feverdreamer1

Hi Thanks for the info you provide. I think I will be getting it. It will be an improvement from my other crappy lens. I've heard prime lenses are better than zoom ones. Thanks for your reply and help, Clear skies!

[Didnt know where to put this, mods feel free to move this to another section :)] Does anybody have any experience with the lens? Is it a good lens for astro? Can get one at a good price (35€) second hand, in theory mint condition, but has been used. Any advice is hugely appreciated. Thanks and clear skies!

Yeah, temperature was running quite hot, about 41 degrees, checked with magic lantern. Thank you very much for the subs, they're really helpful. Clear skies and keep up the great work!

Thank you for your comments, I installed PS today and it does look much more powerful, looking forward to install some plugins too, as I've heard they make wonders. You're right, cloudy nights dont come quite often, although the main problem for me is the LP, another problem is dew, I have to check it every 10 -15 min, and I found this out by experience (had to throw away 60 x 1.5 minutes lights) Clear skies!

I've installed PS and definitely will give it another shot later today because it does look cloudy. I've been toying around with it for a while and its definitely more powerful than GIMP. Thanks for the comments.

Wow, this shows how much I have left to learn in post processing. Amazing results man!

Thanks Marvin for such kind words, really appreciate it Clear skies!

Added some data to M31 and now I'm quite happy with it. Bear in mind this is one of my firsts DSO, so post processing isnt the best. This was 45 x 90", total integration of about 1 hour and 7 min calibrated with 7 darks and 15 bias. Equipment was canon T2i, 55-250mm at 250mm f/6.3 and sky watcher star adventurer mount The image was cropped, stacked in DSS and processed entirely in GIMP using curves and levels mainly Any advice is really appreciated and welcome. Also, if anyone wants to have a go at it here is the drive link to the tiff file, let me know how it goes! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ybRVRuiwsC2wqXMd4z8f5tQVAkCQaP9x/view?usp=drivesdk

Will try for sure then tonight!

Yeah, I've seen that tutorial and learnt quite a lot from it. Also have seen the galaxy processing workflow of nebula photos. Do you know of any more astro processing tutorials for GIMP? clear skies!

Wow, thats really impressive for your first DSO. I'm going to a bortle 4 this weekend so looking forward to getting rid of all the LP as I live in a bortle 8/9 That's an amazing image, I had to say it again.

Damn, thats a cracking image... spectacular. What was your LP like? Cause you picked up a lot of red for a stock dslr

I was wondering doing NGC7000 but I have a stock dslr. Lens is the kit 55-250. Should I try to image NGC7000? Even with a stock dslr? Thanks for you comments, you provide great information

Thanks for the comments! For stacking, I'm using dss, and then further processing is done in GIMP. Are there any other (preferably free) alternatives to any of these softwares? I've heard of siril, but many astrophotographers I've seen use dss and there are less tutorials on it. Might try it once I'm more experienced, but holding on dss. Might try m101 from my bortle 9 terrace. Should I even bother? Clear skies!

Thanks for the comments! For stacking, I'm using dss, and then further processing is done in GIMP. Are there any other (preferably free) alternatives to any of these softwares? I've heard of siril, but many astrophotographers I've seen use dss and there are less tutorials on it. Might try it once I'm more experienced, but holding on dss. Might try m101 from my bortle 9 terrace. Should I even bother? Clear skies!

Thanks! I definitely will try and add MUCH more data, as this is hardly anything (it's even worse with my awful processing skills hehe)

My first ever DSO, done with a 550D and the SWSA. I know, I know, it's nothing like the M31 images you've seen, but it's a start and I'm really proud of it This was at a bortle 4-5 and 18 minutes of total integration before clouds rolled in and I had to go back home. Any tips are really welcomed. Thanks!

Wow, I've got a 550D too and this is just mind blowing. I've got the exact same setup as you (except lens heater) and I've also tried to image M31 but at ISO 1600 I had terrible noise. How did you manage to get rid of so much noise? Also, if you dont mind, could you post a single raw sub? If you dont want to its understandable Amazing image man, congrats. Clear skies!

So should subs be almost black before stacking? What if they actually show the object? Will it affect negatively? I'm quite new to AP so sorry for dumb questions Thanks for the answer!

Thought I'd update this thread and comment on how it went. I did about 30 pics on the veils and after not seeing anything on the subs I decided to give up on it. I'll probably try stacking it and see how it goes. On the bright side, i learnt quite a lot and got good shots on M31! Clear skies

Thanks for the info you provide, I will definitely give it a shot. Will try and go for about an hour of data (1 min exposures) at 250mm Clear skies!

Regarding shooting NGC7000 and veil nebulas with a stock canon 550D, sturdy tripod, sky watcher star adventurer and bortle 8. No filters or modifications, but cygnus is at the zenith these days for me and thought it would be interesting to try and shoot it. Thanks in advance and clear skies!

Im guessing you dont own a tracker. You should first get a hold of shooting milky way/wide field before starting telephoto and nebulae/gaalxy shooting. It helps a lot to have some previous AP experience even if it is wide field before entering the telephoto area. If you're indeed going to get a tracker (I read that you're between the sw and the ioptron) I reccomend you get the sky watcher star adventurer, it's cheaper, and if you get the pro pack it comes with a counterweight kit as well as the wedge, only downside is that it's a bit bulkier than the iOptron, but its price is much more reasonable. You're gonna love this hobby. Clear skies and hope this helped!

Visual will be extremely helpful when you get a gear for AP, it means spending less time on stellar maps or apps like Stellarium. Also, it's just really fun to picture something you know is there (but cannot see) and see it pop up in the camera. Simply extraordinary. The image was a stack of about 10 images of 25 seconds each at f/3.5 and ISO 1600, I think. It was very lightly processed, but I plan on working on it again. Hope this helps, Clear skies!

Another 550D here! I'm too a newbie in AP. I have some experience in photography and astronomy, but astrophotography is like learning a whole new subject. This forum will provide you very good information on any question you might have. As for the modding part, I've not done mine yet, as I plan to use it for daylight photography too, but I'm sure someone will point you in the right direction. The only decent photo I've managed for the moment (between recent pandemic and clouds I sadly haven't got much time to spare)is a wide field of the milky way at 18mm in a bortle 5 (closer to 4 than to 6): The moon pic I attach is from a bortle 7 zone, that's why it's kinda washed out (I think, not really sure) Any advice from more experienced users is much appreciated.