I’ve been out of the game for a while, and getting back into it hasn’t been easy. There’s a lot to know and understand when it comes to getting successful astrophotography images. And being the type of person who enjoys the process — and goes down every rabbit hole I can find chasing random improvements that probably should be held off until I have a semblance of a working rig — my path to that first image took many failed nights.

I made things harder on myself by insisting I use the StellarMate software on a Raspberry Pi instead of my tried-and-true laptop, which I know I got working in the past. But running the rig through an app has always been a goal of mine — so I could easily do it from the couch or in bed. So, I figured if I’m going to get started again, I might as well bite the bullet and learn how this works. Long story short, StellarMate did work — but it fought me the whole way. Most of that was my fault. Some of it was definitely theirs.

We had a few rainy days, and I took advantage of them: brought the scope inside and figured out how to take calibration frames. That’s something I didn’t really do much of in the past. But man, did they make a huge difference.

I was able to get three hours of light on M101 and I’m very happy with the results. Don’t get me wrong — my focus could still use a lot of work, and I honestly don’t even know if my tracking was working or if it was just doing its basic sidereal movement. But at the end of the day, I have an image, and it’s exciting. I look at it and think of so many ways — mainly in my own process — that I can improve.

M101