2nd ever Astrophoto !!

[Skipper Billy]

Here is my second attempt at astrophotography - I am reasonably pleased with it but was surprised how small M51 appears in the frame - please feel free to comment and offer advice!!

SW ED80, HEQ5, EQDIR, Canon 1000D unmodified, FF/FR, 40 x 60sec subs, 12 darks, 20 bias. Stacked in DSS and adjusted in Photoshop (overdone!!)

[Langy]

Very nice. The top image does look far more natural as the bottom has that funny colour glow.

However as I've always said it's your image and how you interpret it. Neither are wrong in that view.

Well done.

[wxsatuser]

First one is not to bad for such short exposures.

A lot of DSOs are quite small for the ED80 DSLR combo but they are worth a go.

[Leveye]

I like the first image better as well. Fine work for some of your first attempts. Your off then!

[bogdog]

well done,but i think you should aim for longer subs as suggested above,it will get you better detail and you have the mount for doing it

but yeah you should be pleased with it,look forward to see what else you can achieve

[red dwalf]

well done on the captures, the VCanon dlsr chips are very big so give a big field of view, which is great for big objects like m31 and such, a smaller chip camera will make the smaller targets look bigger in the frame, i find M51 a tricky target to get right as it`s fairly dim so needs lots of exposures

[Skipper Billy]

Thanks for the advice and encouragement.

Should I just go for slightly longer and longer subs until I run into problems or just try 3 mins, 5 mins ??? I think I have cracked polar alignment now and given that it was windy last night I am pleased with the results.

[Alien 13]

You can improve the image scale a little if you remove the FF/FR i do it sometimes and you might gain a few extra photons too (the extra glass in the FF/FR will have some losses)

Nice images BTW.

Alan

[wxsatuser]

Thanks for the advice and encouragement.

Should I just go for slightly longer and longer subs until I run into problems or just try 3 mins, 5 mins ??? I think I have cracked polar alignment now and given that it was windy last night I am pleased with the results.

If unguided just keep trying longer until the stars don't look round.

[Skipper Billy]

Great - thanks all - looks like it might be clear tonight !!!

[wxsatuser]

The limit for any sub will be the sky brightness as well as guiding and tracking issues.

With a DSLR expose to approx 25>40% of the histogram, this is the limit for you sky brightness.

[Pete Presland]

that is a nice M51 especially the 1st image!