Yaaaahh My 1st real neb !!!

[trudie]

Now I know this is far from good, but to me its great, I,m ecstatic, and with a very bright moon too.

Its my 1st attempt at M42 (and only my 2nd go with the meade dsi).

Critisism appreciated, this is unprocessed as I don't know how to do it.

Trudie

[blinky]

Thats good Trudie, I got too cold the other night and gave up, I was intending to image Orion.

I just usually leave the DSI at it's default stacking as you go setup. Draw a box round a star (or 2 stars if you want to sort out rotation) and let it go. It decides what images are best and stacks in real time. You can see the image taking shape as you stare at the screen!

[CELESCOPE]

well done Trudie, feels good eh getting that first one under your belt, no to much wrong with that , stars are ok , and the neb is showing through, its expected to be a bit washed out as you are up against the full moon, si i would say thats pretty good myself , a fairer test of course will be a week away when the moon is getting away from us.

Pats Trudie on the back for first DSO

Rog :sunny:

[Helen]

Great start Trudie - very recognisable, good stars, and all despite a full moon! And you've actually got more nebula there than you think. I'm not very good at processing yet, and tend to just stick to the basics at the moment - levels and curves. Have you got photoshop or something similar? I've only got photoshop Elements 3, but this is the difference that just 3 adjustments can make to an image using Elements

(click to enlarge)

All I did was:

1. open the Levels tool (ctrl L in elements) and move the left slider until it was underneath the left edge of the histogram

2. open curves (this is a free plug in for elements, but is available in photoshop) and add 2 points to a curve - the first point was input 37 output 78, and the second point in 10, out 166 - this increases the faint areas without burning out the core (the exact figures aren't important, but I just experimented with a curve until the picture looked reasonable!)

3. open levels again and move the left slider until it was under the first big line on the histogram (this takes the background colour closer to black again)

You can do similar things in other packages like Registax (using the Histogram and Gamma features)

The experts will be able to pull much more subtlety out of your data, but I hoped to show that with just a few basic bits of processing a more detailed image can emerge! So don't worrying that processing is really hard, start slowly, and you'll learn as you go along. Watching extra detail emerge from your raw data is the bit that really gives me a buzz and makes me grin Its great fun! (But welcome to the very slippery slope )

Helen

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Superb Trudie, welcome to the expensive imaging club.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[jonifive]

Nice one Trudie. Great Start.

JV

[centroid]

A great start Trudie, well done!!

You have now got a very firm foothold on the imaging 'learning curve'. Lots to learn along the way, but its great fun and very satisfying (sometimes frustrating ).

No matter how long you've been at it, you never finish learning, which is a part of the fascination that holds the interest.

BTW, nice round stars in your image.

Keep them coming!!

Dave

[MikeD]

Nice one Trudie, the first of many.

Mike.

[Vega]

Nice one Trudie, keep at it. Once this full moon is out of the way be sure to have another go at M42. What might appear on screen will blow you away

Matt

[jcm]

Well done Trudie a great image considering the presence of such a bright moon.

John

[anthony]

Nice one Trudie.

Lot of good points there - nice stars for one.

Bit more experience on processing and you'll be flying.

Anthony

[trudie]

Thanks Guys,

I'm more than pleased with my start. It is not processed at all.

If anyone wants to have a crack at processing it, please feel free, I would actually appreciate it.

I have Photoshop 7 but don't have a clue about it.

Trudie

[mpeniak]

Great one trudie! Far better than my first attempts.

Martin

[legion48]

Nice one Trudie.

[barkis]

Just now seen this Trudie, and of course you are pleased, and so you should be. It is a great result, and you were brave to tackle it in the full glare of the moon. No1 is under your belt now, and it's a start to greater things.

Looking forward to No2.

Ron.

[MartinB]

Great start Trudie. Can clearly see the central detail of M42 and M43 is showing as well