How to Create a Dark Frame Library in NINA and PixInsight!

[@woldsweather]

Where do the darks get stored I can't find them?

[@jitterbal]

Oh yes, really learned a lot here! Many thanks

[@daveshireman1345]

I know darks are temperature sensitive. Does it matter what the ambient temperature is when you make a dark library? (For example, say you're out on a night like 45F or 7C, you cool your sensor -10c and image for the night... ) But.. You have a dark library with same -10 sensor cooling target, and say you shot those with an ambient temp of something around 70F. Would that have a negative effect, since your sensor was 'technically' at different temp that the Lights you took that one night?

[@ColeRees]

Nope, no negative effect at all. That’s exactly why we have cooled cameras! I shoot darks at 20°C ambient temperature and image typically around 25-0°C ambient, as long as the weathers good!

[@daveshireman1345]

@@ColeRees Perfect! Thank you! I appreciate it!

[@ech0tang0]

As a beginner I never understood why people said to always retake darks at every session. This seems so much easier. Do you always shoot with the same ISO, or does that not matter for the result?

[@ColeRees]

Sounds like you’re using a DSLR. Since your DSLR cannot be reliably temperature-controlled, you have to do things differently. Taking them every time is important. In those scenarios, I would take my darks when I’m done shooting a target at night (when it’s still cold and dark outside). Since the camera I am demonstrating in this video has active cooling regulation, I can take my darks whenever I want. I cool the camera sensor down to -10°C and now it matches the exact settings I image at night with. I think some DSLRs like my a7iii take a dark after every light and auto-apply it. Could be wrong about that though! To answer your question about ISO, yes. You need to shoot at the same ISO/gain as what you imaged the stars with. In fact, everything about the sensor settings must match. Temperature, gain, exposure length, binning, etc. things that don’t matter would be f ratio and focal length.

[@jimwaters304]

This will not run in the current release of PI. WBPP doesn't create a master dark.

[@refetastro]

Good video, Question can we run none stop for 24 hours or 12 hours

[@ColeRees]

You can go 24 hours straight, no problem. For me 294 it will take me 2-3 days to get everything for my narrowband. Now I typically just shoot 5 min subs for NB though so I will only create one for that and then a few for broadband between 30-120 seconds