1 year on, first proper photos!

[Andyk93]

Hi, my first telescope was bought last Christmas. it was a Skywatcher 130P with eq2 mount. after about 6 months I had got more and more into astrophotography so after reading and reading I purchased an neq6 and a Skywatcher 130P-DS. The massive learning curve is a struggle at times.

Nearly 1 year on and last night was the first time I successfully guided 5 minute exposures. I would really like some feedback on 3 photo's from last night. All of the photos have been processed in pixinsight trial version and I followed a workflow from youtube.

pleiades

12 x 300 seconds with 20 bias frames

M33

9 x 300 seconds with 20 bias frames

Orion

5 x 300 seconds with 20 bias frames

light pollution is moderate.

All feedback appreciated, I would like to know where I'm going wrong so I can improve. If anybody would like to have a go at processing to see if my data is any good that would also be appreciated. thanks!

 

[SW130p]

Great images, well done, the 130p and pds are great scopes.

[MarsG76]

Great photos well done.

[D4N]

Very nice, the neq6 is a big step up from an eq2!

 

You should be able to get rid of the dark corner using DBE in PI, or you could take some flats

[Andyk93]

3 minutes ago, D4N said:

Very nice, the neq6 is a big step up from an eq2!

 

You should be able to get rid of the dark corner using DBE in PI, or you could take some flats

My Nikon d3300 doesn't have an auto av mode like canons so I'm struggling with it at the minute for flats. I will be getting an Astro modded canon soon so hopefully I can start taking flats for an improvement! I use DBE at the start, would it need applying twice for a better result? Thanks

[D4N]

Yes sometimes you will need to apply it again if you didn't take flats as the gradients may be too strong for it to deal with.  You may also need to manually place the samples and adjust the settings a bit.

I always used to take flats manually with my DSLR, just adjust exposure length until the histogram is between 1/3 and 2/3 for all channels.

[Andyk93]

Thanks! I'll give that a go, how would I check the histogram to make sure it is exposed enough? My DSLR isn't attached to my laptop outside so the following day I process the data

[D4N]

You should be able to view the histogram on the DSLR, some cameras have the option to temporarily overlay it every time you take a picture.

[cjdawson]

Feedback on those images....   in a work "great". That is all

[wimvb]

Very nice images. The orion neb has a dark edge (at least when viewed on my mobile phone). Sample placement in dbe is very critical for good results. Usually fewer (maybe not more than 20 for the entire image) but larger samples (11 pixels) is better. You can try to put samples around the edges and corners and some more towards the middle, avoiding stars and nebula. Also crop the edges to avoid stacking leftovers before doing dbe.

Good luck

[Andyk93]

5 hours ago, wimvb said:

Very nice images. The orion neb has a dark edge (at least when viewed on my mobile phone). Sample placement in dbe is very critical for good results. Usually fewer (maybe not more than 20 for the entire image) but larger samples (11 pixels) is better. You can try to put samples around the edges and corners and some more towards the middle, avoiding stars and nebula. Also crop the edges to avoid stacking leftovers before doing dbe.

Good luck

Thanks very much, this is exactly the pointers I'm looking for! It does have a dark edge so I'll have another go and post it up when I get chance

[ste7e]

I'm jealous of these images.

I'm in about the same position as you are.  Started with my first scope about a year ago.  That was a 130P on an EQ2 after six months upgraded to a 130P-DS on an HEQ5 and set up some guiding using PHD

A couple of nights ago I was having a go at M33, too.  This is my best effort.  I only went as far as 100s @ 800ASA - it looked like I was getting too much sky fog at anything longer.  I've also included one of my raw subs.

Should I be going for longer exposures and try to reduce the fog in post-processing?  Or, am I doing something else wrong?

 

[Andyk93]

How bad is your light pollution? I'm in a small town so light pollution is medium I would say, I use a sky watcher LP filter. My pictures do get whiter and whiter the longer my subs are but I can fix it in post processing

[ste7e]

I suppose it's medium to bad.  I live in the midlands but on the edge of a town (Newcastle-under-Lyme).

I was using a Baader neodymium filter.

So, should I let it overexpose to a light grey and then try to get detail back?

[AstroPhil]

Nice pictures! I'm a bit further behind in the learning curve but making progress slowly but surely. This is my latest M45 attempt taken through a WO ZS71 and 0.8 FR. Camera is a SX Ultrastar: 126 lights and no other processing (yet: job for later in the week!).

[Andyk93]

14 hours ago, ste7e said:

I suppose it's medium to bad.  I live in the midlands but on the edge of a town (Newcastle-under-Lyme).

I was using a Baader neodymium filter.

So, should I let it overexpose to a light grey and then try to get detail back?

I would say mine go slightly over exposed after 5 minute exposures but by the time it's been run through deepskystacker it's already fixed it

[Andyk93]

10 hours ago, AstroPhil said:

Nice pictures! I'm a bit further behind in the learning curve but making progress slowly but surely. This is my latest M45 attempt taken through a WO ZS71 and 0.8 FR. Camera is a SX Ultrastar: 126 lights and no other processing (yet: job for later in the week!).

Thanks, it seems to have all come together at once. After feeling like your getting nowhere for a while. That's a great picture 

[ste7e]

Maybe I'll have a go at ignoring the glare from the LCD and do it anyway.  5 mins at what ISO?

[AstroPhil]

Thanks. I'm still struggling to understand the ideal way of adjusting levels and the "power stretch" to tease out the nicest image - I either get some nebulosity, or stars, but never both (or, at least not "nicely" as it were). So, more playing to do. As well as darks/flats. My mount is an older Vixen SP making long exposures a challenge!

[Andyk93]

Yesterday I did 8 600 second subs. Seems like my guiding is pretty good so I might even push it further next time! The target was andromeda. I'm having a real hard time processing this because as soon as I ramp up the colours I get awful green gradients. 

[wimvb]

That's a great image.

To get rid of the green, in PS try Hasta La Vista Green (HLVG), in PI try SCNR on green.

If you create a mask that protects the background, you can to a selective colour saturation.

[Dbswales]

Fab captures. I love the M42 in particular. Sweet. 

[Astrosurf]

Lovely images! Andromeda doesn't have much in the way of colour so I would just concentrate on detail.

Alexxx

[SonnyE]

This is terrible. Just awful!

I've been struggling along for almost 2 years now and you are far ahead of me on the learning curve. Way up the hill.

Beautiful images! Keep at it!

[Andyk93]

19 hours ago, wimvb said:

That's a great image.

To get rid of the green, in PS try Hasta La Vista Green (HLVG), in PI try SCNR on green.

If you create a mask that protects the background, you can to a selective colour saturation.

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to do a re-process tonight so I'll post up the results