On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 19:43:41 -0500, Davoud wrote:

Tom Rauschenbach:
From reading this newsgroup I understand that .avu format seems to be the
conventional file format for digital imaging. I usually associate that
format with motion pictures.

That's exactly it. People make motion pictures of solar-system objects,
then they use software such as Astro IIDC, Keith's Image Stacker,
Registax, etc. to select the best frames, which are then combined by
the software to produce a better image than could be obtained with a
single exposure.


That makes a great deal of sense to me. Especially in light of statements
that seem to imply that long exposures aren't really needed for CCD data
collection. Although I have to wonder why there aren't discussions
about readout noise/image. What are the costs and benefits of many short
exposure images over fewer long exposure images ? Of course tracking
issues are an obvious one.