STEP BY STEP
STEP 1
If you want good framing, you need an appropriate lens; we would recommend one that gives you a frame covering 10º along its longest edge. For non full frame DSLRs, a 120mm lens will achieve this. For full frame sensors, a 200mm lens works well. If you don’t have these size lenses, choose one you have that is less than these values.
STEP 2
If you use a lens which gives at least a 10º edge dimension, the V of the Hyades will fit comfortably within the frame. If you place the star HIP 21251 (marked above) at the centre of the frame and align the southern arm of the V so it is more or less parallel to the bottom frame edge, the whole of the Hyades and NGC 1647 should fit in nicely.
STEP 3
One major advantage of imaging bright clusters is the good selection of stars available for focusing. Live view works really well here. At mag. +0.9, Aldebaran is a good choice as is the optical double of Theta1 (e1) and Theta2 (e2) Tauri, which are 1.8º west and slightly south of Aldebaran. Take your time to achieve as accurate a focus as possible.
STEP 4
A deep exposure taken under transparent skies will reveal many faint stars and subtle dust regions; but under average UK skies much of this will be hidden. If using a tracking mount, reduce ISO to around the 200800 mark to retain tonal quality. For fixed setups use an ISO of 800 to 1600. Set the lens to the lowest f/number, then close it by a few stops.
STEP 5
Your maximum exposure length will depend on your setup, tracking accuracy and sky quality. Experiment using exposures of 30 seconds, 60 seconds, etc. Stacking your shots will help reduce noise. For fixed mounts use the 500 rule: the maximum non-trailed exposure is 500 divided by the lens focal length. As ever, use a remote shutter cable.
STEP 6
If you don’t have a tracking mount, you can still obtain interesting shots of the Hyades. One easily achievable shot is to set the camera’s ISO to 400 and the aperture to f/8, and expose for a few minutes. The cluster stars will trail through the frame. Keeping the trails relatively short will help preserve the original shape of the cluster so it remains recognisable.