My first attempt at imaging Cassiopeia

[daveangie0110]

Hi all

This is my first attempt at imaging Cassiopeia, is Cassiopeia a bit early to start imaging as it was not very high in the sky ? I am not 100% happy with the image as I thought I would get more detail.

Canon 600D, 50mm lens at F4, ISO 800, 20x120 secexposures.

Any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks

[StargeezerTim]

That is a very nice image. You could try increasing contrast through small doses of curves, boosting the brighter areas a tad and darkening the dark areas. If you have PS, I find the camera raw filter can do wonders. Move the detail slider to the right a bit and see what happens. This area of sky really benefits from an astro modded camera. Just above the double cluster at the bottom is the heart and soul nebulas, though they are invisible without a modded camera .

[Galactic Wanderer]

What software did you use? Nice image!

[daveangie0110]

Thanks all,

My wife uses LR and PS but she is still getting use to editing my astro images.

[laudropb]

Very nice first attempt.

[wimvb]

Nice image.

Depending on brand and model, unmodded DSLRs CAN pick up Ha, but it will be more difficult to get decent images. You will also need the longest exposures your setup can handle.

There is even a hint of Ha in your image.

Here's a recent example of what can be achieved with an unmodded DSLR.

I think that with a 50 mm lens, you should be able to double the exposure time. A light pollution filter may help enhancing some of the Ha.

Of course, a modified camera will always have the advantage.

[ollypenrice]

We have been imaging in Cassiopeia all night and nearly every night for the last three weeks. It's ideally placed for all night runs without getting anywhere near needing a meridian flip. So I'd call it an optimal target for now. However, for a short imaging run and in one shot colour you'd get the best results by leaving it late enough to climb higher in the sky.

Nevertheless, you have it!

Olly

[wimvb]

Other thiings you may test on this target:

try to expose each frame such that the peak of the histogram in the camera display is free from the left hand side

use a higher ISO setting with at least the same exposure time (120 sec) per frame

take lots of subs (100 or so) to bring the noise down

stop the lens down to f/5.6, as it seems that you still have quite some chromatic abberation left in your image.

 

BTW, to get an idea of what you could capture, here's your image, solved in PixInsight