Exposure for Stars Only

Discussion of using SharpCap for Deep Sky Imaging
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MidnightLightning
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Dec 19, 2020 3:14 pm

Exposure for Stars Only

#1

Post by MidnightLightning »

I have just finished capturing data for a 4 panel mosaic of the Veil in NB and would now like to capture some nice RGB stars to replace the NB stars.

I have used Sharpcap Tools and Robin's Exp=C x (R^2/P) formula to calculate the optimum exposure length for RGB - which comes out at 194 seconds.
(QHY600 (Read Noise 2.68), F 6.68, QE 85%(may be a bit high), Bortle 4).

The exposure of 194s seems reasonable, I usually do 300s or 600s for RGB, but I am wondering whether such an exposure is necessary when I am only looking to capture the stars - my gut feeling says 30s should be fine.

Any thoughts on the best exposure just to capture stars?
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