Mattscar

I've done another pass at it and gone for a much more softly softly approach, I feel this is quite abit better and probably the one we're going to get printed out

Hi everyone

While on my honeymoon in Scotland a couple of months back my wife suggested I take a picture of the Plough while we were out one night. I took a couple of shots, got back to the hotel room to review on my ipad and found a green glow in the corner. After a little bit of thinking (I was 3 whiskeys in by this point) I realised I had accidentally photographed the northern lights. Going back outside to take a couple more wasn't an option as the weather had changed and the next night was clouded over. This means I only actually had two pictures I could attempt to process.

Having never processed much like this before (my previous asto pics have been taken using my scope and a webcam/afocal iphone) I'm a little unsure if I've over-processed it and am now completely doubting if it looks good or not. I've attaached the before and after versions here and I'm looking for any advice or reassurance that Im atleast going in the right direction.

Obviously, in an ideal world, I would have realised what I was doing at the time and attempted to get a better framed version or done several exposures to create a composite image. But as it is, this is what I have to work with and really would like to make it look as good as possible as a souvenir from our honeymoon. Im aware there is a lot of noise in the originals as the ISO was set very high and I didn't take any darks (whiskey and love can make you make silly photography choices!)

(Please note the unedited version is a screenshot taken from lightroom as Im unaware of a way to put CR2 files in here)

Ooo that looks a good idea, thanks very much!

I’m looking to upgrade the tripod on my mount as the one supplied isn’t very sturdy and the screw in accessory tray has gone past being useful anymore. I’m looking at this from FLO

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/alt-azimuth/sky-watcher-38-stainless-steel-tripod.html
but wondering if this will accept the AZ amount I already have as it seems to have a weird fixing (picture attached)

Any thoughts / ideas more than welcome

Im just going to sob in the corner with my lowly 130p. No DS for me. Never have I yearned for two letters more

Ever since these kind of pages have started appearing on social media, alot more of my friends have started paying attention to the kind of content they post and started talking to me about it, so as far as Im concerned they are a great way of quickly disseminating information out to people. 

Didn't know she did a child friendly one aswell as Iv been asked by some people to find a good science but not overly complicated one to follow

It isnt a specific astro page. She posts all kinds of interesting science tidbits and the latest news.

The facebook page I saw it on (IFLS I think) said everything was in scale with the exception of the Milky Way in the background. 

Skies the Limit and FLO have both been brilliant with me. When I ordered my LP filter from FLO it arrived and was the 2inch version, not the 1.25 but within 5 mins of me ringing them up they had sent out a replacement and the means to send the 2inch back via freepost.

Apologies in advance for asking what will inevitably be a stupid question or several.

Theres no such thing as a stupid question, only a stupid answer

Once you reach 50 posts you get access to the classifieds

Matt

Theres a thread here all about why the limits on editing and classifieds are the way they are that should answer most of your questions

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/184154-where-can-i-buy-second-hand/

Thanks for that, Iv already got myself plans of the lunar 100, but I'll definatley look into astroplanner as my handwritten notes are quite hard to read.

As someone who has just bought a scope for the first time and was wondering if I would regret not buying a GOTO scope, thanks very much for this Kind of re-assures me a little bit for just buying a mount that can track and not going the whole hog first time out.

Brilliant research into something Iv been looking at myself. If there is any way someone could turn this into either a PDF or excell that would be great.

Forgive my noob ignorance, but astroplanner? What is this thing of which I feel I should know about?

Iv only been here for a day and have one question/suggestion/musing as it were but Im sure its in place for a reason.

Im surmising that to post in the 'tell us about yourselves' thread and start a new topic introducing yourself, you need to have already posted on a couple of things and been here for a day or so. I couldnt spot this rule exactly in the welcome pages but from the others that you have (that are all very sensible I might add) Im guessing thats the case.

In my specific case, if what I have guessed turns out to be true, this is my second post so beware of another newbie introduction incoming!

This was the first thing I read on this forum and proved really useful so thanks very much!

Id always thought about using peripheral vision and now I have something to back that up with.

Also - telescope tapping, genius idea