M31 First attempt

[Hawkeye]

Hi All,

I thought I would share my first reallt attempt at imagine a DSO...... Be gentle with me

40- 30 second unguided subs.... using a Nikon D5000 and a SW200P / EQ5 mount.

[andyo]

well done a great first dso did you use any darks or flats

[Mr Flibble]

Nice one.

[ultranova]

Great start , wish mine was as good as that when i first started, and we all have to start somewhere,

Keep at it and look for tips on this great forum, there is hundreds of hours of reading to be had to help you when you first start off.

well done Paul.

[Gina]

Great start

[Hawkeye]

Thank you for the nice comments .......

Yes I did use Darks and Flats, however I was not really sure how to take the flats..

Reading the help files on DSS it says to put a white T shirt over the scope and take photos or a bright light with the camera in AV mode and let it work out the exposure time, however when I did this I was unable to release the shutter

Any advise on how to take 'Flats' with a Nikon would be great......

(Been out getting some shots of the Ring Nebula tonight, so I will see what that comes out tomorrow)

[astrofox]

Good start, wish I was that successful

[Gina]

Good start, wish I was that successful

JJust keep trying - we all started off with rubbishy images. It takes an amazing amount of dedication to get really good images. But with patience and trial and error, plus the great advice you'll get on here, you can do it (if you really want to)

[andyo]

Great start

Hi I am no expert at taking flats,I use backyardeos and stretch a white t-shirt over the scope then point to the sky during the day dusk or dawn when its not to bright and use the dropdown menu and select av-flats I use a low setting for iso but know others

use the same iso as their lights.Backyardeos then selects the shutter speed,I take about 20.I believe if doing your own shutter speed you want the histogram to be about a third to halfway but

others may be able to give better advice on this.When taking flats leave the optics and focus the same as it was for your lights

[andyo]

Hi I am no expert at taking flats,I use backyardeos and stretch a white t-shirt over the scope then point to the sky during the day dusk or dawn when its not to bright and use the dropdown menu and select av-flats I use a low setting for iso but know others

use the same iso as their lights.Backyardeos then selects the shutter speed,I take about 20.I believe if doing your own shutter speed you want the histogram to be about a third to halfway but

others may be able to give better advice on this.When taking flats leave the optics and focus the same as it was for your lights

Sorry Gina I dont know how i ended up with your quote above