M82 - Cigar Galaxy (2nd ever attempt at imaging)

[ribuck]

Hi all,

This is my second ever attempt at imaging, so i'mpretty plreased with the results so far

Image was taken with a Skywatcher 200P 8" Netwtonian @F5 on a Heq5 pro using a Starlight Xpress MX916 guided with Star 2000 using MaximDL

The subs were as follows : L (10x150 secs), RGB (5x150 secs)

The image was then processed in photoshop.

(click to enlarge)

http://www.astrosky.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=14

Rich.

[Sam]

and you should be pleased! a very nice image, well done

[legion48]

Great image. I'm impressed that you're guiding at only your 2nd image. :shock:

[RobH]

Very nice :hello1: :hello1:

M82 was my second ever image too, but it didn't come out anywhere near as good as that.

Cheers

Rob

[thing]

Lovely shot Richard, looks like you have a knack for this!

[Psychobilly]

Vewry nice Image Richard...

Is that your Forum it's hosted on?

Billy...

[ribuck]

Yes that was my forum,

I just link it to that as it was easier to paste the link that just uploading.

I was asked to take the link off, andpost direct, so i've done that now.

[ribuck]

I'm really pleased that after lots of pain of getting everything working together, the guiding is working great, even to the point that the stars all look pretty round cloe to the edges even without a field flatner.

[ribuck]

Does anyone know if i would add any more detail if a Ha filter was used

[steppenwolf]

Excellent M82, Richard - you should indeed be very pleased with that image!

[barkis]

What a wonderful start Richard, you are well out of the blocks with this beauty. I hope I can get the same quality out of my 916. I bet you have forgotton all the problems you had

Ron.

[ribuck]

Hi Ron,

Yeah they seem a long way off, still never got round to sorting polealignmax though. doing a normal polar align seem to be good enough for the moment, but i do want look at it in the future to improve the initial pointing accuracy.

trouble now is having to stop myself spending a fortune on a new ccd until i can actually afford one

I do think i'll buy the atik electric USB filterwheel as that will make things a lot eaiser than my manual one.

[philj]

Yep you should be pleased thats a really good image, plenty of detail in the flame area, well done

Phil

[brendant]

Excellent M82 Richard, lovely colour and detail, you should indeed be pleased with the result

Brendan

[ribuck]

Yes i'm happy with the results, so its a good start, and i'm looking forward to seeing what my ccd can do.

I'm working on M81 at the moment and i'm very excited about that as it's looking very promising indeed from just the Luminance i've taken so far.

The Mx916 is a low res cam, but it's high sensativity due to it's large pixel Size more than makes up for it.

[barkis]

Hi Ron,

Yeah they seem a long way off, still never got round to sorting polealignmax though. doing a normal polar align seem to be good enough for the moment, but i do want look at it in the future to improve the initial pointing accuracy.

trouble now is having to stop myself spending a fortune on a new ccd until i can actually afford one

I do think i'll buy the atik electric USB filterwheel as that will make things a lot eaiser than my manual one.

Yes, the Atik USB Wheel will make the job a lot easier. I bought the electric wheel initially, then bought the USB controller which is a significant help. The biggest plus is it is reasonably cheap. I know the desire to buy is strong, but try to hold out till you have exhausted the capability of the MX916. At least it will hone your skills ready for the time you do go upmarket. I look forward to your M82 Image. I wonder how the 916 will cope with Narrowband Imaging.?

Cheers.

Ron.

[LostNSpace]

Nicely captured M82 Richard.......

Mark

[RobH]

Hello Rich.

There is really interesting Ha data in M82, but you'd need much longer exposures to capture it....10 minutes per sub at least.

I would stick with LRGB imaging for a bit, get your guiding good over long runs, and then go for an Ha filter.

Cheers

Rob