My Full Astrophotography Workflow in 2023

This is my full astrophotography imaging workflow. I cover planning, setting up, using the ASIAIR and EQ6-R Pro mount, taking flat, dark, and bias frames, and more.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:45 Planning
02:14 Camera, Telescope, and Filters
03:03 Mount and Accessories
03:25 Connecting Gear
05:25 Setting Up
07:10 ASIAIR Startup
08:04 Polar Align With ASIAIR
09:46 Focus
10:59 Slew To Target
12:02 Autoguiding
13:04 Light Frames
14:10 Flat Frames
15:28 Dark and Bias Frames
16:23 Outro

[@Dexterblows]

Best astrophotography channel by far and also the funniest🤣

[@Si-fp2ij]

Hard agree 😂

[@DavidBradley263]

You have no idea how much I look forward to these videos. I can't wait for the processing video as that's something that still hasnt clicked for me yet. Thanks for all the hard work and keep it up! I've learned a bunch from you already.

[@marlapinaire944]

Thanks Walt! I always find your videos both fun and very educational. I always learn something!

[@Si-fp2ij]

Really enjoyed that Walt Especially how concerned you looked (not) when you lost your job 😂

[@UNLKYHNTR]

My mans uploaded again. Love your channel, man! Clear skies!

[@deltaastrophotography]

Thank you!

[@wenhaoqu4296]

Hi Walt, like your style and look forward to see more, cheers!

[@deltaastrophotography]

Thank you so much! Cheers!

[@dcharlton07]

Love your videos, keep em coming!

[@jonathanreves]

Crazy to start looking at astrophotography myself and run into a fellow Mississippian here. I have enjoyed the videos! Keep up the good work.

[@mrlintonious]

Awesome stuff. Looking forward to the Processing.

[@duncanmclean3503]

Love these videos. Glad you don't take it too seriously as it brings a smile to my face every time I watch. Looking forward to the processing episode !

[@damienhayes9147]

Once again a great video.

[@damianburton9829]

Love your videos mate, they've have helped me so much with editing, thanks for sharing your knowledge to us all 🙌

[@refetastro]

Funny video as well very informative video Thank you very much Excellent tutorial

[@normanshafty]

Not got time to watch this yet, just stopped by to give it a like as I know damn well I'm going to enjoy it.

[@Thephysiquemechanic]

Wow, so many of my questions got answered in this video, all of the details, thanks man

[@deltaastrophotography]

Hey glad I could help! Clear skies!

[@Astrophotographynights]

Another cracking video love how your not boring af like a lot of others on here well done keep spacey my man

[@kevinashley478]

Just a word about the humidity. Here in NC it gets pretty humid during the summer. And for anyone that doesn't think humidity is a factor, well let's have storytime. When I did my BCT in the Army, I was at Ft Benning, GA in June, July, and August. For those that know, yeah I know, I was an idiot. But during our runs, you could immediately tell who was from the Midwest or northern areas. They were always at the back of the pack, flailing around and complaining they couldn't breathe. It took them about a month to acclimate to heavy "wet" air they were breathing. So yes, the humidity is a royal bitch and it makes the atmosphere thick, and anything outside for more than 10 minutes will be sopping wet.

[@mikehardy8247]

I live in Wisconsin. Thist week we had 90 deg F, and 70 degree Dew points. I couldn't live where you are! Colds a bitch, but this, to me is unbearable. How do you deal with fog on muggy nights, like my North American nebula imaging last night ended up, with Dew dripping off everything.

[@kevinashley478]

@@mikehardy8247 Its not fun, but you adapt. I prefer cold weather. You can always put more clothes on, but you cant take but so much off, lol. This summer has been the worst. Temps havent been too bad, but it has been cloudy nearly every night. I can count on one hand the number of nights that i could even ATTEMPT to image anything.

[@mikehardy8247]

@@kevinashley478 Here in Wisconsin as well. Not much rain, but if not cloudy, then Canadian wildlife smoke. What have we done! Hotest summer eveer on record.

[@kevinashley478]

@@mikehardy8247 Yeah, we have gotten some of that smoke tio. Nothing like yall though! Canada needs to get their woods under control already!

[@jayrichardson2907]

I feel like I haven’t been getting push notifications for your videos lately. They’re def on! I love how this video included a mini-adventure, Milky Way, and telescope imaging. All round awesomeness per usual!

[@mikehardy8247]

Somehow this video slipped through the cracks even though I've been subscribed for some time. Very glad I found it. The asiair is like a video game. Even though I've watched dozens of tutorials, i find new treasures frequently. At 11 minutes onward you taught me a bunch of new stuff in this nugget of wisdom! I wish someone would do a deeper dive into image/ file management. Can one simply move files from internal "emc" storage to a thumb drive plugged in after capture, in the app? I wish someone would do an "ALL" inclusive tutorial.. For beginners, and the rest of us. I want to second another posters comment on calibration frames. You probably explained the 'how and why" in a concise way that just made sense to me. In another video on the calibration techniques, a brightness level of about 25000 was said to be important for flat frames. Is there a value you shoot for?

[@davemacdonald3804]

Great work as always Walt. With your help, I continue to learn and enjoy astrophotography. You bring excellent advice and a great sense of humor to all of us! Thanks again.

[@metinsaltik1651]

very nice, thanks my friend.

[@pattimaclaughlin8059]

Awesome!!!!

[@DarkTrapStudio]

Thanks

[@DavidBradley263]

I was looking forward to your next video…. Can’t get enough of them!!! Can’t wait until the processing video. I’ve learned so much from you already.

[@deltaastrophotography]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you are getting something out of this madness! 😂

[@ashutoshsinghal5890]

big fan

[@navinu2700]

i love your videos bro

[@andrewcroft2570]

Absolutely fascinating, I have a place in the Lake District in the UK with almost zero light pollution and would love to take the kind of pictures that you do. Keep up the good work.

[@mikena8519]

cant wait for the processing video. like this channel ! really interested in the equipment run down you have going on here - thanks

[@O2o9oMATTo2o9O]

Always look forward to your videos. Just started getting into astrophotography last year and its been so amazing. Your videos definetly helped me out alot. Thank you for your time making these 🙂 will always suggest your channel for newer people just getting started in it and just in general

[@deltaastrophotography]

Thank you! I get nervous putting out videos like this because I don't want to alienate beginners. But at the same time I want to grow and show what I'm currently doing. I'm glad I could help you! Clear skies my friend!

[@user-lq1bn9of7e]

I watched the video, it helped me a lot. May I ask for a milky way tutorial video using siril?

[@deltaastrophotography]

I've never tried that before. I'll look into it!

[@user-lq1bn9of7e]

@@deltaastrophotography thankyou~

[@Outdoorastro]

Amazing video as always! I absolutely love your workflow videos. Soooo helpful for a beginner. Where did you get that dslr adapter? All the ones i can find are garbage

[@Oamaruastro]

Very nice video! Curious about where you found a dummy battery for Canon that plugs into a 5v outlet on the Pegasus; all of mine are USB powered.

[@deltaastrophotography]

You can get them directly from Pegasus Astro. Just Google Pegasus Battery Coupler.

[@bakerfx4968]

Great video sir! Love the final image Theoretically if you were to have a big enough dew heater to go over the whole image train or at least the entire scope, would that limit the amount that focus drifts with temperature changes?

[@mikehardy8247]

Get an EAF.

[@bakerfx4968]

@@mikehardy8247 I would need many other upgrades before even thinking of EAF lol

[@andesastro]

Hey Walt badass work like always. I found your calibration frames workflow to be super useful as I too run with a DSLR & asiair setup and I was unsure how to do them properly. One thing I do differently is that I usually set my guide setup as if it was the main, so I don’t waste my DSLRs shutter for the PA routine and also files are smaller and faster to transfer to the iPad every refresh you take. Once it’s done I switch them back to main & guide as it should. Thanks again for the amazing content. PS: which USB powered dew heater would you recommend for a small guide scope? Also, would you know if it’s possible to upload a photo to the asiair in case we want to plate solve and GoTo an older frame we might’ve deleted?

[@deltaastrophotography]

Nice tip! I'll try that next time I do a PA with the AIR. As for the dew heater, I had a hard time finding what I needed on my own so I called OPT and asked them what I needed. They suggested a good one for me. Sadly they are closed. You could try calling High Point Scientific or Agena Astro and see if they can recommend one. On the thumb drive I use in my ASIAIR I have a folder I created called "reference frames." I keep old light frames in there that I might want to revisit someday.

[@mikehardy8247]

I saw the Reference Frame folder. I assume you just create it on PC, and populate? Is there a way to do file management strictly with asiair? Awsome!

[@mschmalenbach]

Another great video, thanks! One question - where did you get the adapter you installed your filter in to? Is it part of the Radian 61 or a 3rd party product for Canon DSLRs? I’m looking for something similar for my T7i.

[@deltaastrophotography]

If you are talking about the L-Enhance filter, it screws into part of the telescope. A lot of small refractors made for astrophotography have a place to screw in a 2" filter.

[@mschmalenbach]

@@deltaastrophotography thanks Walt - that all makes sense. Clear skies!

[@DS-iu9ut]

Always Entertaining and informative, what was the background music at 10:24?

[@deltaastrophotography]

Ganymede by Yehezkel Raz.

[@DS-iu9ut]

@@deltaastrophotography Thanks

[@dres.kunkel7734]

Hi Walt - fantastic chanel. My English is quite good, but since youre talking soooo fast, i can´t follow you sometimes. Could you post an equipment list like in your "top ten" video? cheers doc

[@kevinashley478]

Hey Walt. Quick question...I took some images the other night. Will I need to do anything in my processing to get rid of the red colorcast? My camera has an Ha mod.

[@DS-iu9ut]

I have walking noise and band noise with my Canon T3i, I'm using a iOptronSkyguider Pro. Since I can't dither in DEC, I was wondering what is the dithering distance setting you are using, since your using a Canon dslr? Also in PHD2 how do you keep the guide star from eventually drifting out the Star profile box, in my case it takes about 30 minutes. I hope my questions make sense. Thanks

[@deltaastrophotography]

I never used to use dither with a star tracker because my target would slowly drift out of center throughout the night. But as I'm getting better at balancing in RA and Dec and on polar alignment, things are staying perfectly centered and I'm going to have to start trying dithering.

[@DS-iu9ut]

@@deltaastrophotography Thanks, my tracking was always slightly off and never really had any trouble, I started trying to get tighter polar alignment when using a L-enhance filter and lot longer exposure times and that's when the fun started. Presently I have APT dither set at 10 and slightly setting my polar alignment off. Now if I can just get rid of the banding caused by my canon dslr.

[@rimantasri4578]

Why would you point your scope directly upwards the sky before taking flats? I've heard that by changing the position of the scope after shooting makes the flats unusable because the dust on the sensor of the camera could've been moved. Isn't that right?

[@DarkTrapStudio]

Is that your music at 5:22 ?

[@kevinashley478]

Hey there Walt. Just curious.... Are you having as much shit weather as I am here in North Carolina? I swear to God, I honestly don't think I have had a clear night in over 2 months. Not one. I finally got my camera back from being modded, and I have yet to get a single image. All my apps said I would have a clear-ish night a few nights ago. I get out there, and I couldn't even see Polaris to polar align. Thank you for another video... at least I can live vicariously through you.

[@deltaastrophotography]

I had a few good night's a week or two ago around the time I filmed this video. And that was it. It's been the cloudiest summer I can remember 😭

[@kevinashley478]

@@deltaastrophotography ikr!!! I have been kicking dirt for 45 years, and 40 of those have been in NC. I can't remember a summer where there is NO clear nights. I have been through some with multiple hurricanes and tropical storms, but nothing this constant. Usually it's hot humid all day, you get some thunderstorms between 4-6pm and then it's pretty clear at night, though it's still hot and humid. I just hope that the 2 weeks of fall and the 2-3 months of winter will be fairly good weather. I have also noticed a trend, and I wonder if you or anyone else has noticed it too. I'm not a big believer in the whole climate change theory, but I have noticed that it seems like the seasons are shifting. This year we were still getting freeze warning in May!! But it seems that it is staying hotter later into the year but it's also staying colder longer. Used to, weather started getting fall-like around the end of September to early October. Now, I'm sweating during Thanksgiving. But it also used to start the spring warming around the end of March to early April, but lately it's been cold right through to May. Have you noticed the changing season times??

[@kevinashley478]

@@deltaastrophotography BTW, I just got a room in Conway, Arkansas for the solar eclipse in April...that shit is $540 a freaking NIGHT!! The lady there told me that farmers are even renting out their land to RV folks. Are you gonna try to see it?

[@deltaastrophotography]

@@kevinashley478 Hell yeah! I'll probably just find a place to go camping so I don't have to pay for a hotel 😂

[@kevinashley478]

Lol, that would be best. I took my girls to see the one in 2017, so this time I'm taking my wife, and maybe my mom. There won't be another one till 2044.

[@groundhoppingwlkp3622]

Two questions. You have great mount for so small telescope. So how long exposures you can get? 10 mins? Second one - why still you use 700D, even for narrowband and not something like ASI 1600 MM or something similar?

[@deltaastrophotography]

Very good questions! I have many lenses and telescopes that I use with that mount including a C11. My favorite is the Radian 61. I've done a test with five minute exposures and it worked just fine! I tend to stick to three-minute exposures though because a gust of wind or a stray cat rubbing against my mount can ruin a very long exposure. Since clear nights are rare I would rather throw away a three minute expose than a five or ten minute one. This may change if I ever get an observatory. I would very much like to upgrade my camera to something like a 1600 MM but at the moment I can't afford it. All my extra money these days goes into pay off debt, saving for a new vehicle, and traveling.

[@groundhoppingwlkp3622]

@@deltaastrophotography C11 on EQ6R makes sense😅 BTW - how this mount handles with that giant?

[@MrSkySharks]

Bro, was that a Steam Deck you were using to control your rig?

[@deltaastrophotography]

Ha! Nah just a Samsung tablet in a black leather case.

[@AstroDanno]

How are those mosquitos over there? 😂

[@carollines7994]

Coffee???

[@robertgrenader858]

Barbara's just don't understand, do they?

[@sHuRuLuNi]

The terrible filter coffee, ugh ...