M51 improvement on my first efforts

[Quatermass]

Last night was a great night it would have been better if I had remembered to set my camera to RAW format instead of stupid JPEG grrrrr I hate it when I do that

So all my data was in JPG format and I had to redo all my darks and flats this morning to be able to stack them.

Still I was pleased that I have improved on my first efforts on this target by using Backyard EOS to hone down my focusing and improve my framing.

Also really helps to see clearly what is going on instead of struggling looking at the tiny screen of my Cannon 350D all the time. Now I have a nice big view of it on my laptop and although I hated the idea of using a laptop I know feel very comfortable using it.

Any way enough gab..

Still getting a faint strange sort of blocky gradiant thingy on the posted images which I am not seeing on my photoshop images on my pc? not sure what that is.

And heres was my first effort on m51 last year so you can see the above one is much improved I feel.

Looking back on what is making the improvements I think it is down to just 2 things. Firstly a nice dark sky the first one I took was just above my neighbours conseratory and over the the north where the street light glow away like mad. And secondly using the laptop and Backyard EOS to acheive a much more accurate focus with has made me realize just how badly out of focus my shots were. Peering at the tiny screen on the back of the Cannon 350d is a rubbish way to achieve a good focus. Having the Bahtinov mask on and being able to zoom right in on the shot and look really closely at the diffraction spikes of the mask is 100% better way to focus then trying to use the display screen on the Canon 350.

In fact so much so that last night after I had moved the scope a tad while cleaning some dew of the front mirror I was able to see straight away that my focus was out. I am convinced this is making for much better details in the dust lanes of the galaxys now.

All I have to do now is remember to check my images are in RAW format before I start taking an hours worth of data, DUH! still kicking myself over that..

[eddy]

Ive done that twice this week as well QM, so i make sure now its set to RAW before i start anything, im still waiting for my mask to turn up, but my guiding should be sorted tomorrow once my interface comes but i guess guiding is useless without good focus lol

I had a go at M51 and resembles yours from last year, i just hope that in 12 months my images have improved to the same level as yours now

Good job QM

[Quatermass]

Thank you Eddy hope you get your mask soon mate. I am still not happy with them I keep getting a horrible blockyness to them when I save them and its driving me nuts Im sure its something to do with compression of the image as they look fine before I save them as JPG files. You can just see this blockyness in the bottom corner its more pronounced if you just take a look at the channels in photoshop very frustrating. When I start the processing its not there and the final image I am about to save looks good then when I save it as JPEG and post it on here I can see the annoying faint blockyness again.. Curse of the Blockyness..

Sigh any way.. Focusing correctly has made a big difference to my dust lanes I must have been doing all my past images with rubbish focusing amazed I got away with it lol.

Do you use a laptop with your Canon by the way?

[eddy]

Yeah i use Backyard EOS with laptop works a treat to be fair, and i focus as best as i can for the time being, its not grossly bad but certainly not that good lol (see attachment of recent images)

With regard the blockyness, do you save your JPG's as 16bit or 8bit? Try 8bit and see if you get any improvement, if its already 8bit, try 16bit lol

I save all mine as 8bit and not really had much issue with them, granted my images arent anywhere close to your quality but hoping my guiding and focus will aid that somewhat!

The images below are from this week

[JohnC64]

Hi QM,

The save routine for creating a JPEG will create the image with a quality level. I know that in Nebulocity, it defaults to 80% but I can set the quality back up to 100% during saving. Guessing that there must be a similar dialog in Photoshop so that the quality can be increased whan save As is selected. It will result in a larger file size but should be less blocky

Nice improvement there BTW

Cheers John

[Quatermass]

Yeah i use Backyard EOS with laptop works a treat to be fair, and i focus as best as i can for the time being, its not grossly bad but certainly not that good lol (see attachment of recent images)

With regard the blockyness, do you save your JPG's as 16bit or 8bit? Try 8bit and see if you get any improvement, if its already 8bit, try 16bit lol

I save all mine as 8bit and not really had much issue with them, granted my images arent anywhere close to your quality but hoping my guiding and focus will aid that somewhat!

The images below are from this week

Thanks Eddy I do save as 16 bit jpegs but somewhere along the line I am getting a blocky effect must be the way I am saving them after processing. Nice images mate that ed 80 is a cool telescope hope to get my focal reducer soon. If your in need of mask cut a simple Y shape out and stick in front of your dew shield on the ed80 it work really well an old cereal box would do just cut a big Y out and stick it on the front.

[Quatermass]

Hi QM,

The save routine for creating a JPEG will create the image with a quality level. I know that in Nebulocity, it defaults to 80% but I can set the quality back up to 100% during saving. Guessing that there must be a similar dialog in Photoshop so that the quality can be increased whan save As is selected. It will result in a larger file size but should be less blocky

Nice improvement there BTW

Cheers John

Thanks John I am still looking at what I am doing to avoid this dreaded blockyness I normally just save them as jpegs then up load them to my picassa web abum then copy the url from there to post mybe this is lossing me some data along the way

Spent so long on processing methods I have neglected to think about how I am saving the images and the resolution Im using.

Tsk tsk

I was please to have got more detail on the dust lanes on M51 my first one was well shabby compared to this latest one and my focusing methods were rubbish boy I have a lot to learn

[eddy]

QM whats the 'y' do? lol i know how a Bahtinov mask works, but not a Y mask....?

Thanks for suggestion will give it a whizz!

[Gina]

I was please to have got more detail on the dust lanes on M51 my first one was well shabby compared to this latest one and my focusing methods were rubbish boy I have a lot to learn

You're way ahead of me - I have even more to learn - much more It would help if I could actually get M51 in the frame!! I've been given a few things I can try to improve things. More practice tonight hopefully

[Quatermass]

QM whats the 'y' do? lol i know how a Bahtinov mask works, but not a Y mask....?

Thanks for suggestion will give it a whizz!

Check this out Eddy..

Star Gazing: Good by Bahtinov hello the Lord mask amen!

[Quatermass]

You're way ahead of me - I have even more to learn - much more It would help if I could actually get M51 in the frame!! I've been given a few things I can try to improve things. More practice tonight hopefully

We never stop learning thats half the fun I guess Gina. Do you uses a laptop if so have a read of this it is how I go about framing and focusing now and its much much better.

Star Gazing: Review of Backyard EOS for framing and focusing your images

[eddy]

QM > Thanks for the link will be making one this evening out of a shredded wheat box. When focussing, is it the same as the bahtinov? ie. Diffraction spikes?

Many thanks

[Quatermass]

QM > Thanks for the link will be making one this evening out of a shredded wheat box. When focussing, is it the same as the bahtinov? ie. Diffraction spikes?

Many thanks

Yep just the same but a hundred time faster to cut out and make

Make sure you put it on the front of the dew shield as in my pictures for it to work well. A thin Y produces longer spikes a fat Y produces shorter stubby ones.

[eddy]

Ok cool and are the measurements strict? ie. 20degrees on the top of the y?

[Quatermass]

Not too strict, it will work if its a good Y shape with crisp edges beats cutting out a Bahtinov Mask for sure.

[eddy]

Yeah deffo, i did try making a bahtinov, i managed about 15 of the slits, then on the 16th, i ripped it, which tore my patience and it all went in the bin and ordered one for my WO Zenithstar80, which is WAY too small for the starwave ED80 so ill be making 1 blue peter style this evening

Thanks QM (Whats your name btw? i feel rude referring you as QM) unless thats your preference?

[Quatermass]

Sorry Eddy, everyone on here calls me QM but my name is Mark I dont mind being called QM at all though

[Gina]

We never stop learning thats half the fun I guess Gina. Do you uses a laptop if so have a read of this it is how I go about framing and focusing now and its much much better.

Star Gazing: Review of Backyard EOS for framing and focusing your images

I use APT which I've now paid for I also use EOS Utilities which is very good. Thanks for the link anyway - I might check out BYEOS

[Quatermass]

Your welcome Gina, I tried APT but which was very good but just found Backyard eos a little easier to use with its layout design. One things for sure it beats looking at that tiny screen the camera.

[Digz]

Thats a great improvement. Like you I have just realised what a huge difference getting accurate focus can make!

Keep going!!

[Gina]

I focussed on the craters of the moon then tried the Asimov mask and it was spot on

[Quatermass]

Thats a great improvement. Like you I have just realised what a huge difference getting accurate focus can make!

Keep going!!

Cheers Digz

Dont it just! :eek:Since using the laptop I have realized just how out of focus my early stuff must have been and how many times I knocked it out of focus as well without knowing, amazing difference

[Quatermass]

Mr Blobby is out again think I will have rest next week and just do some lunar observing think I have got Galaxy indigestion

[Quatermass]

Reworked this one a bit more and got rid of the blocky artifacts, forever tweaking us astrophotographers bit better now I feel..

[eddy]

QM > Off topic, quick question.

On your handset, when guiding, what speed do you have it set to?

ie.

8x

4x

2x

Many thanks