Blog
Notes from the archive
Practical writing about astrophotography archives, integration time, FITS metadata, and getting more out of the data you've already captured.
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2026-05-19 · 9 min read
FITS headers every astrophotographer should know
The FITS header fields that matter: OBJECT, FILTER, EXPTIME, DATE-OBS, and the supporting metadata that turns sub-frames into a queryable archive. With a reference table and viewing tools.
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2026-05-19 · 8 min read
NINA vs SGP vs APT: how each tracks integration time
NINA, Sequence Generator Pro, and APT each track integration time differently. Here's how their reports differ — and how reading FITS headers gives you a unified ledger across all three.
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2026-05-19 · 7 min read
Total integration time per target across multiple sessions
How to add up total integration time per target across many imaging sessions: the manual approaches, where each breaks down, and a metadata-first answer that holds up over years.
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2026-05-19 · 7 min read
Astrophotography archive folder structure
Date-first and target-first folder layouts each have trade-offs. What each is good at, when to switch, and how to make either layout survive years of imaging without breaking everything.
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2026-05-19 · 6 min read
How much time should you spend imaging M31?
M31 (Andromeda) is bright, forgiving, and large. A practical guide to recommended hours per filter, the signal-to-noise math, and when more integration stops helping.
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2026-05-13 · 8 min read
How to count your astrophotography integration time
Most imagers can't tell you how many hours they've spent on M31 without going folder-by-folder. Here's why the question is so much harder than it sounds, what the manual approaches look like, and a metadata-first approach that scales to multi-year archives.