A night(mare) to remember. Chalk it up as experience!!

[WaveSoarer]

Jez,

Here is my attempt at M51. Mrs WaveSoarer did all the processing in DSS and PS. The camera was at prime focus and the brightest two stars in the image are from the set of the stars that I use for the star hop (and I described in the earlier post). M51 could have been better centred in the image and the image really needs a lot more data. I have another version with the histogram a bit more stretched but this one looks more natural.

Dave

[M00NMonkey]

Jez,

Here is my attempt at M51. Mrs WaveSoarer did all the processing in DSS and PS. The camera was at prime focus and the brightest two stars in the image are from the set of the stars that I use for the star hop (and I described in the earlier post). M51 could have been better centred in the image and the image really needs a lot more data. I have another version with the histogram a bit more stretched but this one looks more natural.

Dave

Nice work Dave and Mrs Dave!

There looks to be quite a lot of detail coming through there in the galaxy itself, although a bit of coma in outer stars and general noise but really Good work IMO. I would have been made up with this result. I would have been made up just to find the crafty lil Messier haha

What settings did you use? any darks, flats, bias?

I have just brought the SW coma corrector, so I will let you know the difference in results. But I have been told it is a must if your imaging with our scope, well, a must if coma bothers you. It also flattens the field a bit, though I havent had chance to use it so dont quote me . FLO dispatched adapter today

Cheers

Jez

[WaveSoarer]

Jez,

I don't have the particular settings to hand but flats and darks were used. The flats are a must as the vignetting is pretty bad otherwise. I just used a white T-shirt stretched over the OTA and I pointed the telescope at a brightly lit white wall (actually I did this in the spare room with the scope on its mount). I really need to take a new set though. We focus with a Bahtinov mask and this is a must (at least for my setup) as it takes away the guess work. There is quite a lot of coma but I don't mind that so much - though I have been thinking of a coma corrector. Is this the one you're getting (http://www.firstlightoptics.com/coma-correctors/skywatcher-coma-corrector.html)?

Dave

[M00NMonkey]

Jez,

I don't have the particular settings to hand but flats and darks were used. The flats are a must as the vignetting is pretty bad otherwise. I just used a white T-shirt stretched over the OTA and I pointed the telescope at a brightly lit white wall (actually I did this in the spare room with the scope on its mount). I really need to take a new set though. We focus with a Bahtinov mask and this is a must (at least for my setup) as it takes away the guess work. There is quite a lot of coma but I don't mind that so much - though I have been thinking of a coma corrector. Is this the one you're getting (http://www.firstligh...-corrector.html)?

Dave

Yes That's the CC I got, just waiting for the adapter (dont forget this if you do get one).

You're right in the fact the bahitnov makes it easier too, another good purchase.

Regarding flats: I am no expert but I have been told/found out that everything in the optical train has to be the same as the light frames, including orientation of the camera, for these. I take mine using a white screened laptop, adjusting brightness, after I have taken the light subs. Then I take the darks, bias. I am building up a library using darks library but I havent got many to date, though over time this will change.

I like to getting it all done at once, makes for a long night but I dont mind that. And there is usually cloud cover at some point, so I use this as an opportunity to take other frames other than lights.

Jez

[stem1989]

I had this issue when imaging with the EQ3-2 dual driven before I got the HEQ5 it can be very fustrating. There was no real 'fix' some are easier to find than others and M51 is the one of the harder ones to find. Keep with it and eventually you will get there. But as soon as budget allows get yourself a bigger mount with GOTO, because all you need to do is point it a a close star and sync with your planetarium software and slew to it, for imaging this will reduce the time dramatically allowing more time collecting those precious subs!

Good luck

[Amra]

My first M51 image from like 2 weeks ago, one of the first DSOs I've imaged. Picture doesn't do it justice as I only took darks & bias frames at the time & I'm still not very experienced with processing. I will have to return to it some time and collect more data & do a better job.

Good luck with your next session, you'll find it eventually!

[M00NMonkey]

I had this issue when imaging with the EQ3-2 dual driven before I got the HEQ5 it can be very fustrating. There was no real 'fix' some are easier to find than others and M51 is the one of the harder ones to find. Keep with it and eventually you will get there. But as soon as budget allows get yourself a bigger mount with GOTO, because all you need to do is point it a a close star and sync with your planetarium software and slew to it, for imaging this will reduce the time dramatically allowing more time collecting those precious subs!

Good luck

Hi Steve, thanks for the luck and encouragement.

Although, if money wasn't an issue, I would upgrade to an NEQ6 (I would bypass the HEQ5 as I still think weight limit may be an issue). But I Really don't think I have earned the right to use GOTO just yet.

This sounds weird I know, but I really want to learn my way around the sky. I feel I would be cheating, getting a computer to show me where everything is. And it really wouldn't improve my ability to find these harder dim DSO's unless I was able to tap a few buttons and get it all aligned for me. This probably doesn't make sense or is hard to understand why I don't want to make things easier for myself. I will try and explain.

To me, Half of the achievement is finding these objects, its half of the journey I am taking into AP. Although the quickest route from A to Z is straight from A, to Z. But there is a lot to be learnt from the B,C,D,E,F etc etc and I really want to absorb as much information as possible from these median points. For me, GOTO would cut these out of my journey.

I know GOTO/general mount upgrade would be an easy fix, save me time, most likely a lot of frustration, give me better images with longer subs, but its more about the journey. And beside, if I had this you friendly folk on SGL wouldn't be able to read my rants on my previous nights exploits

The whole experience in my OP has taught me a lot and I now, know various different ways to find a faint DSO, most important of which is using longer exposure for framing purposes

I think I would be a bit lost without SGL and its users though, so I will take this time to thank everyone for their time, patience, words of advice, encouragement and luck. As, without whose help, I would probably still be outside looking for this elusive M51.

Hoping I have made sense.

ATB

Jez

[M00NMonkey]

My first M51 image from like 2 weeks ago, one of the first DSOs I've imaged. Picture doesn't do it justice as I only took darks & bias frames at the time & I'm still not very experienced with processing. I will have to return to it some time and collect more data & do a better job.

Good luck with your next session, you'll find it eventually!

Great start Amra, you're making me jealous haha. Some nice detail in the galaxy there, I look forward to seeing it with added data!

The Image is more than an image though, because it represents the work you put in to capture it, your own personal journey. This is why I have been drawn into AP, because when you look at an image you have taken, it holds more than just the data you captured, it also holds the story of everything you did to get to that point. I know I am getting a bit deep, but I love all this kind of stuff, reflection. Everything is stardust and light, and without reflection, nothing would be seen.

Thanks for the luck, mate. I am very hopeful of my next AP session

ATB

Jez

[Amra]

Great start Amra, you're making me jealous haha. Some nice detail in the galaxy there, I look forward to seeing it with added data!

The Image is more than an image though, because it represents the work you put in to capture it, your own personal journey. This is why I have been drawn into AP, because when you look at an image you have taken, it holds more than just the data you captured, it also holds the story of everything you did to get to that point. I know I am getting a bit deep, but I love all this kind of stuff, reflection. Everything is stardust and light, and without reflection, nothing would be seen.

Thanks for the luck, mate. I am very hopeful of my next AP session

ATB

Jez

Too true. Well put words, I very much enjoy the journey as well & sharing it with others. And I want to be able to look back in a few months/years & see where I was at that point & how much I have learned & developed. I'm happy with my pace so far, starting of with taking simple images of the moon through the EP of my Heritage 130P & now imaging DSOs, slowly improving object after object. Seeing the fantastic results the SGL community produces daily even with DSLRs only motivates me to improve further.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Sounds a frustrating night. Just having got a goto mount, i feel i will have many of these nights to come.

I find that my DSLR reverts back to JPG when turned off (learnt that after shooting alot of JPGS off thinking they were raw). But when i shoot in JPG + RAW it will hold that even when the cam is turned off and back on, trouble is, it means your doubling up your pictures, but on the plus side, i dont have to remember to switch it back to raw

[Scott]

Sounds a frustrating night. Just having got a goto mount, i feel i will have many of these nights to come.

I find that my DSLR reverts back to JPG when turned off (learnt that after shooting alot of JPGS off thinking they were raw). But when i shoot in JPG + RAW it will hold that even when the cam is turned off and back on, trouble is, it means your doubling up your pictures, but on the plus side, i dont have to remember to switch it back to raw

I use Raw + JPG. it just makes it easier to preview the images on the pc

[Jessun]

What a familiar story!

It's not an easy hobby! I salute your star hopping skills, but when it comes to AP every minute counts in my book, it's tricky enough as it is. A future portable combo could perhaps be a GOTO mount that will tick along and do its job, whilst you sit back on the repaired chair with a pair of binos to learn the sky?

Good luck out there next time! (And get a little hillwalker's headlamp too with red lens :-)

/Jesper

[M00NMonkey]

Success!!

As there are so many M51 in the deep sky imaging section, I thought I would add to this thread for somewhat of a happy ending

Last night was clear, and was going to take some widefield with the 18-55mm stock lens, but the weather was better than expected so I went for the full setup. Everything went smoothly and once I was balanced, focused etc, I aligned with Alkaid and performed the same star hop as I started with, last session. (see OP) BUT this time I took 25s framing subs instead of 5s , and lo and behold I could see it!!. Think the neighbours knew it too, from the over excited laugh, clap of the hands and "You $%$£!!% little beauty!!"

13x80s iso800 (had 2 hours worth but only choose best subs. (i hadn't noticed the dew-up! hair dryer on standby next time) )

27 x darks

21 x flats

30 x bias

Standard stack in DSS

Had a little stretch in PS, but I am still learning so no major processing. Pretty pleased with the results considering there's only a little over 17mins of data.

Hoping to add to this. Thursday looking good, though gets quite tricky around 12am as its at the zenith. Was getting a bit paranoid about the scope crunching into the mount yesterday. But, much fun was had.

Cheers

Jez

[Scott]

Thats really nice Jez. so glad you finally got your target. (yet to try this one). wouldn't be any fun if it was easy hey.

[x6gas]

Excellent and that's a lovely image!

[M00NMonkey]

Cheers Guys, no it would be no fun if it was easy. I also like a challenge.

Just had a bit of a re-edit

M51 v2

Much happier with this version

[WaveSoarer]

That's a terrific image there Jez. I'm sure you're delighted with the result.