Let's see your 1st DSOs

[Rodd]

Hello all, My name is Rodd and I am a "newbie".  Check out this pic of M1 in the Hubble Pallet (SII, Ha, OIII).  Total exposure 4Hrs with a Celestron 11" edge HD--12 x 15min and 3x20min for all 3 filters.  I'm trying to get my Astrophysics Mach1 to track better with the Celestron.  The stars in this photo are not too bad--though I think they could be better.  Any helpful advise.  P.S.  I had to compress this file at JPG 50 in order for it to be uploaded.  Not sure what this will do to the image

Clear Skis!!!

[SImon2940]

New to this Messageboard, in fact, its actually my first post! Image of the Orion Nebula (281 Light) stacked with DSS. Finally got the hang of using the software. 

[Stub Mandrel]

A good first shot, Simon. I assume you haven't got tracking. I would guess you could get longer exposures at 200mm that will bring out even more detail without blurring the stars.

[SImon2940]

Yeah, no tracking. Havent gotten a scope yet, i have a 800m rokinon mirror less which is basically a cassegrain schmidt telescope but it takes horrid pics.

The image was made from 281 pics 1.3s exposure over 2 different days with 40 darks and 40 bias to make ip the 2 iso settings of 1600 and 3200. I was using the canon 70-200 f/4.0 l lens. Im gotta try use an extender but then in will be at f/6.0.

Will post when i get a chance to do it.

A good first shot, Simon. I assume you haven't got tracking. I would guess you could get longer exposures at 200mm that will bring out even more detail without blurring the stars.

[JohnSadlerAstro]

I don't know whether this counts...?

Taken with a point and shoot cam, held up to the eyepiece of an Explorer 130 'scope. Expo of about 3 secs, undriven.

I'm hoping to get some proper DSOs with a DSLR I'm asking for at Christmas. If I had used the RA drive that I got a few months later, I bet it would have looked great, but, of course, the cam broke before then!!!

John

[stepping beyond]

I'm a disabled amateur astronomer and I also use one hand to do what I so enjoy. I'm learning and having fun doing , 40 yrs. ago I never would of thought thast I'd be doing this.

[stepping beyond]

I 'm a disabled amateur astronomer that enjoys imaging. Learning to get the alignment good enough not to trail stars is a real chore. this is my 2nd target M31,32 and 110 are in my other computer for stacking but, it hopefully will get alot better once it gets out of the trees. Dsi lll color /  plug n play usb /  astrograph 8 lxd55 modified mount. I worked really hard with a bahtinov mask and magic eye to get focus as good as I could get through the trees and the fog.I think it shows promise down the road.

Edited December 14, 2015 by stepping beyond

[gorann]

Some suggested we should show our first and last pics for the first year. 2015 is my first year of AP. I started by building an obsy in 2014 before I made a serious attempt in March this year. Here is the first and last attempts at the Andromeda galaxy and Orion Nebula. Partly, the improvement is moving from an Explore Scientific ED80 to an ED127 (both are budget apo refractors) but mostly it is from taking more sub frames (I still take too few but I am too excited about moving on to the next object) and from learning more about processing (Photoshop CS5 in my case). For the Andromeda I first made the mistake to use a cheap UHC filter from Orion that took away all colours but blue. I now use an IDAS filter. The Andromeda does not really fit into the ED127 field of view so I will have another attempt with the ED80 one day. For the Orion Nebula, a lot of improvement is due to multiple subs with 10 s to 4 min exposure times and blending these not to blew out the core. All are taken with a Canon EOS60Da.

First and last attempt at Andromeda:

First and last attempt at Orion Nebula and Running Man

[Rodd]

Great images.  How much processing do you do?  I just started too, and I have the very best equipment and my pics are terrible compared to this.  I use Nebulosity and PixInsight.  My system (scope, mount, and camera) costs over $20,000 and it can't hold a candle to yours.  Well done.

[Stub Mandrel]

I think it may have been my suggestion?

M42 (with Bridge Camera) in May:

M42, two DSLRs later in December:

Improvement over the Saturn Season, same scope and webcam:

And the improvement in Andromeda, same DSLR, via different lenses & scopes, over several sessions:

None of my gear is expensive and only some of the bits & pieces are new, which I think proves that practice and getting to know your equipment and software are what counts when you are starting out. I know I can do MUCH better than this within the limits of my equipment, but I find that exciting and a challenge, not frustrating.

[gorann]

Hi Rodd & Tanks!

No quick answers and I am still learning, To me, looking at you list of scopes, I suggest you avoid trying AP with the 11 and 14" ones, as those are extremely demanding with regard to seeing and guiding. Your TV 101 should be a good start.  I suggest you post some subs on the  Image Processing, Help and Techniques forum here and get some feedback from the more experienced people.

[gorann]

Neil,

clearly you are improving on both resolution and colours! Maybe you could reduce the colours a bit on your second slightly psychedelic Orion Nebula. Was it processed in Photoshop? I agree that expensive equipment can wait as long as what you have works. Trying, reading up, discussing, and trying again is the way to start. My best investment that gave me immediate feed back and inspiration to continue down this line was my ES 80ED refractor, a budget apo for 700 Euros where the short focal length made it work fine without guiding and allowed me to capture DSOs that I could never see visually. After I got guiding working I have moved to slightly longer focal lengths and I am now about to go mono with filters which is a bit scary...

[Stub Mandrel]

Thanks Goran,

Yes, getting the colours right is tough, I won't clog this thread with more versions though.

I'm thinking about a 130P-DS for the same reasons as your ES-80D.

[Rodd]

Data acquisition is not my problem--20 min subs with the Celestron come out fine if I balance everything right and get good focus (and I don't overexpose the light pollution)--Its processing that is my bugboo.  Take a look at the attached pics taken with the C11 Edge HD.  First is of M1 in narrowband, second is M-33 in RGB (only 5 minute subs (2 for each filter) due to time constraints.

[Rodd]

The stippling in M! photo is due to deconvolution artifacts--my processing at work.

[Dannyefc87]

First photo, Equinox 80, HEQ5, Canon 100d, stacked in DSS, and processed in Photoshop CC.

M42

[beka]

Here is mine - M42 with Celestron CPC 1100, Celestron f6.3 focal reducer, Sony Alpha 58 SLT. Exposure was 20 seconds ISO 1600. Automatic noise reduction was on and file format was raw. The CPC mount was the normal Alt/Az without a wedge. No processing except reducing the image size and saving as jpeg with Shotwell. Image was taken on January 3rd with sky darkness maybe 4.5 magnitude. I took a total of 8 picture at 5, 10, 15 and 20 seconds each at ISO 800 and 1600. This is the best of the lot in my judgment except some of them had rounder stars - I did not use a remote shutter release so I believe this is due to camera shake. I could see some of the brighter stars on the LCD screen of the camera otherwise it was just full of noise with no sign of the nebula. After pressing the shutter release the camera exposed and processed for some seconds, then the nebula popped into view. This was a little surprising to me - next they will have an astrophotography mode just like the portrait and landscape etc. modes and then maybe include Photoshop on the camera!

[beka]

I noticed a line to the right of the trapezium just I was posting this, could it be a meteorite or satellite? It also appears in the previous three pictures at successively higher locations on the image. I don't remember the time between pictures but I would guess may 10 to 20 seconds - so maybe slow for a meteorite.

[beka]

Hello all, My name is Rodd and I am a "newbie".  Check out this pic of M1 in the Hubble Pallet (SII, Ha, OIII).  Total exposure 4Hrs with a Celestron 11" edge HD--12 x 15min and 3x20min for all 3 filters.  I'm trying to get my Astrophysics Mach1 to track better with the Celestron.  The stars in this photo are not too bad--though I think they could be better.  Any helpful advise.  P.S.  I had to compress this file at JPG 50 in order for it to be uploaded.  Not sure what this will do to the image

Clear Skis!!!M!-HPcompression 50.jpg

You have impressive gear for a "newbie", what was your camera?

[widotje]

Haha, I like this idea :-). 

Hold your breath! My very first M81. Unguided about 20x30 sec jpg shots @800 to 1600 ISO.

Forgot to clean my camera (this is still an issue with me)  and failed to include flats...

The post editing process is not worth mentioning (if i remember correctly, a combination of DSS and paint :-)

Enjoy!

Edited January 26, 2016 by widotje

[Kabi]

Hi

I finally got some motors on my mount (EQ5) and started to think about taking DSO images. So I read as much as possible and when the clouds disappeared for a brief period I took 40 lights of 15 sec at ISO 1600, 10 dark and 10 bias frames of M42. Scope is a SW MAK127 and an unmodded Canon 1000d to take the photos.

In hindsight, I would have done a lot differently, but experience is something you get after you needed it.... 

So, here is my first try at a DSO: 

[Gucky]

About 1 year ago, december 2014, I read a lot about Lovejoy. Then I tried with my EOS500D and the EF24-70 f/2.8L USM at 24 mm and appearantly found it:

 

a few weeks later I had the Skywatcher 100ED and got this:

[clarkpm4242]

After a brief foray into imaging with a scope about 10 years ago, I've not learned the lesson and am back for more pain!

First light through new Astrotrac, William Optics Star 71 and Canon 7D MkII setup last night.

10 x 60 sec subs at iso1600, 2 darks, Deepskystacker and Photoshop CS2.

Cheers

Paul

 

 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2016 by clarkpm4242

[unromeo21]

Last year started to build a home made mount, after playing around two years before with a barn door tracker and a 200mm and a nikon D200. I don't have any pictures from those times, but all I can say is that there was almost nothing to be seen except noise and some tiny smudges of color, one can barely recognize the M42. 

This year, after many many hours of work on the mount, got ambitious and bought a second hand Celestron C8, OAG unit, ZWO ASI120MM for autoguiding and a SONY NEX 3N (modded to full frame) to keep it light. So from practically no experience in AP, i jumped straight to a high difficult level, with nothing in between. 

Unfortunately, I barely got a few hours of good seeing this year, mostly used to adjustments on the mount, adjusting and testing the OAG. Two or three half nights so far with clear sky, clouds creeping in around midnight, every night. Really annoying.  

Got time to do only one sub so far, which I present it to you. Stars not yet perfectly round, I think I had some issues with wind. 

 

So only one sub around 3 minutes long, home made mount running Onstep controller, Celestron C8, OAG - ASI120MM, SONY NEX 3N full spectrum. 

Processed a little bit to give it more contrast and color. 

 

Looking forward to some clear nights.. but it seems that my location is cursed.. 

Edited March 2, 2016 by unromeo21
typo

[Northernlight]

Hi all,

New to the site and new to imaging. This is my first DSO Image, IC405 in LRGB  10 x 600s LRGB  with 102mm doublet @ F5.6 and approx 571mm Focal Length.

 

Cheers,

NL

 

Edited March 3, 2016 by Northernlight
insert image