Just hit 10,000 stars in one astro photo and had to double check

I was stacking frames of the Orion Nebula last night and my software showed 10,247 stars detected in a single sub. That seemed way too high so I counted a few random sections and averaged it out. Turns out even with my modest 80mm scope, a 2-minute exposure picks up way more points of light than I expected. Has anyone else been surprised by how many faint stars their setup can actually resolve?

3 comments

3 Comments

betty_perry246d agoProlific Poster

10,247 stars in one sub? That's absolutely bonkers. I've got an 80mm refractor too and my last Orion shot barely cracked 3,000. I must be doing something wrong with my stacking settings or maybe my light pollution is worse than I thought. What's your sky like out there?

sean_barnes246d ago

Man I feel you on this so hard. I spent three years shooting from a Bortle 6 backyard and thought I was just bad at stacking until I took my rig out to a friend's farm in the country. It was like someone turned up the brightness on the whole sky. I'd bet your light pollution is the big culprit here (especially if your sub exposures look washed out or grayish instead of dark). Even with perfect settings, those extra city lights just eat the faint stars before your camera can catch them.

josephbailey6d ago

Honestly @betty_perry24, your Orion shot at 3,000 stars is solid for an 80mm. My secret is shooting from a Bortle 4 zone with no moon, and I bump my gain up a bit higher than what most people recommend. Light pollution is probably your main problem - I used to shoot from a Bortle 6 and could barely get half the stars I do now.