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Let's see your 1st DSOs


MartinB

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Here is my first DSO as well, which else other than M42... First proper light on my gear as well after way too long...

Very bright target, I was amazed about how much data i managed to capture in a single 30" @ ISO 3200  (4" @ ISO 3200

for the trapezium) with an (unmodded) 1200D attached on a C8 Edge on an AVX mount at f/10!  Almost everything

was done wrong (no intervalometer or computer camera control, non calibrated polar scope, no ASPA, unguided,

shot at JPEG and the list goes on) and this is one of the best framing-wise of many shots, with the least camera

shutter shake as well. Actually I am pretty excited about that shot, I almost fell off my chair when I saw the 1st one

popping on the camera screen...Processed in GIMP 2.8 (no 16-bit) so the best part is that it  will be hard to get any

worse than that! :grin:  Too bad the weather turned horrible on Saturday & Sunday...

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Thanks for watching!

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Here is my first DSO. M42 using just my canon 40d, a M42 lens at 135mm f2.8. Untracked on a cheap camera tripod in a light polluted back garden in Liverpool. Exposure time 2 seconds, iso 1600. I took 120 light frames, 30 darks and 30 bias. Processed and edited in DSS as don't have an fancy photo editing software. post-39243-142510537816_thumb.jpeg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Oh well, lets take the plunge. My first ever DSO, on my second outing with my new (secondhand) equipment. 

Another M42 ;) 10 fifteen second exposures at 6400 ISO, a handful of darks and bias frames. No flats as I forgot to take them before taking the camera off the 'scope. Orion was rapidly sinking below the houses and it was so murky that we could barely see the belt with the naked eye. Process with DSS, IRIS (thanks to the Astronomy Now tutorial) and levels tweaked in PS.

I'm happy :)

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

These are my first ever DSO images after purchasing my new mount and scope (130pds and EQ5 Pro) last week, never had a EQ mount before so Its been a busy week  reading "making every photon count", learning to polar align, how to use DSS, balancing the scope, setting to home position and worrying about cone error!, but last night it all sort of came together i think. M31 is only 6 x 120 sec frames a few dark ones stacked in DSS and processed in photoshop and the other is a single 136 sec shot of M52 with a slight hint (i might be mistaken) of the bubble nebula NGC7635 in the top right corner. I've tried not to be too harsh with the processing and I need a coma corrector i think but i'm very pleased with the start i've made.

thanks for looking

Jason

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Edited by eyepod
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

This is my first attempt at DSO with Hyperstar and C11. No setup. Stuck the Hyperstar on the C11 and began taking pictures lol.  Begining of August 2015. M51, Single shot exposure of around 15 seconds, ISO3200, Cannon 50D unmodded,  heavily cropped....When the darker nights come, I hope to learn more about DS imaging :smiley:  I dont have a clue what I am doing but I enjoy it :tongue:

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

My first DSO image (not counting robotic scopes).

M17 Swan nebula taken at this year's Herstmonceux astronomy festival.

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It's a bit noisy and suffers from "manual filter wheel syndrome" (i.e. I ran out of time to collect Blue so this is Clear and Red combined) but even so I'm quite pleased with the result. It really looks like a swan and fits nicely onto the CCD frame!

Celestron Edge 8" with Atik 314L unguided

22x 10 secs luminance

11x 15 secs red

Polar alignment was a bit off hence the short exposures. Stacked in PixInsight with a curves transformation to improve contrast.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My version of M31 taken with a SW80ED and FR/FF + Canon 1000D DSLR, not cropped.

I was fortunate to be in the French Alps under dark skies, that made it much easier to get decent result. I only wish I had taken more lights (15x30secs @800ISO)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi guys. My first DSO image while waiting for my first telescope.

Andromeda taken with a Canon 50mm lens and a tripod last night. 4s X 120 F/ 1.4 ISO 800.

It's just a white blob, but i thought I'd share it anyway :)

Actually, you've got mych more than just a blob. Try stretching the image some more. I bet you will see lots more detail. You managed to capture the dustlanes in M31.

sent from my mobile device

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This was my first attempt at Orion's Nebula whilst in the desert of Abu Dhabi. Used a Nikon 5200 with Nexstar Evo 8. Would like to try stacking next time. Any feedback appreciated!

Nice image. Very good colours in your image. You already suggested the feedback, more lightframes and stacking.

Wim

sent from my mobile device

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  • 3 weeks later...

I thought this was so cool last year 2014.  My first picture M42.  Taken with 80mm Refractor - no guiding - single image -cropped.

The second one was taken last week with same refractor but with go-to tracking mount.  10 subs( ISO 1600 @ 90 seconds) , 5 darks. Preprocessed in Nebulosity.

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I thought this was so cool last year 2014.  My first picture M42.  Taken with 80mm Refractor - no guiding - single image -cropped.

The second one was taken last week with same refractor but with go-to tracking mount.  10 subs( ISO 1600 @ 90 seconds) , 5 darks. Preprocessed in Nebulosity.

That's a brilliant way to encourage beginners, Tim! It has to encourage people especially knowing it's the same scope.

Perhaps we should have a before and after my first year thread to cover how much your first faltering steps can improve. it cost me about £210 to go between these two shots (OK they are planets not DSOs:

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Perhaps we should have a specific before and after thread where people give an idea of the time between the two images and a rough idea of budget and equipment, focusing on the progress they made at the beginning, rather than when they could afford expensive gear?

Edited by Stub Mandrel
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I thought it might be encouraging for other beginners to see the progress that can be made if they stick with it.  For me, it took a lot of reading to figure things out.  The help I got here at SGL really speeded up the lurning curve.  It's wonderful that people here are so willing to help.  You can also find good teachers who post videos on YouTube that are very helpful.  I still consider myself a beginner but I'm happy with the results I am starting to get.

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I love your Saturn (before and after) images.  Planetary imaging is what I started out being interested in doing.  I still plan to get started in that when I get my new camera. 

Thanks for starting a very cool thread.

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