Let's see your 1st DSOs

[DerBen]

_{My first DSOs.}

_{Made with an Celestron SLT Mount an 650d DSLR.  I have used an  EF 70-200mm 2.8 telephoto lens and a  Kenko 1.4 teleconverter.}

[DerBen]

[hobsey]

Very impressive for a slt mount.

[DerBen]

Thanks mate. I will give it another try, if there is a period with clear skies.

[Stevp]

My first half hearted attempt at anything other than M42.

Here was my first go at M51 from last week.

This is a cropped image taken with; Explorer 150p, Eq3-2 w/ dual motors, Canon EOS 600D

The image was a stack from 18 of 30 images: 30s at iso1600

I've learnt, or at least clarified, several things.

1) I need a better mount

2) I need a better mount

3) My scope needs re-collimating (defocussed stars not quite round before I started)

4) I need to learn a lot about DSS and other software

5) I need to learn GIMP or buy Photoshop

6) I should perhaps look at a Bahtinov mask

7) I need to up my game on polar aligning for taking images rather than visual

8) Need to take many many more images when I do get something worth stacking

9) I need a better mount!

Still very pleased with what I managed though!!

Edited March 25, 2014 by Stevp

[Andy Milner]

Looks great for first go. I've not attempted anything other than M42 yet. I think you're right a better mount and lots of hours playing with DSS and Pgtoshop will help. There's plenty of tutorials around. Have fun!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rigellim]

Derben, great shots!

[Rudeviewer]

This is my first nebula other than m42.  32 minutes of data no darks.  1600ISO. Unmodded t3i, 8" Orion Newt.   No Coma Corrector Or LP Filter.  Only used Photoshop CS2 to process.  I'm quite pleased as a first try.

[Andy Milner]

Nice image. what stack of subs did you have?

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[Rudeviewer]

This was 15 images ranging from 30 seconds to seven minutes. 

[DerBen]

Good shot Rudeviewer !

[Rudeviewer]

Thank you I was quite pleased for a first time!

[IainMcD]

Pretty nice!

[JulsD]

_{Hi all,}

_{I'm new here and had already some tries with dark sky photography.}

_{At the moment I'm thinking about buying a NexStar 4 SE.}

_{Working with a Nikon D5200 at the moment.}

_{Does anyone have experience with the telescope and dark sky photography?}

_{Is it worth the money?}

_{Appreciate every answer very much.}

_{Thanks in advance.}

[DerBen]

I have a  Nexstar SLT 5" Mak, which is similar, but the mount is slightly lower quality.  I think you can do some Astrophotography with a 4se. Of course there are better solutions.

[Rudeviewer]

I was able to achieve 45 second expos using the ALT AZ mount and a 6" SCT, just go higher ISO take darks to reduce noice.  Also wait a while between shots that way the scope can settle between shots.

[MikeODay]

NGC 3372

Collected my new Skywatcher Quattro 10" f4 Newtonian yesterday from Bintel in Sydney. This is the first scope I've owned since the Tasco 60mm alt/az I saved up for when I was 12.

I had already collected a AZ EQ 6 last Thursday and spent the weekend understanding the mount, sorting out alignment and playing around with a camera fixed to the mount and stacking frames using free software I found on the web.

Yesterday I set up the scope and was ready for when it got dark...

I captured about 140 images but high level cloud ruined most of them.

The image below is a stack of the best 30 or so.

My main hobby is photography so I framed the image to match the others on my online gallery.

---------

Skywatcher Quattro 10" f4

Skywatcher AZ EQ 6 GT

Baader MPCC Mk 3 coma corrector

Nikon D300 (unmodified)

30x30sec ISO800 unguided

[DerBen]

Very nice !

[MikeODay]

Thanks.  Still working on the processing and I hope to get the autoguider working soon but I was pleased with it as a first attempt.

Cheers

Mike

[MikeODay]

Two more - still unguided...

Tarantula Nebula - 80x30sec ISO800 unguided

Keyhole Nebula - 100x30sec ISO800 unguided

Skywatcher Quattro 10" f4
Skywatcher AZ EQ 6 GT
Baader MPCC Mk 3 coma corrector
Nikon D300 (unmodified)
 

Cheers

Mike

[DerBen]

Great !

I guess you do have pretty dark skies, right ?  I am sitting here in the red zone.

[MikeODay]

Thanks.

The skies here are not too bad. We are at around 700m altitude and 100kms from the centre of Sydney. There is a thin strip of housing and small villages/towns that follows the road as it winds up the mountains and is the main source of light pollution here. The main problem I have is the humidity is very high at the moment and and as soon it as starts to get dark we get low altitude cloud formation that starts of wispy but gradually builds to create a continuous blanket of red. Oh well at least there are moments of clarity and it should dry out later on into winter.

[DerBen]

Same here with humidity and clouds. No AP possible at the Moment.

[nightster]

First Image: M104 Sombrero  

Altas Eq-G, AT6IN, 450D, ST80, SSAG, ATCC, BYEOS, PHD2 

[MikeODay]

New version of Eta Carinae Nebula

I managed to get the auto guider working and increased the exposure to 120sec.

120sec subs @ ISO800

Skywatcher Quattro 10" f4 Newtonian

Baader MPCC mk3 Coma Corrector

Nikon D300 unmodified

Skywatcher AZ EQ6 GT Mount

Orion auto guider on 80mm f5 guide scope