My first M31

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Well here is my first attempt at M31.

Skywatcher 200p

HEQ5

Canon 450D

25 x 2min lights

10 darks.

Unguided

I havent yet processed it as i havent had time yet, but im also not fully sure how (processing skills keave alot tob desired at the minute) so feel free to play with it if that what takes you.

Would of liked more data but clouds rolled in and left a mist that could barely make out M45 afterwards. Can see the merit of guiding now too as 2minutes was a little too long kn this occasion, hopefully if i get the freebe laptop i might be getting, then i can sort it out.

Thanks for looking

Matt

[Zuben Elgenubi]

I think you should feel pretty pleased with that. I imaged M31 for the first time the weekend before last and my processed image is not as good as that (which probably speaks volumes for the quality of my data and my processing 'skills') - I stacked a few more 120s lights, twice as many darks and used bias frames!

I will let someone else have a crack at processing it, I wouldn't want to spoil your hard work 

Gareth

[twelly27]

hey there! ive got into imaging this since i returned from astro camp i only managed 1 good shot the camera died before i could get enough to stack im just wondering what you do with darks? how do you take them? i tried last night but dont know if i did it right, and also, i did 10x30 second exposures on it last night aswell, but DSS would only stack 2min of it instead of all the time i had shot for anyone got ny ideas why?

bellow is my best pic, it was a single 5 min exposure from cwmdu in wales when i was at astrocamp earlier this month im useless at processing aswell so i havent bothered with it 

Thanks

Chris 

  

[Zuben Elgenubi]

twelly, to take dark frames you put the cap over the end of the scope and take subs using exactly the same settings as your lights. You are basically recording the noise of your camera's sensor which can then be subtracted from the final image during stacking.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Yeah exactly as Zuben said. I normally take mine off of the scope and put the cover over where the lens would go and take the darks while i am packing the gear away. I normally do 1/3 of the number of lights i did. So if i do 100 lights, ill do 30ish darks.

For the amount it stacks, you can choose the best xx% of frames. I think it defaults at 90% which is what i used. If its refusing to use them, it may be because there isnt enough data or maybe star trailing. 30seconds may not be long enough to pick up some useful data. This is one of the single 2minute exposures i got and there isnt a whole lot there for 2minutes worth.

[kirkster501]

Good first effort!  You can see the bands and dust lanes clearly.  You'd benefit from a LP filter.  And once you start guiding you can do longer exposures to grab more data.  Well done.

[rob0971]

That's a good first effort, better than my first! It took me a further 2 goes to get a decent pic that I could process & be happy with the results. Mine was the result of 29 x 5 min lights, 13x darks, 20x bias & about 20x flats. So you can see that there is no substitute for a, longer lights & b, more lights. I will probably add more time when I can. I will also add that I used an autoguider as well. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lnrwildphoto/9717348018/

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Awesome image rob. Are the autoguiders any good, i looked at getting one but read they werent too great

[rob0971]

Awesome image rob. Are the autoguiders any good, i looked at getting one but read they werent too great

Thanks Matt. I am currently using a celestron nexguide which does the job but is a faff to set up, especially the focus. Finding a suitable star to guide on can also be hard work. Once done though it works really well. I am looking at getting a qhy5 CCD now to replace it hoping that focusing on a laptop will be easier.