Light Pollution Effects on ANDROMEDA GALAXY Observations with Same Settings (Bortle 4 vs Bortle 9)

If one want to see the result, just jump to the end.

Since the beginning of my astrophotography hobby, I have always been curious about how light pollution affects astrophotography. This summer, I had the chance to visit Mt. Fuji and capture some astro-data, specifically the Andromeda galaxy (M31). The area around Mt. Fuji has a Bortle class of about 4, which may not seem ideal. However, the high altitude, approximately 3,100 meters, significantly reduces atmospheric interference, making the true Bortle class much lower.

I compared this data with images I captured in the heart of Tokyo, a heavily light-polluted Bortle class 9 zone. What I discovered was that, when the total exposure time was kept the same, the results in the Bortle 9 zone were noticeably worse. To improve the quality, I decided to increase the exposure time in the Bortle 9 zone to one hour, as opposed to just 12 minutes in the Bortle 4 zone. Even with this adjustment, the less light-polluted data still outperformed the heavily polluted area.

This experience highlights the importance of choosing the right location for astrophotography. It also underscores the significance of not only preserving our environment but also protecting our night sky.

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Settle in, relax, and enjoy the wonder of the deep sky imaging processing as it is designed without spoken commentary, allowing you to immerse yourself fully in beauty of our universe.
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- - - Table of Contents - - -
00:00 - Title
00:05 - Illustration of light pollution effects
00:34 - Camera settings
00:41 - Location of Bortle class 9 zone
01:31 - Location of Bortle class 4 zone
01:51 - Image process of the data from Bortle class 4 zone
08:24 - Image process of the data from Bortle class 9 zone
12:58 - Final comparison
14:49 - Conclusions
15:01 - Final comparison picture

#pollution #lightpollution #comparisonvideo #andromedagalaxy #m31 #galaxy #siril #imageprocessing #universe #deepskyimaging #astrophotography #relaxing #tutorial #keynote
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