My first attempt at dso imaging - Ring Nebula

[Bried]

Well, this is my first ever attempt at imaging other than planetary with a web cam. I used a canon 300D along with the equipment listed in my signature. I took 8 lights at 60 seconds each, 10 darks and 10 bias frames. I ran them through deep sky stacker and got this. To be honest, I can't really tell if there if this image is an improvement over any of the individual files. If anything, the stacked image appeared to come out darker! Is this normally the case?

Brian

[MidnightSun]

Very nice ring.....A small target but you got a nice size out of it. DSS is a strange animal sometimes, usually some post-

processing is necessary to really bring them out.

[Jannis]

Very nice picture there. And good colors! A bir more processing could probably improve it, but absolutely a very good first attempt!

[Dave]

Yes, that is normal. You need to tweak it to get the best of the images.

I had a very quick adjustment of levels and curves for you to bring out more.

Just gone a little bit too far, but does need a lot more data.

Well done. Keep it up.

[RogerTheDodger]

Nice image, you even got the central star.

[Stargazing_Cliff]

That is really good well done for first go at DSO.

[squeaky]

here's my quick play using PSP...

[Chris]

lovely M57 after some levels and curves:)

[Gina]

Nice image - great first attempt - well done

[squeaky]

Yep. All the info is there. A bit of work on processing (better than mine) should bring it out nicely.

I'm still jealous. GREEN with envy

[Bried]

Thanks everyone for the kind comments. I'm very impressed with tweaking that Dave and Squeaky have done! That's amazing and from the jpeg that I converted it to to put on this this forum!

I know what I can aim for now with regard to processing. I need to get practising this skill a little more.

I took the image from a place called shell island in Wales, where I went at the weekend. The skies are pretty dark but I don't get the opportunity to go there very often. It was quite coudy too but know I've learnt that you don't need perfectly clear skies for imaging. Just wait for the breaks to appear and then snap away!

RIght, I'm gonna go and find some tutorials on processing now. Thanks!

[Gina]

It's quite amazing what can be done in the processing - I'm learning those skills myself It takes patience but the results can be very rewarding - good luck

[Bried]

Right, I've been on youtube, checked out a tutorial on dso tweaking in photoshop. Here's my latest attempt to bring out a bit more detail. I decided not to crop it so much this time too.

[Gina]

That's a lot better - I thought there was detail in there just waiting to be teased out - well done

[squeaky]

Woo Hoo! Way to go!

[morimarty]

I think that is a really good effort for your first DSO Brian, M57 is a very small PN and you have captured a fair bit of detail in this image!

[paul schofield]

Very nice image, great detail and central star, well done.

[Dave]

See you are making good progress.

That's what it's all about.

[Quatermass]

Great first dso and so many more out there to capture as well if you want some more tuts check out this lot

http://youtu.be/Ykz1ey6NZ7Q

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very good first attempt!

[Chris]

Good rework!, and I like the wider field view:)