Tried stacking 200 photos of the moon and got a blurry mess

I spent last Thursday night shooting the moon through my 8 inch dob with a cheap planetary camera. Got about 300 frames stacked in Autostakkert but the final image came out soft and washed out. I think my focus was off because I rushed the bahtinov mask step before the clouds rolled in. Anyone know a good way to check focus fast when the sky is iffy? Also wondering if my exposure was too long at 1/30th second for a target that bright.

3 comments

3 Comments

jesse_williams6224d ago

Funny how rushing always backfires, kind of like when I try to fold laundry while the timer's going off on dinner and end up with wrinkled shirts. For the moon though, I've had good luck just cranking up the gain and dropping the exposure to 1/100th or faster since it's so bright, lets you snap a bunch of frames before the clouds ruin everything.

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the_brian24d ago

Yeah the gain trick is a lifesaver with the moon. I usually bump my ISO to 800 or so and keep the shutter at 1/125, then just spray and pray while the clouds are moving. If I do this fast enough, I get maybe 20-30 decent shots before everything gets covered up. Then I just stack the sharpest ones later in Photoshop to get rid of the atmospheric fuzz.

shanem3715d ago

Wait, you can actually stack moon shots like that? I always thought you had to nail it in one perfect frame or else it was a waste. That changes everything for me honestly, gonna try this next time the clouds play nice.