First globular cluster and a question about NGC7000 if anyone can help

[ubertank]

Went out the other night and chose M13 and ngc7000 as targets. I knew imaging M13 would mean I came back with some data I could process, but was unsure if I could catch NGC7000. It was in a nice enough position in the sky, but my images of it just show a starfield. No nebulosity to speak of really, at least not in the stacked .TIF - just loads and loads of stars. I have played around with it in Startools and PS but can't get anything out of it really.

I'm using an unmodded Canon 1100D with an Astronomik CLS filter and shooting into fairly light polluted skies through an ED80. Is there an area of this setup which is a recipe for failure here? I was unsure if it was the filter perhaps meaning I can't get any nebulosity.

I took around 25 x 2 minute ISO 1600 exposures guided with a synguider.

If anyone can offer a pointer here I'd appreciate it.

I came back with 20 x 2 min ISO1600 M13 exposures and stacked them with darks. Then did all processing through Startools which I'm still getting my head around, but slowly but surely getting there. Whilst I can use a little photoshop, I find the program on the whole very inaccessible for me personally. Startools has helped my get decent noise levels very quickly whereas before I would spend hours on curves and levels. I highly recommend.

Here's my first globular cluster process anyway. I cheated a bit on a few stars which were giving me a real headache controlling the noise around. I just dolloped some diffraction spikes on them . it's a bit cheaty and daft. I'll figure out the noise control later hopefully, but I'm quite happy with the cluster itself. My colours are still off a bit though, but I'm finding colour balance a really hard thing to achieve. I've not bought Startools yet so I've had to screenshot>paste to paint>save as JPEG and upload so a bit of quality loss there sadly.

Would really welcome any and all feedback and constructive criticism.

[kirkster501]

Well done! That's really nice and can see stars in the core clearly. Nice star colours too.

How did you get defraction spikes on the brighter stars using a refractor?

[ubertank]

This is the extent of my cheating you see.. I used some magic in Startools. There's a module for adding diffraction spikes with a million settings in it I don't understand yet, but you can basically create a mask on certain stars, tell Startools what sort of reflector you were "using", and it'll make it happen for you. It's pretty cool.

Thanks for the nice comments.

[steppenwolf]

I really like your globular image - plenty of nice detail.

NGC 7000 can be captured with an unmodified DSLR but you will have to work hard on the processing to tease out the red but in doing so you run the risk of enhancing the LP too! A Hutech IDA'S light pollution filter would help here. I'd also be tempted to limit the ISO to 800.

Your doing well though as the globular image proves,

Sent from my iPhone from somewhere dark .....

[ubertank]

Thank you Steve. Very much appreciated.

Yeah I think getting any red out of the image requires skill beyond mine at this point sadly. Next time I head out I may try some different settings, but am tempted to shelf NGC7000 until it comes around again next year and I'm more experienced.

[lensman57]

Went out the other night and chose M13 and ngc7000 as targets. I knew imaging M13 would mean I came back with some data I could process, but was unsure if I could catch NGC7000. It was in a nice enough position in the sky, but my images of it just show a starfield. No nebulosity to speak of really, at least not in the stacked .TIF - just loads and loads of stars. I have played around with it in Startools and PS but can't get anything out of it really.

I'm using an unmodded Canon 1100D with an Astronomik CLS filter and shooting into fairly light polluted skies through an ED80. Is there an area of this setup which is a recipe for failure here? I was unsure if it was the filter perhaps meaning I can't get any nebulosity.

I took around 25 x 2 minute ISO 1600 exposures guided with a synguider.

If anyone can offer a pointer here I'd appreciate it.

I came back with 20 x 2 min ISO1600 M13 exposures and stacked them with darks. Then did all processing through Startools which I'm still getting my head around, but slowly but surely getting there. Whilst I can use a little photoshop, I find the program on the whole very inaccessible for me personally. Startools has helped my get decent noise levels very quickly whereas before I would spend hours on curves and levels. I highly recommend.

Here's my first globular cluster process anyway. I cheated a bit on a few stars which were giving me a real headache controlling the noise around. I just dolloped some diffraction spikes on them . it's a bit cheaty and daft. I'll figure out the noise control later hopefully, but I'm quite happy with the cluster itself. My colours are still off a bit though, but I'm finding colour balance a really hard thing to achieve. I've not bought Startools yet so I've had to screenshot>paste to paint>save as JPEG and upload so a bit of quality loss there sadly.

Would really welcome any and all feedback and constructive criticism.

Hi,

Congratulations, I think that this is a really nice capture of the M13 with the two guardian stars and the core is really visible. I too have just purchased StarTools and found it simple but to get real benefit from it I feel that a through understanding of the software is needed, that is beyond my simple newbie mind. How do you find the SynGuider? I have one but yet have to use it in anger.

Regards,

A.G

[ubertank]

Thanks again for the comments.

Startools is a bit of a tricky one because it comes without any sort of "manual" and you just need to get on with figuring it out. There are some helpful videos the dev's have posted on youtube and on their forum, but these I haven't found much assistance in getting to grips wth some of the basics . The best thing about the program is the helpfulness of the admin on the forum and a couple of users on there. When I first started with it, I wanted to know what sort of detail someone could get out of my M51 .TIF with the program so I had a target to aim for. I uploaded my .TIF file and someone came back with the whole process they went through and explained each step to me. I then went back and ran through it myself probably 10 times at least, just taking note of each step and becoming more familiarised with it. In the end I was pleased with my M51 - it's on my flickr if you want to take a look.

For M13, I asked someone to have a go and the dev posted what he got out of it. it was pretty stunning. he didn't list a detail and exact workflow like the M51 guy did, he rather told me what he did in each step and left me to find out how he did it. It was frustrating at first, but in the end so many aspects of the program "clicked". It's a great program I already wouldn't be without. With patience, time invested and taking the time to ask questions on the forum you'll get the results you want pretty quickly.

As far as the synguider is concerned, I feel your pain somewhat. I had one or two wasted nights figuring it out but have it sorted now. This is a quick list of things I did to get it working properly.:

* Guidescope rings. An obvious one, but it helped massively in finding a suitable star. The synguider can actually pick up some low mag stars if you set the exposure high enough, but the rings helped me no end.

* Focus - This is the most important thing I have found with the synguider. before you do anything, aim the guidescope at a bright star, set the exp to 256 and get the star as small as possible. Make sure the synguider is lined up with the scope properly. When you get the star nice and small, lock the focusser tight and dont' touch it again all night.

* Parfocal lens - I use a parfocal 10mm lens that came with my ST80. Get that setup and keep it in to find guiderstars whenever I need a new one.

The rest is just menu options really. Find the star, adjust the exposure to increase the star size if it's faint, then tweak the noise levels until you get a star on screen with a brightnedd level always over 10. Lock it in and then set the guider to guide.

The image I have listed here was taken with a really, really bad polar alignment. I have no idea how I cocked it up so badly but when I did an unguided test run it was trailing all over the place. The synguider corrected the mount a lot and did a great job.

Now I understand it and can get it up and running quickly I love it. Stick with it. If you can't get out to a dark site or the sky's not great enough to justify it, set up in your garden and play with it in between the clouds. It's what I did.

I hope this helps. Good luck and thanks again for the positive feedback.

[Superdavo]

Nice image! Don't know about ngc7000 though

[ollypenrice]

A guest tried NGC7000 in a standard 350D and got nothing at all. I stretched the red ludicrously hard and this confirmed he'd been in the right place but there was very little nebulosity. The following year he came back with the camera modded and it was a piece of cake. I think the later standard cameras have more Ha response so you may be able to get something.

Olly