M42, 127mm Mak, Alt Az mount

[Bobby1970]

About 20 exposures of 6 seconds each.

127mm Mak with Sony A57 on a Skywatcher Alt Az goto mount.

Thanks for looking.

M42 5-2-15.tif

[Coco]

Good effort  

[Bobby1970]

Thanks for the comment. It is very noisy but for the "wrong" equipment for imaging it still shows it is possible to get something.

[PeterCPC]

You might get more responses if you include your image as a thumbnail - some people (me included) don't like downloading files.

Peter

[Bobby1970]

I will attempt to do so when at my laptop.

[Bobby1970]

Maybe more like this?? :-

[Guest]

That's a cool blue in the trapezium - that's what I like about people who experiment with "the wrong equipment" as you put it - you get a twist on an object that you don't normally see - I like it :-)

David

[Bobby1970]

Thanks for the comment. Even though my images are no where near the quality of some of the people with EQ mounts and APO scopes, i am still more than happy with what i have achieved with my equipment. It is slightly annoying when someone new enquires about imaging, only to be told unequivically that they cannot do it with an alt az goto mount. 

I beg to differ, it can be done, but it is much more limited and the results will not be as good as having the EQ mount and APO refractor etc. However you don't need to spend anywhere near the same amount to achieve some sort of imaging. 

Re the colour, all i did was play around with the curves and the saturation levels to sort of "bring the colour out" a bit. 

[PeterCPC]

You might like to have a look at this thread http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/208673-deep-sky-images-with-an-altaz-mount-and-no-wedge/

Peter

[jimbo747]

Thanks for the comment. Even though my images are no where near the quality of some of the people with EQ mounts and APO scopes, i am still more than happy with what i have achieved with my equipment. It is slightly annoying when someone new enquires about imaging, only to be told unequivically that they cannot do it with an alt az goto mount. 

I beg to differ, it can be done, but it is much more limited and the results will not be as good as having the EQ mount and APO refractor etc. However you don't need to spend anywhere near the same amount to achieve some sort of imaging. 

Re the colour, all i did was play around with the curves and the saturation levels to sort of "bring the colour out" a bit. 

The colour is excellent, and the stars are nice and sharp. Did you try longer than 6s at all? I managed 10s with my cheapo £5 webcam on my alt az 127 Mak but the focus was a fair bit off so my stars were much larger but I captured a bit more of the gas and dust. Where orion is in the early evening I can't see why 20-30s can't be attempted with our kit!

Wish I know how to post process, my first DSO image came out in just orange.

[Bobby1970]

Thanks for the comment.

I have done some imaging previously with my ST102 on the goto mount and not been able to get above 20 sec before the field rotation becomes noticable I think it maybe an issue with balancing the scope on the goto mount adequately???? Also the position of whatever you are trying to image in the sky does affect the length of subs before the rotation kicks in too afaik.

I will have another go at some point with the Mak and also maybe another go with the ST102 also. For me part of the challenge is seeing what i can do with the "wrong equipment"

Heres a link to some of my astro shots, some are done with a webcam, which unfortunately i do not have any more but i may get one to try some better planetary shots.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/44820677@N03/sets/72157629273285927/

[jimbo747]

Some good shots there, really like your m31 where you did 40x20s on the 102.

I've yet to get a decent one of Jupiter, been really cloudy or misty last week or so here.

[Erquy]

well done.

Continue, add more subs and try 15 sec. I manage 15 sec with my sky max 127 Alt/az and simple unmodded 1100d. I need to disregard maybe 20-30% of the subs, but typically due to some vibration, the mount is not stable at all. I managed to push to 25 sec also.

http://stargazerslounge.com/gallery/image/17221-orion/

and try also M51, clusters, M45:

http://stargazerslounge.com/gallery/album/2295-first-images-skymax-102-dslr/

(processed with Nebulosity)

No "wrong equipment", simple more precautions and a bit more of work to process ;-), and you can still enjoy some astrophoto at a (extremely)  low budget for some few easy targets.

[Erquy]

forgot to say, my MAK is the 102, not the 127.

[Gina]

Great stuff   I like to see images taken on "the wrong equipment" - I take the view "nothing ventured, nothing gained"   Thank you for posting