Help with Guiding and Imaging a target

[CarlGreen]

Hello everyone, this might be a stupid question, but I want to do some deep sky astro photography (Such as the Andromeda Galaxy or Horsehead Nebula etc) - Now.........I have been interested in Astronomy and deep sky astrophotography for about 5 years, and whilst I understand that I should really be further along my journey than I actually am! after all this time, have eventually managed to get my gear connected (Telescope/mount/cameras etc) and working (During daylight hours!) with Sharpcap (Which I intend to use for imaging).(I have not done any night time imaging up to now!)
Here is my question...(Bear with me and this is all hypothetically at this stage!)......If I am trying to "Image" lets say the the Horsehead Nebula, What is the process?

Do I Start Sharpcap and Polar Align
Then connect PHD2 and connect everything up
Then start Stellarium
Then pick a target (Horsehead) in Stellarium and "Goto" it.
Then open PHD2 and select the star/stars in my view to "Guide" (So If I have gone to Horsehead in previous step, I assume there will be stars nearby on my computer screen to pick as guide stars?)
Then open Sharpcap to actually take the images.......(Then spend another 3 years or so learning how to process them )

Am I on the right track????

Or am I over thinking all this.

Any input would be welcome - Thanks

[admin]

Hi,

to be honest with you, I would leave the guiding out of it until you are sure that you actually need it - try 15s or so exposures without guiding to get comfortable with finding and viewing the target, then increase exposure length gradually (or even better, use SharpCap's smart histogram function to work out the optimal exposure length for your equipment and light pollution level). If you start seeing trailed stars consistently then you can start to worry about guiding...

My view of Stellarium is that it's great for simulating the sky, but not so good for telescope control, but I know other people love using it that way. If you have already used it to kick off GOTO movements, then go right ahead and use it that way. If not, you can now kick off GOTOs from right within SharpCap - see https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/4.1/#!2!Got ... -ordinates . Using this tool also integrates automatically with SharpCap's plate solving features (just tick the box) - once the GOTO is finished, SharpCap will plate solve and then use the results to correct any inaccuracy and put the target in the center of view.

cheers,

Robin

[CarlGreen]

Hi,

to be honest with you, I would leave the guiding out of it until you are sure that you actually need it - try 15s or so exposures without guiding to get comfortable with finding and viewing the target, then increase exposure length gradually (or even better, use SharpCap's smart histogram function to work out the optimal exposure length for your equipment and light pollution level). If you start seeing trailed stars consistently then you can start to worry about guiding...

My view of Stellarium is that it's great for simulating the sky, but not so good for telescope control, but I know other people love using it that way. If you have already used it to kick off GOTO movements, then go right ahead and use it that way. If not, you can now kick off GOTOs from right within SharpCap - see https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/4.1/#!2!Got ... -ordinates . Using this tool also integrates automatically with SharpCap's plate solving features (just tick the box) - once the GOTO is finished, SharpCap will plate solve and then use the results to correct any inaccuracy and put the target in the center of view.

cheers,

Robin

Thank Robin, I have not used Stellarium yet so will try the Inbuilt Sharpcap one. (Once we get clear skies!!!)