Dumbbell Nebula

[p14b]

Hi All

My 1st go at this as i have only just really started to try imaging (my 3rd pic).

Where as some of you will get everything setup and be very organised, well think of me as the exact opposite with Zero to 10% of knowing what i'm actually doing, plus half my gear was on its first outing.

It was Tuesday night 11pm, sky was cloudy moon was near full and rising and LP is always joke in Hindley/Wigan, but the BBC weather told me clear skies soon so i carried on setting up my gear as it really only gets dark between 12:30 - 02:30 ish.

As i had just overhauled and flocked my C9.25 i thought i would test it with my new CGEM mount and GPS, all set up with polar alignment waiting for GPS to kick in, places me in north USA in 1934 LOL! in the end i got something like but it was still out by 80mins (Dont ask!) 

2 star align was way off and 2 calibrating stars where not even in my finder, plus with the rolling clouds it was taking an age, in the end i aligned on just Vaga as i do know the Dumbbell is in that area, plus it was the clearing overhead by now.

Its was 2am (just checked the time on my subs) so i choose Dumbbell and luckily it was near to CFOV so i took some 30sec subs as i don't want to get into guiding as of yet.

My DSLR Nikon D5300 i find is a great camera to start with, but for some reason it was set for 6MP not 24MP (only noticed after) ,  but i did manage about 12 subs and about 6 dark's (30s ISO1600) 

In the end i got 8 usable light frames as some where ruined by tracking being out and some by my cat setting off a security light whist walking my fence.

Processing went along the same way as my imaging, i'm new to DSS and for some reason my RAW NEF files where turning out badly, it seems it could only read 62 stars ??  but at last i had some luck as my Camera was set to RAW + Fine so i had all my NEF files in JPEG as well, and for some reason DSS counted 1000s of stars in these so i just used them for now without Dark's, i think i got 7 of the 8 JPEG lights stacked, adjusted it slightly then sent it into lightroom where i would best describe myself as being like a 4yr old turning knobs and moving sliders until i got the image below.

To be honest i really liked the way the finished image turned out, id even settle for 2nd place  , I'm happy to say i'm a recovering Alcoholic of 10years in Oct-17 (It was actually Halloween night i gave it up "that was 1 hell of a weird night!!") having turned to Astronomy shortly afterwards i never look back, its been great fun visually, and i will treat my AP the same way, as fun not work. hope you like the image and have gained a better insight to me as a person, as i have been on here a while but in truth i like to keep myself to myself.

Clear skies Paul    

 

Dumbbell Neb, C9.25/CGEM/Nikon-D5300 6x 30sec lights at ISO1600 (JPEG only no darks), processed with DSS+Lightroom by blindly pressing buttons 

[Mick J]

What a sweet post and a sweet picture, that's very nice Paul, many thanks

[geordie85]

A very nice, humble looking image. I like it 

[Galen Gilmore]

Nice job! Funnily enough last night was my first go at the dumbbell nebula too, my 3rd time out imaging too!

[p14b]

2 hours ago, Galen Gilmore said:

Nice job! Funnily enough last night was my first go at the dumbbell nebula too, my 3rd time out imaging too!

Thanks for your nice comment and good luck to you, it seems were both on the same path in very different locations but at the same time.

So how did it go for you last night! did you get any good images? 

[Galen Gilmore]

10 minutes ago, p14b said:

Thanks for your nice comment and good luck to you, it seems were both on the same path in very different locations but at the same time.

So how did it go for you last night! did you get any good images? 

Thanks! I was able to get 15x30 seconds, 10 darks. All of the images looked fine, but I have yet top stack and process them yet. Looking foreword to doing it later today . 

Good luck to you on this very expensive hobby. 

[p14b]

3 minutes ago, Galen Gilmore said:

Thanks! I was able to get 15x30 seconds, 10 darks. All of the images looked fine, but I have yet top stack and process them yet. Looking foreword to doing it later today . 

Good luck to you on this very expensive hobby. 

15 > I wish id got more subs but it was a disaster of a night (But fun) my actual outing was worse than id described, but i didn't wana bore people to death, as id accidentally left my Bahtinov Mask on my scope for about 10 shots before i noticed. 

I must admit i have done this every time out imaging, Makes a nice pattern    

Yes things can soon get really bad on the Bank balance, but only if you let it !!, i'm happy with the DSLR and no guiding. 

Can i ask what software you use and have you tried to get or figure out how to get Flat-Frames yet? this is my next step as uneven field illumination can be hard to remove, i have read up on Flats but its the settings i'm unsure of! as my DSLR will not 

work on AV or aperture priority without a camera Lens, so it would all have to be done in Manual mode.  

Enjoy your process later and i hope you post your image 

Thx Paul  

[Galen Gilmore]

1 hour ago, p14b said:

15 > I wish id got more subs but it was a disaster of a night (But fun) my actual outing was worse than id described, but i didn't wana bore people to death, as id accidentally left my Bahtinov Mask on my scope for about 10 shots before i noticed. 

I must admit i have done this every time out imaging, Makes a nice pattern    

Yes things can soon get really bad on the Bank balance, but only if you let it !!, i'm happy with the DSLR and no guiding. 

Can i ask what software you use and have you tried to get or figure out how to get Flat-Frames yet? this is my next step as uneven field illumination can be hard to remove, i have read up on Flats but its the settings i'm unsure of! as my DSLR will not 

work on AV or aperture priority without a camera Lens, so it would all have to be done in Manual mode.  

Enjoy your process later and i hope you post your image 

Thx Paul  

I use DSS and PS, the basic of basics! No I have not tried flat frames yet, I have heard you should use 5-20 second exposure based on what kind of camera you have but I honestly have no idea. My scopes dust cap has a secondary removable cap, so I was wondering if I could hold my phone up to the hole and do it that way? 

I was trying to get an exposure of more than 30 seconds, but the Fuji xt-1 is very strange in that regard. I spent half of my imaging time fumbling through menus before I gave into the 30 second exposures. It wasn't until I had packed up and went inside that I figured out how to do those 60 sec exposures! DOH! 

[p14b]

6 minutes ago, Galen Gilmore said:

I use DSS and PS, the basic of basics! No I have not tried flat frames yet, I have heard you should use 5-20 second exposure based on what kind of camera you have but I honestly have no idea. My scopes dust cap has a secondary removable cap, so I was wondering if I could hold my phone up to the hole and do it that way? 

I was trying to get an exposure of more than 30 seconds, but the Fuji xt-1 is very strange in that regard. I spent half of my imaging time fumbling through menus before I gave into the 30 second exposures. It wasn't until I had packed up and went inside that I figured out how to do those 60 sec exposures! DOH! 

I too use DDS and Lightroom (much the same really) My Nikon D5300 menu's also took i little getting use to, but now i know where most settings are and its quite simple, i have also downloaded a few APPs on my phone to control my camera remotely using the Bulb setting this is great as i can set it for 20 x 30sec exposures with 2sec intervals, or any numbers in truth! then sit back and relax ,  Is there not any APPs you could use on your phone to help this way , i can even see my camera live view on my phone this really helps and it saves all the messing around trying to find buttons on your DSLR in the dark. 

As for Flat frames its my understanding you need the light source at the end of your scope set up! even beyond the dew shield if your using one, as it will also help remove any dust or smudge marks on mirrors or lenses, there is some good info on the DDS Q &A page here    http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html

Some people use a laptop as the light source, with a white t-shirt covering the end of the scope, and that's my other big problem as my C925 is 10 inches if i was to fully cover it with a light source. i'm still reading up on it as many peoples views do differ on Flat Frames.

If you really wana laugh > last year i was tying eyepiece imaging just using my mobile to get a few Pics of Saturn! gave it up as i thought it was rubbish until i realised id spent 2 hours taking pics of a near by star called Spica. The moral of that story is always make sure your finder scope and actual scope are aligned to the same place or star  (but i can boast that i have probably the biggest collection of Spica pics)

This is probably the main reason i generally keep myself to myself, if i went to a star party id be the one walking through someones cables.

Joking aside! some of the images i'v taken have turned out a lot better than i could of hoped for, my skies are not great here! but i'm amazed with a little work at what Images can be taken.

[Galen Gilmore]

1 hour ago, p14b said:

I too use DDS and Lightroom (much the same really) My Nikon D5300 menu's also took i little getting use to, but now i know where most settings are and its quite simple, i have also downloaded a few APPs on my phone to control my camera remotely using the Bulb setting this is great as i can set it for 20 x 30sec exposures with 2sec intervals, or any numbers in truth! then sit back and relax ,  Is there not any APPs you could use on your phone to help this way , i can even see my camera live view on my phone this really helps and it saves all the messing around trying to find buttons on your DSLR in the dark. 

As for Flat frames its my understanding you need the light source at the end of your scope set up! even beyond the dew shield if your using one, as it will also help remove any dust or smudge marks on mirrors or lenses, there is some good info on the DDS Q &A page here    http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html

Some people use a laptop as the light source, with a white t-shirt covering the end of the scope, and that's my other big problem as my C925 is 10 inches if i was to fully cover it with a light source. i'm still reading up on it as many peoples views do differ on Flat Frames.

If you really wana laugh > last year i was tying eyepiece imaging just using my mobile to get a few Pics of Saturn! gave it up as i thought it was rubbish until i realised id spent 2 hours taking pics of a near by star called Spica. The moral of that story is always make sure your finder scope and actual scope are aligned to the same place or star  (but i can boast that i have probably the biggest collection of Spica pics)

This is probably the main reason i generally keep myself to myself, if i went to a star party id be the one walking through someones cables.

Joking aside! some of the images i'v taken have turned out a lot better than i could of hoped for, my skies are not great here! but i'm amazed with a little work at what Images can be taken.

The Fuji is so confusing! It's got a million different dials and menus within menus within menus. (menus-ception). On Bulb mode you can only go up to 30 seconds, on T (time?) mode you have to hold the button down for the dururation that you want to expose. That has obvious drawbacks, first is your shaking the camera as you hold the button down. Second, I don't want to press down a button for 60 seconds 10+ times. The way I figured it out is you have to use interval shooting which is used for shooting timelapses, but it can adapted for this use. There is an app that I can use, but it has the same problem, can't go past 30 seconds. My best bet for doing this kind of thing regularly is to get an intervalometer.

TBH I'm not even going to mess with taking flat frames for now, I'm good with what I'm doing for now. Although I should learn in case I have that urge to upgrade my photos.

That reminds of a time just a couple weeks ago when I was at a local astronomy park with another SGL'er. And a couple of people who where new to astronomy came with a rental telescope, they came to us because they were having trouble working their new scope, so we naturally came to help. It turns out they had their telescope pointed at the ground, a silly but normal mistake for a beginner. We invited them to o take a look through our scopes if they wanted, but they never did and left five minutes later. It was funny at the time, but it makes me sad to see another person become uninterested because of an embarrassing mistake.

I too have been amazed at the results I have been getting, they have exceeded my expectations by a lot. I thought I would be getting stacked images that looked like my current images strait out of the camera.

 

[Peco4321]

Great image I love this target. Been trying on this with 30 sec exposures, but the weather is not on my side. Got a nice image from 45 sec exposures from last week but obviously can't submit it here ?

This hobby is great for just simply taking over your thoughts, and in your case, in a really positive way, well done. I love having an interest like this, I can research, read, browse, then observe, and basic imaging on top. Keep looking up. 

[steppenwolf]

This is a nice image and the even better news is that there is still more detail to be extracted from it with just a little stretching using 'Levels' - well captured!

[tomato]

Nice image, l love the subtle colours.

I'm concentrating on the Dumbell to get to grips with my new LRGB camera, but l am not there yet...

Regards

Steve