I have an Edge HD8 at f10 and an ASI294MM with filters and wheel imaging in a bortle 4/5 area. I mostly image from NE to S as this area has little to no light pollution to contend with and so I tend to expose from 2-30 minutes depending on filter so that I can pull out the faintest details possible for my setup. I tend to blow out the core of several stars with this method and end up with nicely colored edges and white centers. I plan on capturing short exposure data to retain the dynamic range and would like to know the best workflow to integrate the short and long exposure data together.
Hi Jonathan @minroadkill,
The best way then would be to use the star shape for weights 😉
6) Integrate, disable automatic integration, set it to average and choose the star shape for weights.
The data with shorter exposures should have smaller and better stars and those frames will have more weight then when compared to equal weights. In that way, the resulting integration will have better stars and less saturated colors. Best would be to simply experiment with different weights to see what happens and what in the end pleases you most 😉
Mabula
