That deep sky stack I spent 6 hours processing turned out to be a camera sensor defect, not Andromeda

Spent last Tuesday night fussing over what I thought was a faint galaxy in my data, even showed it to a buddy who said something looked off. Turns out it was just a hot pixel cluster from leaving my Canon T3i out in 40 degree weather - anyone else chase phantom objects in their subs before realizing it's just gear acting up?

3 comments

3 Comments

carter.laura18d ago

Oh man, that is brutal. Hot pixels in the cold are the worst, they pop up like crazy when temps drop. I've definitely spent way too long stacking and stretching a sub only to realize it's just a noisy sensor. Maybe it's just me but I swear cameras act different once you hit freezing. That sinking feeling when you zoom in and see it's just gear junk is the worst.

charles44217d agoTop Commenter

I actually read somewhere that cold temps can mess with the voltage levels in the sensor, which makes hot pixels more visible. Something about the electrons moving slower or something like that. I don't remember the science exactly but it made sense when I read it. So yeah it's not just in your head, cameras do behave weird when it's freezing out. That sinking feeling is real though, especially when you spent all night setting up and the data is full of noise spots.

jackson.matthew17d agoMost Upvoted

Hot pixels are a sensor thing, not a cold thing. You're just pixel peeping harder when it's cold because you know conditions are rough.