Newbie help

[Anthonyexmouth]

Hi, just getting to grips with my new setup and guiding. Imaged 21P and Heart Nebula last night but focus was a little so decided to grab a few pics of M57. Got 3 before battery died in my camera and was too tired to change. I know more is probably better but what should my starting point be for imaging something like M57 with my ED80, Canon 760d with astronimik cls filter, Heq5 and possibly guided. 

this was a single sub . 300s ISO 800. As a newbie am I better off picking a single target and trying to perfect that? any pointers on the kind of exp/ISO i should use as a starting point? what would be the best target to learn with, not just imaging but processing too. 

 

 

[Anthonyexmouth]

anyone?

[Allinthehead]

Hi Anthony. You might have better luck in the getting started with imaging section but if i were you i would start with something big and bright. North America Nebula, Elephants trunk, Andromeda for example. A good starting point would be Iso 800 and get as much data as possible. Watch your stars and only expose as long as they stay round. 

Richard.

[Anthonyexmouth]

thanks. been aiming for 800 as they seem to be quite clean even at longer 10 min subs. was a little confused on targets as not sure which ones appear without going into the realms of mono and filters. 

[david_taurus83]

I'd say 300s subs are just about right for a DSLR just lots of them! I'm starting to see on my current project that more is better. Currently on 6 hours of data but i want to double that as a cheeky stack yesterday revealed FAR more detail than the individual 600s subs. Just need to watch the temperature of the subs. Mine were coming in at 25°C last weekend and were quite noisy and had banding but with dithering they stack out well. M57 though looks teeny tiny on a DSLR sensor. Longer focal length prob best for that one.

[Adreneline]

Hi Anthony.

I started with Andromeda (in good position at present) and Orion (you'll need to wait a few weeks) using a Canon 70D and ED80+NEQ6Pro.

I decided to stick with ISO800 because it means you can keep using the same Dark and Bias files repeatedly.

I varied the exposure times a lot (15s - 300s) taking typically 30-50 subs at each exposure, and tried various different stacking arrangements in DSS.

I found going over 300s produced disappointing results because of the amout of light pollution around here.

Andromeda is really rewarding to image as it is big and there is so much to work on. You need short exposures to stop the core from blowing out and long exposures to reveal details in the out reaches of the galaxy. I played around a lot with layers in PS before moving on to use PI as well as PS. I still find Orion a real challenge to image in osc. I found moving on to RGB+Ha made a big difference but I am still to produce an image I feel happy with.

I also found M51 to be very rewarding and M101 although the latter is a real challenge because it is not a very bright object to image.

Astrophotography is probably the most challenging, frustrating and rewarding hobby I have ever had - not to mention expensive - but great fun though!

HTH

Adrian

 

[PeterCPC]

It might be worth getting a mains adapter for the camera so the battery doesn't "die". It will also help to keep the temperature down in the camera. Most of my imaging is done at ISO800 and 300secs subs. Dithering also helps to reduce noise in the images. Easy if you use Backyard EOS.

Peter

[Anthonyexmouth]

4 minutes ago, Adreneline said:

Hi Anthony.

I started with Andromeda (in good position at present) and Orion (you'll need to wait a few weeks) using a Canon 70D and ED80+NEQ6Pro.

I decided to stick with ISO800 because it means you can keep using the same Dark and Bias files repeatedly.

I varied the exposure times a lot (15s - 300s) taking typically 30-50 subs at each exposure, and tried various different stacking arrangements in DSS.

I found going over 300s produced disappointing results because of the amout of light pollution around here.

Andromeda is really rewarding to image as it is big and there is so much to work on. You need short exposures to stop the core from blowing out and long exposures to reveal details in the out reaches of the galaxy. I played around a lot with layers in PS before moving on to use PI as well as PS. I still find Orion a real challenge to image in osc. I found moving on to RGB+Ha made a big difference but I am still to produce an image I feel happy with.

I also found M51 to be very rewarding and M101 although the latter is a real challenge because it is not a very bright object to image.

Astrophotography is probably the most challenging, frustrating and rewarding hobby I have ever had - not to mention expensive - but great fun though!

HTH

Adrian

 

the view east is blocked for me so Andromeda is out of sight at the moment. i need to up my processing game too. 

[Adreneline]

11 minutes ago, Anthonyexmouth said:

i need to up my processing game too.

I would suggest that most APs would feel they can always improve their processing skills; methodologies that work for one target don't work so well for the next - it's a continual learning game. I still struggle with noise reduction and knowing when to stop stretching the data.

My other big issue when I first started was focussing. I still struggle but now have a method that works for me whether using my Canon (BYEoS) or Atik CCD (Artemis); try as I may I don't get on with a Bahtinov Mask.

Taking decent Flats was also a challenge although I now use an iPad App and it seems to work consistently well for me.

Good luck!

[AndrewG]

I too started with Andromeda in my Cannon days...… maybe checkout Astro Photography Tool (APT) gallery page, I am on the first page and the images have all the exposure settings I used for a standard Canon EOS 5D unmodified.

[Anthonyexmouth]

i got a mask the other day and couldnt believe how easy it was. my trick now is to learn to check focus more regularly.