First Try with StarTools

[cbecke]

I've had StarTools for all of a couple days now, so I'm sharing my first effort.

I didn't think it was possible to pick up the Horsehead nebula with an un-modded, crop-frame DSLR (Canon T5i) on an un-guided 8" SCT, at the end of my driveway under the streetlight ... but it turns out it is!

I took about 50 minutes of 30s exposures at ISO 3200 in RAW format, then another 10 minutes of darks. The next day, I tried to capture flats by pointing my scope at the blank wall of my garage and taking pics so the histogram was somewhere in the middle.

I processed in DSS using the recommended settings in another thread, letting DSS pick the best 85% of my data.

Quite pleased with the results, given the equipment I'm using, and always looking for tips and tricks to make it better. I'm looking forward to figuring out this tool so that the options are more intuitive and less black-magic!

- Chris
Twitter: @BeckePhysics

(sorry for the double-post. I posted first as a reply to another thread)