M13 My very first astro image

[DaveGarland]

Ok, as the title says! This is my very first go. I used a Skywatcher 200p EQ5 synscan (unguided) with a Cannon 1100D

The pic is 13 x 30 second lights and 5 x darks at 800 ISO.That's it!

Obviously all the help/tips/criticism is welcome as I would like to learn as much as I can.

I also tried taking M27 with the same settings but at 45 second exposures through a 2 x Barlow but I just didn't get any detail to use. I would also like advice on settings for M27 as I would live another go.

Dave.

[WaveSoarer]

Dave

It looks really great.

Dave

[Chris]

Congrats on your first image Dave, its a cracker for a first go:)

As for advice on M27 I would forget the barlow as it makes your scope f/10 which is a bit on the slow side for 45sec subs to take effect. Instead I would image it wide field at your scopes native f/5 then crop the finished image which will frame M27 more tightly thus make it look bigger. When cropping in close, focus and tracking will become more critical so get as good polar allignment as you can and use a focusing mask like a Bahinov mask to get pin point stars:)

hth

Chris

p.s. ah I've just seen that your using a 1100D, these have great signal to noise for a DSLR, so you might want to give ISO 1600 ago:)

[DaveGarland]

Thanks guys. Strarfox, thanks for the advice. Yep, I wanted to get in closer but in hindsight I guess I was stretching the light too far. I can't wait for another go, I've got the bug

[morimarty]

Thats a very good start Dave, the propeller is clearly visible. and yes AP is very addictive

[Gina]

Agreed! Excellent start Addictive is right! Be careful that it doesn't take over your entire life Good luck and welcome to the club :)

[Shibby]

Excellent first image! You've nailed the focus and have only slight trailing showing on your stars.

The image would benefit greatly from flats, so it might be worth taking some if you can closely replicate the camera position. You can try using a gradient removal tool after-the-fact but this might not work so well on a globular cluster.

[ollypenrice]

Well done! As has been said, you can't get into Barlows for DS becuase a 2X increases the exposure time needed by 4x and, especially if you are not guiding, that is a no-no.

Flats would help, as Lewis says.

But you have crisp stars and plenty more. I bet there is more star colour in there.

In Ps go into Lab colour mode and split channels. Increase the contrast (in image adjustments) by a monstrous 30 on a and b channel and recombine. This may haul out the star colour.

Olly

[DaveGarland]

I don't have Photo Shop, just Gimp but have had a little play around. To be honest I don't know what I'm doing, I've just been experimenting with various things to see if they look better or worse. In this one I played around with Hue Saturation and Curves but I'd love to bring out some more colour so if anyone can advise me on how to do this with Gimp I'd be delighted.

Dave.