Let's see your 1st DSOs

[SAW]

So here is my first ever DSO (M27) captured and I'm pretty pleased with, I'm sure there's lots I could of done to improve or tweak the image. 

SW ED80, HEQ5 Pro with belt mod and tuned, no guiding. 600D modded. 

20 lights, 20 darks and 20 bias. 60s exposures, ISO 800. 

This wouldn't  of been possible without the help from this forum and a lot from A4B FB group. 

Image uploaded here is copied from FB so might be a bit small. 

Edited August 3, 2017 by SAW

[Nigel G]

1 hour ago, SAW said:

So here is my first ever DSO (M37) captured and I'm pretty pleased with, I'm sure there's lots I could of done to improve or tweak the image. 

SW ED80, HEQ5 Pro with belt mod and tuned, no guiding. 600D modded. 

20 lights, 20 darks and 20 bias. 60s exposures, ISO 800. 

This wouldn't  of been possible without the help from this forum and a lot from A4B FB group. 

Image uploaded here is copied from FB so might be a bit small. 

 

Very very good for a first astro image, well done you should be pleased.

Nige.

[Stub Mandrel]

Always nice to see the red bits at the ends!

[adam_sage]

Here is my first proper AP photo - 24 x 240 seconds @ISO 1300 and processed in PS.

andromedastacked2.tif

[MikeSE19]

M42 Taken about 5 years ago genuine first DSO, ED80 with SPC900 webcam

[GraemeH]

My first real attempt at a DSO.  M101 from 21/9/17.

Until now, I've restricted myself to nice easy moon images that are nice to look at but the satisfaction of grabbing my first DSO is huge.

18x120s, no darks, flats or bias.  Canon 6D unmodded at prime focus on Edge HD8 unguided.

I know it's not the best, but I'm really pleased with it as a starting point.

 

Edited September 23, 2017 by GraemeH
typo correction

[Stub Mandrel]

7 hours ago, GraemeH said:

but I'm really pleased with it as a starting point.

It is a good start, but you now need to finish it!

You need gradient removal, reduce the green traces of light pollution, and then to set the black point and play with curves. You have better basic data than I have ever got for M101 so I think the end product can be even better. I hope you don't mind, here's a quick and dirty stir of your data:

[GraemeH]

49 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

It is a good start, but you now need to finish it!

You need gradient removal, reduce the green traces of light pollution, and then to set the black point and play with curves. You have better basic data than I have ever got for M101 so I think the end product can be even better. I hope you don't mind, here's a quick and dirty stir of your data:

Wow! I don't mind at all - you've shown me that I have good data to work with and that it's worth investing the time in learning how to process it properly. I'm still a real novice at this. 

[wimvb]

10 hours ago, GraemeH said:

My first real attempt at a DSO.  M101 from 21/9/17.

Until now, I've restricted myself to nice easy moon images that are nice to look at but the satisfaction of grabbing by first DSO is huge.

18x120s, no darks, flats or bias.  Canon 6D unmodded at prime focus on Edge HD8 unguided.

I know it's not the best, but I'm really pleased with it as a starting point.

 

That's a great start. The vignetting is best taken care of by using flats, even if gradient removal tools also can do their share. I think that from here, the next logical step would be to add bias and flat frames. Dark frames with a dslr are debateable. Dithering (= moving the fov slightly between exposures) is more effective.

[GraemeH]

13 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

It is a good start, but you now need to finish it!

You need gradient removal, reduce the green traces of light pollution, and then to set the black point and play with curves. You have better basic data than I have ever got for M101 so I think the end product can be even better. I hope you don't mind, here's a quick and dirty stir of your data:

I had another shot at processing my data using some of the techniques described in astrobackyard.com, but not strictly following a specific workflow.  The more I play around with this, the more I realise I need to learn.

[Stub Mandrel]

You aren't lifting the curve near enough to the left hand side.

[Star101]

I was looking through one of my USB drives wich has my library of images. I found my first real DSO image, taken 5 August 2015 

Its funny cos I have been trying to image M51 for some time. Earlier in the year I tried and the second image is from that attempt. I couldn't get focus to stay exact and there was a lot of high cloud, giving it a misty look. Apart from that, its not a bad image. The best part is that from what I have learned in the last 2/3 years I can see the difference and more to the point, I know what is wrong with the images and how to correct next time

 

[daveangie0110]

Hi All

Here is my first proper go at a DSO.

 

[Luna-tic]

I'm in deep envy of all those shots. I've been making a few attempts at single images, haven't gotten serious enough yet to start stacking, but I'm getting there.  

The 1st pic was a couple of weeks ago, M13, Don't remember offhand the shutter speed or ISO It's an EPP attempt through a 13mm 65* FOV EP. The rest I did this past evening. M103 and M36, ISO 1600 at 30 seconds. 1st M42 at ISO 1600, 32 seconds, 2nd M42 32 seconds at ISO 12800. All single exposure, Nikon D3400 at prime on Edge HD 8"/AVX. I did around ten images at different shutter speeds and ISO on M42, obvious that you can't get much of the nebula without washing out the center; getting the Trapezium clear gives you little of the nebula. Hopefully I'll improve as technique gets better.

[mystyco]

One of my favorites. 25'' exposure with a Alt-Az mount

[StaceStar]

Here are my first efforts. Literally the first time I set up my scope and pointed it upwards! The seeing conditions were bad (snow, ice, fast moving cloud etc). These are both single exposures (bodes nebula and cigar at 60s and the double cluster at 90s) unguided. Taken with a SW Evostar 80ED, Canon 1100D and SW Eq5 pro.

[wimvb]

Nice first images @StaceStar. Now just repeat a few dozen times, stack, and you're good. Welcome to the dark side.

[StaceStar]

2 minutes ago, wimvb said:

Nice first images @StaceStar. Now just repeat a few dozen times, stack, and you're good. Welcome to the dark side.

Thank you yes going to truly get to grips with my scope and the controls, alignment etc.  Then going to move onto stacking and post processing

[david_taurus83]

Got my modded Canon 600D on Thursday and couldnt wait to have a go. First ever AP picture. 6 30s shots and 5 darks stacked. Processed on Startools demo version so cant save. Had to screenshot so low quality pic attached. Not too bad I dont thing since the pictures were took about 5 metres from a streetlight. Was surprised how much the software can clean it up. RAW picture from the camera and then cleaned up.

[Redscouse]

My first attempts.

Orion Nebula. (excuse the telephone line in the photo, I didn't realise as I couldn't see it in the EP.) 

Pics were around 15/20 second exposures hence you can see the rotation as I'm not tracking.
 

Probably not a DSO however I did see a shooting star whizz through the EP as I was in the process of a 15 second exposure! 
(see the stripe just left of centre - the star Deneb if I'm correct - if comparing these two images.)
 

Anyways, that's mine effort. In time I hope to capture and produce something like the images posted above my post. Amazing images!

Peace and clear skies!
Pete.

[andrex66]

Nice topic! Most images remind me of my very own efforts,cold,hot,problems,tracking,dew...

my first ever DSOs, M81 and M82 from the middle of town,diy barn door tracker,Canon 1100d and a pityful Canon zoom lens at 200mm

 

and my very last effort with the same barn door tracker before dismantling it,Tamron 70-300 at 300mm:

 

i can't describe what I felt when I saw the HH...

 

Happy Imaging,

Andrea

[wsg]

Hello all!  I posted this same pic in a Star Adventurer thread in October.  First time over 60sec tracking ,first time using DSS with success.

No guiding, no darks. etc..  A bit over processed but still learning

 

[Miguel1983]

First try at the Orion nebula.

Skywatcher Skymax 127 on AZ GTI mount, Sony Alpha 6300 prime focus

I'm a total newbie, so go easy on me :-)

 

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, Miguel1983 said:

First try at the Orion nebula.

Take a look at this thread for advice on longer exposures, perhaps using a shorter focal length, to pull out more detail:

 

[Miguel1983]

5 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Take a look at this thread for advice on longer exposures, perhaps using a shorter focal length, to pull out more detail:

 

Thanks,

 

but i'm limited in exposure time to max 8 - 10 seconds due to the AZ mount.

I know i did a poor job on the post image processing, still exploring the possibilities...