Deep Sky Stacker

[Ron]

Anyone,

I have been trying to stack 35 minutes of Garradd, 95 20 second individual images, choosing the Comet stacking mode.  But I still get trailing in the Comet and no trailing in the Stars.

Using the Comet stacking mode says the Comet will be sharp and the stars will have trails.

Where am I going wrong? 

Thanks,

Ron

[Skywatcher]

Ron did you use the "comet editing tool" to locate the comet in each
of the images?

James C
Arkansas

[Ron]

James,

No I didn't.  I didn't know I was supposed to until I ask the same question in the Yahoo Group

So I tried again but there were some files it would not let me select the position of the Comet so I just went to the next file until I could select the position.

I finally did come out with a Comet in one place and showing star trails, which was what I wanted, thinking I would get a hint of a tail, but there was no tail.

Maybe I didn't have enough files?

Thanks,

Ron

[drclay]

The tail on Garrard is very vague and transparent right now and with the moon in the sky, you are likely going to miss it until the moonlight subsides.  Last night even with 45 seconds in very clear skies, I was just barely able to get enough tail to measure its direction.

Doc

[Skywatcher]

To relocate the comet with the "comet editing tool" hold down the shift key and click on the comet. The first click puts the red circle around the comet and another click deselects it. You may not have to locate all of them because DSS is able to locate the comet's position so just go thru the list locating the ones DSS can't find.

James C
Arkansas

[Ron]

I'll do that on my next try at stacking.

I think I'll do like Dr. Clay suggested and wait until the Moon gets out of the way before I try shooting Garradd

Thank you all for your help,

Ron

[Skywatcher]

Good ideal to let the moon get out of the way but I thought you had lots of images you wanted to process from a previous session? Good Luck.....

James C
Arkansas

[Ron]

James,

Yes I did but I wasn't to happy with the final results

I had 95 images, the first try the DSS used about 89 images.  I did finally get an image with star trails and the Comet stayed in one spot but still didn't have any tail.  The images were taken on the 5th of March in the AM, the Moon wasn't quite all of the way down, and I'm sure that Moon light and city lights probably had an effect on outcome of the tail.



We need some more Comets so I can get some more practice

Ron

[Skywatcher]

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger, I was disappointed I could not capture a tail in my last post too.

James C
Arkansas

[Ron]

I took some old files from Garradd that I shot back on Feb 15th and stacked them in DSS on the Comet.  It looks like I might have started to get a hint of a tail, or some funny stacking.  I really don't know where the elongation came from


18 minutes   Inverted and color removed

Ron

[drclay]

No...your stacking (and image) is excellent....you have indeed picked up a faint inner extention of the primary ion (gas) tail.

Doc

[Ron]

That's very encouraging Doc, maybe I'll get the hang of this process afterall.

It was a little time consuming, especially since my images are all shot in Alt/Az, and I had to use the comet picker in each frame.  But I'll give the free DSS program credit for being able to stack the frames and keep the comet in alignment.  This Comet study is getting more exciting all the time

Thanks for the compliment and encouragement,

Ron