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I hit 500 hours on a single deep sky target and everyone thought I was nuts
Most folks in my local club in Flagstaff say you get diminishing returns after about 100 hours on a target like the Veil Nebula. I just finished processing a 500-hour integration from my backyard setup, and the difference in the faint outer filaments is night and day. It proved to me that the popular 'good enough' point isn't where the real science (or art) stops. Has anyone else pushed a single target way past the usual advice and been surprised?
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karencampbell5mo ago
Questioning the standard advice" is the whole point. Your Horsehead dust stream proves it.
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michaelgrant4mo ago
Processing is where you really see the difference in these faint details. A lot of folks stop stacking too soon because they think the data is good enough, but that extra time is where the hidden stuff starts to show up. If you're patient, there's always a little more to pull out.
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the_fiona5mo ago
Totally get chasing those faint outer details. I pushed my own Horsehead Nebula data past 300 hours once, just to see what was hiding in the background glow. Pulled out this faint dust stream I'd never even seen in other people's shots. It makes you question all the standard advice about when to stop.
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adams.uma5mo ago
So you just casually spent 300 hours to win a game of cosmic hide and seek? I guess the real nebula was the friends we annoyed by never coming inside.
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