tmarkuk

Thanks for all the kind comments regarding my first DSO attempt on M51 in my previous thread, it gave me a real boost in confidence to go out and try something else! So last night whilst I happened to be up late I popped my head out and saw the skies had cleared and they kindly stayed that way all night. I thought I'd have a go at a globular and M13 was well positioned. I also managed to pick up NGC6207 which was a bonus and a satellite which I guess I should remove but kind of like for added interest. This image is composed of : 20 x 1.5 minute light frames 20 x 1.5 minute dark frames 20 light frames using the home made light box (made since my last session). 20 dark bias frames. Taken with : Canon EOS 1000D unmodified at prime focus Orion Options 250mm F4.8 Reflector Skywatcher Light Pollution filter Vixen Sphinx SX Mount 3 cups of tea. I'm still learning, but I think it came out OK. Reducing noise is going to have to be my next goal. Any comments and advice greatly appreciated. edit... One day I'll post an image here and get it right first time...

That's the one yes, though at least you know it's not going to move any time soon. I've spoken with Orion about the new ones and they will sell you one and an upgraded multipoint primary mirror cell. Might make a nice upgrade for an older tube at some point.

The mount is a Vixen Sphinx SX, bought second hand from Tiny off this forum. I found a never ending list of horror stories about the mount on it's yahoo user group after getting it, but with a bit of adjustment to the worm meshes and a decent amount of time spent on alignment it's performing really well. It's housed in a roll off roof shed in the garden on an improvised pier.

A big thank you to Steppenwolf for this : I'll keep my original up there, but if I need a quick show of the advantage of good processing, there it is. I'm going to have to try and replicate that with the original data now!

Hopefully the image is there now... This is my first thread here, and my first proper attempt at a deep sky image. I went with M51 as it's in the right place and always spectacular. The equipment : Old Orion Optics 250mm F4.8 Europa Reflector Skywatcher Light Pollution Filter Canon EOS 1000D ISO 1600 23 x 3 minute unguided exposures + 10 dark frames Stacked in DSS and badly post processed in photoshop For a first real attempt I'm pretty happy with it, though it clearly has a few problems. I need to learn more about processing to darken it down a bit and improve the contrast. I also really need to learn about flat field frames by the look of it. Also I missed a setting in DSS so it came out in grayscale which wasn't the intended result, I believe I need to set the bayer matrix settings in the FITs menu. Anyway, all pointers, tips and critisism gratefully received!

Hi all, I'm also working / battling with Hampshire County Council over a light covering my back garden. It had been broken for over a year and then they kindly went and fixed it. I could give them a list of things that I would actually like fixing, but no, they pick the one thing I'm happy is broken! Some progress though as this morning I received a letter kindly letting me know that they can fit a shield, provided I pay them £91.92 for it. This seems a bit steep, has anyone else been charged for this service and at what cost? I'll need some comparisons in order to argue my side. My biggest draw back is that the light has been there longer than I've been in the house, makes it a little harder to make my case.