1st DSO ever - M31

[Vox45]

Got back from the alps, still amazed by the clear skies

After carefully planning I ran into a couple of issues. The cold being one of them (I was surprised that it could get so cold even in the summer) but mostly the fact that there was a frigging full moon ! Now that was one big oversight when I booked the trip...

No Plan Survives Contact With the Enemy (Sun Tzu)

The other issue was that on the first 2 nights I did not prepare during daylight. Very hard to set every thing up when it is dark and that you are freezing. On the first night I realized that polaris was behind the rooftop so I had to move up a little hill and when I got there everything was misaligned so I stopped and did a bit of visual. On the 2nd night I did not polar align properly and had a hard time guiding.

the 3rd night was better, I set everything up during daylight, then did a PA when Polaris showed up and it was still clear outside. I was able to guide and I was excited to see that all my targets were dead center on the sensor when using the goto.

I have little to show for, but this is my first DSO ever and I am satisfied to see that the stars are roundish until the edge, that I was able to guide for 300s and that the target is centered.

My regret is that I only took 1 hour worth of light frame, I should have gone with more but it was really late and I was cold

M31 (uncropped) / 12x 300s light frames ISO 800 / 5x darks / 5x bias / 5x flats / no PI or PS just stack in DSS fiddled with contrast

As this is the 1st time, I have a hard time evaluating if this suffers from (1) star bloating (2) guiding issues (3) bad focus .... Please comment and criticize, all advices are welcome.

[xtreemchaos]

i think thats a lovely image,you have done well for you first DSO, you have some nice detail. thanks for sharing  charl

[gnomus]

I don't see an awful lot wrong with it. You just need another couple of hours (or more) of data.

[Tzitzis]

I thinks it's a nice picture you got there. It's not bad for first attempt. It's a bit different from other pics of M31 but not in a bad way

Keep rolling!

Cheers from Greece Tzitzis

[Vox45]

thanks guys for your encouragement ! Nice to know that I am on the right path. Now that I have data to work with I can start investing in Pixinsight and learn the basics of image processing !

M31 is a big target for my DSLR anyway (I'll try my luck at mosaic the next time, but that is a different ball park)

I thinks it's a nice picture you got there. It's not bad for first attempt. It's a bit different from other pics of M31 but not in a bad way

Keep rolling!

Cheers from Greece Tzitzis

thanks I know what you mean as I was put to shame by this thread http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/252062-first-attempt-at-andromeda-galaxy/?p=2747334

[Fluk3skywalker]

I had my first view of M31 last night! Amazing photo there!

[laudropb]

Very nice first attempt. Thanks for posting.

[Alien 13]

Very good image I am sure there is more in the data that can be teased out.

Alan

[Vox45]

Very good image I am sure there is more in the data that can be teased out.

Alan

I learned from you guys that you always keep you data for futur processing as new tools, technology and experience progress I may be able to get more out of it .. or not

[glowjet]

You have to start somewhere and as this your first posted image of a DSO, you should feel pleased with the outcome. I would certainly not, as you say, be put to shame with the image taken by others that you quote, although you may be using the same processing, you don`t have a TAK FSQ85 and an Atik 460EX camera, if you did, then it would be time to compare results. 

You are certainly on the right road and I am sure you will be well rewarded by future images that you take

[Tzitzis]

thanks guys for your encouragement ! Nice to know that I am on the right path. Now that I have data to work with I can start investing in Pixinsight and learn the basics of image processing !

M31 is a big target for my DSLR anyway (I'll try my luck at mosaic the next time, but that is a different ball park)

thanks I know what you mean as I was put to shame by this thread http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/252062-first-attempt-at-andromeda-galaxy/?p=2747334

If I told you I prefer yours better would you believe me? Yours feels more natural, not too hubble like...

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Excellent first DSO!

[Vox45]

You have to start somewhere and as this your first posted image of a DSO, you should feel pleased with the outcome. I would certainly not, as you say, be put to shame with the image taken by others that you quote, although you may be using the same processing, you don`t have a TAK FSQ85 and an Atik 460EX camera, if you did, then it would be time to compare results. 

You are certainly on the right road and I am sure you will be well rewarded by future images that you take

Yes I should not compare with others but only with myself so thank you for putting thing in perspective and I'm happy to see that I'm on the right track, for the most part because of this forum where I've learned since I joined a year ago !

[Stub Mandrel]

I'd be pleased with that. What focal length did you use?

[Vox45]

Thanks !

I used a 80ED with the .85 reducer. This gave me a FL of 480mm at f6 from 600mm originally (f7.5)

[Stub Mandrel]

Excellent, my scope only gave me the central part, but I've got an 400mm f6.3 lens that should be just the job. I never made much use of it back in the 80s/90s but I discovered a bloom on an internal lens and took the drastic route of dismantling and cleaning it and a test on chimney pots this morning gave nice sharp results.

[Vox45]

good for you !

I had excellent skies so that might have helped also, and a modded DSLR (not sure if that applies to galaxies really) ... now I wish I had taken more light frames

[Stub Mandrel]

I just realised one big advantage of using a camera lens - I sat here at my desk and took 8 bias frames and 8 flats using a painted wall. I took two shots in each of four orientations which should even out any gradient in the illumination (which is from a diffused light source and appears very even. Wish me luck!

<edit> bud spilling </edit>

[NigeB]

"I have little to show for, but this is my first DSO ever and I am satisfied to see that the stars are roundish until the edge, that I was able to guide for 300s and that the target is centered."

​I'd say you have a lot to show for your effort - that's your first? It's excellent! My first was... un-postable.

Don't underestimate how much time / money / blood pressure people spend trying to get round stars, and edge-to-edge sharpness. Your background looks pretty flat as well (no really obvious vignetting or gradients). Perhaps a minor bit of adjustment to make the sky background just a little darker? But then again it was full moon...

Nice.

[Vox45]

You are right ! I looked at some other M31 that are posted on the forum and noticed that my sky was a bit greyish ... thank you for pointing that out !

I still have a lot to learn on the processing part ... there are still a lot of concept I don't even understand (stretching, curves, etc)

If someone wants to give it a try, I have zipped all the data (light/dark/bias/flats) on this dropxbox public link

[Vox45]

My eyes are bleeding after spending a lot of time playing with all the settings... I am not even sure anymore if this is an improvement I'll let people be the judge

[Stub Mandrel]

Looks jolly spiffing to me!

[Vox45]

thanks I have to admit that I had to google "jolly spiffing"

I am more and more convinced that I should hold on to any (good) data that I have. Surely, as my skill will improve (god willing) I will be able to produce better results...

[Tzitzis]

That's even better mate!

[Vox45]

thanks !

The problem is that after a while you don't even know what it should look like Isn't there something called the 'hubble palet' or some guideline on how DSO look or is this something that people can go wild and express their artistic side for better or worst ?!