Question about stacking photos of the Milky Way

I spent a whole night in Joshua Tree trying to get a single, long exposure shot of the Milky Way. My photos were always grainy. A friend saw my shots and asked why I wasn't stacking them. I had no idea what that meant. He showed me how to take 50 short exposures and combine them with free software like Sequator. The noise dropped like crazy. Has anyone else made this switch from single shots to stacking?

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3 Comments

grace_hunt847mo ago

Ever try stacking with a cheap tracker?

3

the_rowan7mo ago

Tried it with a $20 one from Amazon last year. The data was all over the place, honestly. Not worth the headache.

6

xena_fisher496mo ago

Hey now, mine was fifteen bucks and it's fine. You just have to ignore the wild readings and watch the trends.

3