Let's see your 1st DSOs

[MonsterMagnet]

On 09/11/2022 at 16:29, MonsterMagnet said:

This is my first attempt at a DSO, taken last week from Zone 2 central London - M42.

Didn't really know what I was doing and it's only a single image in the end from my ZWO 224.  Got a better idea what to do now though so will be giving it another go as soon as time and skies allow.

I was pretty excited with it anyway but hopefully will improve it massively over the winter, the one of M42 posted before me is just fabulous.

 

MM

OK, two weeks later, a little older and a lot wiser when it comes on how to image this on a camera not really designed for that and I managed to achieve this last night.

A definite improvement I would say.

MM

[imakebeer]

I shared this elsewhere the other day but I've only just found this thread. Anyway, for my first DSO attempt last week I had a go at M31 - still some way to go, lots to learn but it's a start.

Nikon D5500+ Nikkor 18-300mm lens on a very basic lightweight Alt-Az tripod  - working with what I have for now but working on getting a bigger scope and tracking mount!

I started wide open and took a series of exposures, gradually zooming in on M31, adjusting ISO and exposure time while simultaneously nudging the tripod this way and that to get M31 dead centre in the view, eventually working my way up to the full 300mm FL. Once I got there I took 18 shots (plus 5 dark) at 5s and ISO 4000, f/6.3 is as wide open as this lens goes at this FL. I have no idea if 18 shots is enough or not - I'd have done more but the battery in my remote shutter release died! 🤣 I could have used the built in timer and done loads but having got the shot lined up perfectly I figured pushing buttons on the camera would just upset everything.

I've run everything through Sequator and had a play around with the settings - this is the result I was happiest with. I'm moderately pleased, although I had hoped for a bit more - you can see nu- & 32-Andromeda towards the bottom of the image, and I think M110 in the background above the core of M31.

I want to get to grips with the post processing to understand if there's more can be squeezed out of the frames I have, or if a lot of work is also still needed on capturing too.

[MonsterMagnet]

On 09/11/2022 at 16:29, MonsterMagnet said:

This is my first attempt at a DSO, taken last week from Zone 2 central London - M42.

Didn't really know what I was doing and it's only a single image in the end from my ZWO 224.  Got a better idea what to do now though so will be giving it another go as soon as time and skies allow.

I was pretty excited with it anyway but hopefully will improve it massively over the winter, the one of M42 posted before me is just fabulous.

 

MM

So here we are two months later, still in Bortle 9 skies but more experienced and with better equipment and this is where we are now:

 

 

MM

[Penumbrella]

My first attempt proper, having watched a nebula photos video on YouTube I decided to try stacking shots using my Lumix Gx80 and my 130pds on my eq3-2 mount.

Having seen some amazing shots lately I decided to try and get the horsehead - mainly to see something that isn't visible through the eyepiece. Plus orions belt meant I could actually find it - I've only got the ra motor on the mount, no go-to, so it's got to be easy to find!

120 x 40 sec lights + 30 darks, 30 flats, and 30 bias frames. Stacked in DSS and then played with in Siril.

I've no idea what I'm doing - just looking at the frames I could see it clearly wasn't great polar alignment (I don't have a polar scope, so it's a bit rough!), and I'd never stretched a histogram before so there's loads to learn, but just staggered that I took this picture myself. 

 

 

 

Edited January 20 by Penumbrella

[Sunshine]

My first DSO? I'm not sure if you are all prepared for this, I took it from an international dark sky park in Michigan State, Headlands International Dark sky Preserve. It is my best DSO to date and my only one, please hold your praise,  I will be signing prints for sale. 

BEHOLD!! trust me, M31 is there...somewhere.

 

 

Edited January 20 by Sunshine

[jpoulette]

Wow - some of these are really great images. 👍

Give me a little time to get my first imaging set-up complete and I will definitely post.

I still have to choose a mount, but it looks like the AM5 has made it's way to the top of the list.

Then there's the issue of New England weather - no worries right? Stay tuned !

 

[Astrocarms]

First picture of M31 at the end of 2021 using basic tripod with Nixon D5200, I can’t remember settings, but processing wasn’t great and out of focus

Second attempt at start of 2022 after purchasing sky watcher  star adventurer 2i D5200 I think it was 20 x 120secs, processing in Photoshop 

 

Third attempt at the start of this year with new setup, eq6-r, 1600MM pro, asiair, guide scope and dew heaters. L 6 x 300 secs, RGB 10 each x 300 secs, taken over 2 nights, stacked and processed in Pixinsight, only just got it so a lot can be done to improve but happy with results so far! Planning to give the elephant trunk nebula in HSO a go when the next clear night arrives in Wales

[nickarp2000]

My very first attempt at a nebula with my rig and new equipment. It needs work and I know its a learning curve so be gentle with me please as I know I have probably made many mistakes. But I consider this a win win for me and my family were so impressed (which was delightful to see)

Equipment:

CEM60

Skywatcher Equinox 80ED Pro

Field flattener with 2" UV cut filter attached

ASi585MC

ZWO OAG with a ASI120MM (original not mini)

Guided with PHD2

Captured in NINA

Preprocessed in DSS and Siril and levels slightly messed with in GIMP

I believe the blue halos are really due to the OTA possibly not really being up to the job and possibly when I get a little more confident I could look at upgrading this.

Maybe I have overstretched it too much, not sure

Anyway 100 x 30sec lights plus 100 30 sec darks all taken on the 26th February 2023 from my Bortle 5 back garden.

[Elbasso]

My first ever Horsehead attempt.

- AZ-GTI in EQ mode, TS-Optics PhotoLine 60 mm f/6 FPL53 Apo, no Flattener, Canon EOS 800D (unmodded)

- 58 x 60s, including calibration frames

- Pre-processed in Siril 1.2, finalized with Photoshop.

[Elbasso]

On 29/01/2023 at 10:12, Astrocarms said:

First picture of M31 at the end of 2021 using basic tripod with Nixon D5200, I can’t remember settings, but processing wasn’t great and out of focus

Second attempt at start of 2022 after purchasing sky watcher  star adventurer 2i D5200 I think it was 20 x 120secs, processing in Photoshop 

 

Third attempt at the start of this year with new setup, eq6-r, 1600MM pro, asiair, guide scope and dew heaters. L 6 x 300 secs, RGB 10 each x 300 secs, taken over 2 nights, stacked and processed in Pixinsight, only just got it so a lot can be done to improve but happy with results so far! Planning to give the elephant trunk nebula in HSO a go when the next clear night arrives in Wales

That's a fairly dramatic improvement. Amazing photo!
Also a fairly significant improvement in gear and software 🙂

[Springles]

M81 and M65, taken on the 20th of April 2023. Still figuring out the whole setup (mucked up the alignment so was pretty pleased to even find these!). Live stacked in SharpCap (29s exposure, can't remember how many exposures for each) and tweaked a bit in Photoshop. Totally out of focus and I screwed up the colour balance, but I was pretty excited to actually image anything!

Celestron C8, ASI224MC (probably had the UV/IR cut filter attached at the time), AZ-EQ6 mount (EQ mode).

It's great to see examples of improvement like @Astrocarms M31 images above. It's very encouraging!

[Lucas M]

First ever attempt at deep sky imaging, and first time using photoshop, was aiming for the North America Nebula... I missed but got the Pelican Nebula next to is although its very faint... it is there, I promise, plate solving told me so...

 

Olympus OM-D EM10 Mkii, 300mm F6.7 with pig iron Astro clear light pollution filter

Star Adventurer GTi + ASIair mini 

ZWO ASI120mm Mini + Svbony 30mm F4 120mm guide scope

Frames 18 x 180s (00:54:00) ISO1000 (I had another 7 but bloody satellites...)

Calibration 10 bias 5 darks

Taken from Lytham St Annes coast on 25th May (well, 26th technically) Bortle 5 sky

Stacked in deep sky stacker and finished in photoshop