M51 - 4/08/2007

[peonic]

I'm not entirely pleased with this image - and it took a lot of work to tease any detail from the moon-washed, light polluted subs. But as it was my first real attempt at imaging a galaxy, I'll throw it up here in the hope that I can look back in 6 months and have a chuckle.

40 subsx90s, ISO800, Canon 300D, Celestron C6-SCT, VixenGP, Unguided

Still - it taught me a lot, and I had an awesome night out in the garden to collect the data.

As usual, comments, criticism and pointers appreciated!

Chris

[geppetto]

Chris

That's a nice M51 8)

Still - it taught me a lot

That makes it a very valuable image

[SteveL]

You got more out of that M51 than I did out of my M101 that night. Damn the moon I say....

(Nice image given the conditions btw)

[CELESCOPE]

Nothing wrong with that one Chris,you have a lot of data in there mate , a bit of noise , but this all comes with practice mate

well done

Rog

[peonic]

Nothing wrong with that one Chris,you have a lot of data in there mate , a bit of noise , but this all comes with practice mate

well done

Rog

One of the lessons learned: don't go inside and make a cup of tea whilst taking dark-frames, and then just ASSUME that they got taken.

I only ended up with 4 from an intended 20....

Cheers,

Chris

[centroid]

The important thing Chris, is that you produced a very recognisable image, and gained some valuable knowledge while doing so.

Astroimaging is quite a 'learning curve', and one that we are all still trying to move up.

IMO, the best way to learn, is to get out there and do it, which is exactly what you are doing.

Continue to build on what you have already achieved, and great things will follow.

Dave

[peonic]

Actually Dave, I'm going to disagree with you there slightly.

The IMPORTANT thing is that I had an absolutely brilliant time on Saturday night, and so did my 11 year old son (his first time out with the new kit), and most of this is down to the things I've learnt on these forums, and the inspiration I've gained from looking at images from guys like you, Roger, Steppenwolf and Komrade Klevstov

Keep it up, and so will I!

Chris

[centroid]

I wouldn't argue with that philosophy Chris, to enjoy what your doing is at the 'top of the list'.

Great to hear that your young son is also enjoying the experience too.

The one thing I miss most, is sharing the hobby with my eldest grandson (now 13), who emigrated to Australia last year with his parents

He and I and would spend a lot of time together in the observatory, and his biggest thrill was when I set him up to capture some pictures of the Moon. We printed them off, he took them into school, and was so 'chuffed' to tell his teacher "I took those". The pics were then pinned up in the classroom.

Dave

[steppenwolf]

No denying its M51 and better than my first attempt - a great rung on the learning ladder

[anthony]

A good positve M51 there. Good image scale, there is a colour contrast between the two galaxies, stars are well behaved and its nice to see the detail in the dust lanes. Best of all a great time collecting the data.

As has been said, there is a fair old slope to the learning curve. It doesn't seem to be stopping you though.

Anthony

[Ant]

I love that image.

It is so much better than any of my attempts of M51.

You've got loads of detail there, some things didn't happen as planned?!? - there's always next time.

I'd be happy with that, in 6 months you'll be able to look back and see how much you've improved. You've set yourself quite a banch mark to improve on with that one

Ant

[zhgutas]

I'd say it's a lovely image for a first galaxy, there are certainly loads of detail and colour in there, and I bet all u need is a moonless dark sky Can't wait to see your results then!

Marius