MikeK02048

I know this isn't a big deal for most, and my image is pretty rough.  But I can't tell you how excited I am at my very first astrophotography result!  Thanks for your suggestions.  I just basically played around with Photoshop until I got this result.  I think it may be the best I can get out of my data.

24 minutes ago, Tenor Viol said:

I have that lens (70-200 f/2.8) and this is a single exposure with a Z6 at 200mm... but its 140 seconds (tracked) 

Beautiful image Tenor.  Looks like I have to get a tracking mount to make these type of images.

45 minutes ago, michael8554 said:

I'm afraid there's so little data in your stacked image that stretching it like Davey did is not going to give you anything meaningful.

Can you tell us what your equipment is, and details of your exposures ?

Could be due to Flats robbing all the data in the subs like Davey says.

But I think you're going to have to increase your individual exposure time significantly, as there's a limit to what you can get with hundreds of very short exposures, and this looks like it.

Michael

Until I get something to track the sky, I can't uncrease my exposure length.  Right now, it's just a camera/lens on a tripod.

1 hour ago, Freddie said:

That’s what you would expect!!!   The data is mostly dark so the histo is to the left. You then use levels and curves to stretch the histo to fill across to the right leaving a small gap on the left to avoid clipping the data.

Yes, I've watched countless YouTube vidoes from Astrobackyard, Dylan O'Donnell and others and seen them do it.  But always they have a little room to the left of the data so they can grab the slide to the left and move it right.  I have no room to the left of my data.  All my data is firewalled to the left side of the histogram.

1 hour ago, Alien 13 said:

What software did you use to stack the frames? if it was DSS then contrary to popular belief (have found that using DSS processing is far far better than anything else) use the sliders in that to get a decent image and a final tweek in PS.

Alan

Alan - yes, I used DSS

Here's the stacked image tooth_dr.  It's the first I've ever tried.  And it was done with a Nikon D850 and a 80-200 f2.8 zoom (at 200mm), just on a tripod.  2 sec exposures at f3.6 and ISO 1000.

Andromeda stacked copy.TIF

I'm totally new to astrophotography processing. I stacked my 150 images of Andromeda Galaxy with darks and bias. I imported them into Photoshop, but when I went to stretch them all the data was way on the left, even though I can plainly see the galaxy in each of the light frames. And since it was all against the left, I couldn't use the sliders to stretch the image. Very frustrating. Any suggestions?

I will use it for some direct observation, but my primary focus will be on imaging.

I'm considering buying a Stellarvue SVX102T and a Losmandy GM811G.  Total cost is about $6K.  Primary interest is DSO, mostly nebulae.  Good choice?  Or would you go with different stuff?

Thanks,

Mike

Michael W. - Your images are fantastic!  What does "match the pixel size of the camera to the Nyquist sampling frequency of the scope" mean.  What is a focal reducer and why would I need one?  I'm a photograper, so I understand what a "fast" lens is.  It basically means that the maximum aperture is large, so you can use faster shutter speeds.  But when you say that for DSO, aperture is king, it means to me that you need a larger aperture which means a faster scope.  But then you say for plnetary targets, you need a fast scope.  So I'm confused.

Thanks John.  As I said, I only eliminate products made in China.  I'm happy to consider others.  For example, I hear good things about William Optics made in Taiwan.

Hi all.  I want to get into visual astronomy and astrophotography.  I had a telescope when I was a kid and loved it.  I was this close (my index finger and thumb are about 1/2 inch apart) to buying a nice telescope, and then I had kids and that was that.  It's now 30 years later, and I want to get back into it.  The bad news is that I'm too old to make this a lifelong pursuit.  The good news is that I can afford much more than I could when I was younger.  

I'm primarily interested in deep sky objects, but I also would like my equipment to be capable of solar system astronomy as well.

I have some constraints...I won't buy anything made in China, and I prefer to buy things made in USA.  From all I'm reading, a good quality refractor is the way to go, along with a really good equitorial mount.  For example, I am considering the following setup:

https://www.stellarvue.com/svx102t/

http://www.losmandy.com/gm811g.html

I realize there's a lot more to it than jsut the telescope and mount.  But let's just focus on these for now.  And as I said in the title of this post, I want a setup that I can grow into, as opposed to something I'll outgrow in a few short years.

If you all had about $6-7K to spend on a telescope and mount, what would you do?

Thanks much!  

Mike (in the Boston area)