Flat Boxes
Flatbox
One of the fundamental basics of astrophotography is taking calibration frames. Calibration frames are necessary to get the most out of your hard earned data. The one calibration frame that typically scares off the beginning imager is the flat frame. That is because it is a frame that must be exposed carefully to the right brightness and needs a very evenly distributed light source to accomplish the task. Many imagers, even veteran imagers, tend to struggle to get their flats working well due to this requirement. My answer to this has been to design custom flat boxes that fit on the end of my telescopes. With my diffusion layers and el panel seated well in a custom box, I can confidently expose for a certain length of time on each filter and repeatedly get a flat that I know will calibrate my frames properly.
