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After some trial and error, I improved my galaxy shots with better calibration frames
I was never happy with the noise in my deep-sky images. A forum post explained how to take proper dark and bias frames. I tried it out during a clear night, and it really helped. My M81 photo now has smooth backgrounds and clear spiral structure.
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ben_lee267mo ago
My buddy's M101 shot improved dramatically after using bias frames.
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nathan1197mo ago
Honestly this calibration stuff is way overhyped. Sure it helps a little, but you're adding hours of work for a tiny gain. I saw @ben_lee26's note about his buddy's M101, but stacking more light frames always beats wasting time on darks and bias for me. My best M81 came from just collecting more data, not messing with all those extra files. The difference is so small it's not worth the hassle.
2
robin1867mo ago
I used to feel the same way about calibration being too much work. My M51 shots always looked kinda muddy no matter what. Then I tried a full set of dark frames last month, like 30 of them. The difference was crazy. The whole galaxy just pops now, way less grainy. Totally changed my mind on this.
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