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What the hell. I’m so confused.


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Okay so first proper light with my new scope. 

I pointed my evostar 80ED at Orion (as you do 😅). 

I only had about 30 minutes spare. And just as I was about to go in I decided to sneak the camera onto the scope for the first time to see how Orion came out. This was the result of a SINGLE 11 second exposure with NO editing whatsoever. 

How on Earth does it look this good?!

this is straight off the camera. I’m blown away. Is this just luck? Or is that what I should expect?

7B387733-120F-413D-8476-76B5B08633DC.jpeg

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Haha, that's how it starts, welcome to the dark side! I am thankful for sticking a sensor in the scope just in time before the aperture fever was about to strike.

... But then came the mount fever, the cooled ccd fever, the filter fever, the pc & astro processing software fever, the....

Enjoy!

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An excellent result...I'd quit while you're ahead!

More seriously, like a lot of things in astronomy, a law of diminishing returns sets in looking at the improvement you get for extra time, cost and effort. And your standards go up with more experience which only adds to the sense of frustration...

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13 minutes ago, Paul M said:

That's great! But it'll go pear shaped when you start up the image processing software! 

Stack two frames like the one above and it'll be down hill from there :)

I’m trying to work out if you are being serious 😅 subtlety is not my forte. Why would it go pear shaped? I thought stacking was meant to improve results 😂😂

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3 minutes ago, R26 oldtimer said:

Haha, that's how it starts, welcome to the dark side! I am thankful for sticking a sensor in the scope just in time before the aperture fever was about to strike.

... But then came the mount fever, the cooled ccd fever, the filter fever, the pc & astro processing software fever, the....

Enjoy!

This is what is so strange. It’s a tiny 80mm scope... on an unmodded camera..... with no auto guided....

dont get me wrong.... overall I would have to say that I got a better visual view with my 200p as it is enormous.... but this image has just blown me away. 

I am exceedingly happy with my HEQ5 though... so I don’t think I would need to upgrade it. In fact, Based on this result, I am happy with my whole set up 

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1 minute ago, willcastle said:

I’m trying to work out if you are being serious 😅 subtlety is not my forte. Why would it go pear shaped? I thought stacking was meant to improve results 😂😂

I 'avin a laff :)

But seriously, it can't get simpler than your image above.

Add complexity and things can go wrong in ways you'd never imagine :)

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5 minutes ago, rl said:

An excellent result...I'd quit while you're ahead!

More seriously, like a lot of things in astronomy, a law of diminishing returns sets in looking at the improvement you get for extra time, cost and effort. And your standards go up with more experience which only adds to the sense of frustration...

Okay point taken. That’s it from me. My astrophotography days are officially over. 

I know that at some point I’m going to be pursuing the impossible (perfection), but I want to push my current set up as far as it can go to see what it can truly do.  

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1 minute ago, Paul M said:

I 'avin a laff :)

But seriously, it can't get simpler than your image above.

Add complexity and things can go wrong in ways you'd never imagine :)

Oh haha 😅😅 I did think so. I thought it would take me years to get a photo like this..... not 11 seconds on my first attempt 😂😂

complexity does have its benefits though:

- noise reduction

- extra detail

- can create a HDR style image that allows me to have less exposure on the trapezium stars in the centre 

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Just now, willcastle said:

Oh haha 😅😅 I did think so. I thought it would take me years to get a photo like this..... not 11 seconds on my first attempt 😂😂

complexity does have its benefits though:

- noise reduction

- extra detail

- can create a HDR style image that allows me to have less exposure on the trapezium stars in the centre 

Absolutely.

And I'm sure you'll do great. Luckily I have the excuse of having no free time to keep me safe from the imaging black hole!

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15 minutes ago, Paul M said:

Absolutely.

And I'm sure you'll do great. Luckily I have the excuse of having no free time to keep me safe from the imaging black hole!

Now here’s the thing: I also have literally no free time either (I am a teacher and the workload never seems to end). I felt lucky I had half an hour to get out there tonight. But I have decided this hobby is totally a marathon and not a sprint. Changing my perspectives a bit is making me enjoy everything so much more. I used to get so angry with clouds and the weather. Now I’m very laid back about it all 😅

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It is a damned good image, and one to be proud of.

M42 is a very right target though. To the point where to achieve the best results you need to blend different exposures into a High Dynamic Range image. Very few targets are that bright, so it does get a bit more difficult, but it was M42 taken on an 80mm refractor with an unmodded DSLR that seduced me into imaging!

Try the pleiades next time you get a chance and see if you can pick up the reflection nebula, or the Andromeda Galaxy M31. These were other early targets that convinced me imaging was worth while.

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Crackin', mate! I was quite chuffed with my first DSLR image of M42 as well. My first images outright of M42 was using the planetary imaging approach (processing video) and though things were overexposed and stars were bloated I was excited! But once I tried just hooking up my DSLR to my scope I was blown away with the detail. I tried different exposure times, trying to get some resolution on the Trapezium while still highlighting the nebula. I couldn't stop there, though, lol! ;)

Congratulations!

Reggie :D 

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It really is a kick, isn't it? Orion is a great target, it's easy to get something amazing and you can spend a career getting something just a little bit better every time. I certainly haven't gotten an image of it yet that really satisfies me, but I've done a bunch I'm proud of nevertheless.

And by "easy", please don't think I'm implying that you have a run-of-the-mill first result there. Yours is amazinger :-).

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Do you mind posting original sub, unless that exact jpeg came out of the camera?

Fact that above image is 1920x1280 means that either you or camera made image smaller. If this image as is came from camera - then Canon probably implemented very nice way to reduce image size - use of algorithms similar to binning.

Additional thing that can happen is jpeg smoothing. In any case, combination of those parameters could make image look as x10 longer exposure, so image was not in fact 11s but about 110 seconds.

Still impressive result.

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4 hours ago, vlaiv said:

Do you mind posting original sub, unless that exact jpeg came out of the camera?

Fact that above image is 1920x1280 means that either you or camera made image smaller. If this image as is came from camera - then Canon probably implemented very nice way to reduce image size - use of algorithms similar to binning.

Additional thing that can happen is jpeg smoothing. In any case, combination of those parameters could make image look as x10 longer exposure, so image was not in fact 11s but about 110 seconds.

Still impressive result.

Yes I will post the original picture tomorrow if I can (I am not home tonight so don't have my camera). I took the original image in RAW. Canon has an app that allows you to wirelessly transfer an image to your phone and when you do that it automatically converts the image to a JPEG. Can I upload the RAW file or will I need to convert it? But either way, it looks very close, if not identical to the above image.

But thanks for the feedback :)

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4 hours ago, rickwayne said:

It really is a kick, isn't it? Orion is a great target, it's easy to get something amazing and you can spend a career getting something just a little bit better every time. I certainly haven't gotten an image of it yet that really satisfies me, but I've done a bunch I'm proud of nevertheless.

And by "easy", please don't think I'm implying that you have a run-of-the-mill first result there. Yours is amazinger :-).

Yeah I have been transfixed by Orion for as long as I can remember. I know I have a long way to go to get a really detailed image but i will still blown away by a simple 11 second exposure. 

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22 hours ago, willcastle said:

Okay so first proper light with my new scope. 

I pointed my evostar 80ED at Orion (as you do 😅). 

I only had about 30 minutes spare. And just as I was about to go in I decided to sneak the camera onto the scope for the first time to see how Orion came out. This was the result of a SINGLE 11 second exposure with NO editing whatsoever. 

How on Earth does it look this good?!

this is straight off the camera. I’m blown away. Is this just luck? Or is that what I should expect?

7B387733-120F-413D-8476-76B5B08633DC.jpeg

I love the line as it is so fresh to my first experience from three weeks ago. Yeh, does your head in. No luck, you the man. Pointed to the right place, focused just right, hit the button, the prize is all yours and a big round of applause from me.

I know what you mean though. I sent my first M42 to a non Astro friend and he thought I had faked it. First line in my Astro diary... ‘someone just removed the top of my head, played with my grey matter, put the top back on and I have a silly smile on my face’. Keep it up, I’m right there with you.

M

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You know you got the running man nebula in that shot as well. May not be able to see it clearly but it is there.
That night sky is an amazing thing, make the most of it and post it on here. I wish you all the luck and clear skies which are not happening here, which is why we need your input.

Marv

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Here's mine. This is a first test for the Canon EF 75-300mm lens @ 75mm. I was hoping to, atleast keep 50%, out of 120 exposures but 5, 8 & 15 sec is just too long @ 75mm, on an SLT alt-azi mount. I have to drop back down to 18-"55mm" & max, at 8 sec for M42. Well, 20 sec is possible @ 55mm but the keep rate is too low. I need to be able to keep 50-60%. M42 is tricky, unlike M31, where I can snapoff 20-30 sec exposures and just keep the bulk. I'm not doing that though, with M42. I have to drop back to 55mm & I'm taking:

200 lights x 5 sec, ISO 800 ...  keep 50-90%

200 lights x 8 sec, ISO 800 ...  keep 50-60%

Stack 'em individually & then stack 'em together

 

Once it clears, I'm layering a-bit & doing, around 250 exposures @55mm:

50 lights x 3 sec

150 lights x 5 sec

50 lights x 8 sec

25 lights x 10 sec

25 lights x 20 sec

and just keep the good ones. All-in-all, 300-400 frames or so. Below is a 100 stack; 100 lights x 5-15 sec, ISO 800, using a 75-300mm lens @ 75mm. None were keepers. I just wasted 160 exposures, to find the SLT's 75mm limit.

1254527619_OrionNebula614x48075mmfromRAW100Stack.JPEG.jpg.dc6e87f639378127fdd785b5cc591c3f.jpg

Image. 75-300mm Canon lens test of the M42 Orion Nebula. Image resized to 614x480 JPEG. Canon T6 mounted on the SLT, no 'scope None of the 100 frames were keepers, at 75mm, using an SLT mount. 5, 8 & 15 sec is simply too long, using 75mm. They all have to be thrown out, even with a 2 star alignment to Betelgeuse & Rigel & then a synch to M42. The nebula is there & I was able to extract colros. Structure & hyrogen is present.  

 

 

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I used an intervalometer this time & 1 star alignment to Rigel. 

925611693_M41M42Flame.jpg.68671063ed67f16e3f341c29cdb9caa9.jpg

Image. M42, M43 and Flame Nebula. 55mm widefield 131 stack of 20, 8 & 5 seconds frames, at ISO 800. SLT mount and intervalometer used. 2020.

Edited by Science562h
Grammar
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16 hours ago, Science562h said:

I used an intervalometer this time & 1 star alignment to Rigel. 

925611693_M41M42Flame.jpg.68671063ed67f16e3f341c29cdb9caa9.jpg

Image. M41, M42 and Flame Nebula. 55mm widefield 131 stack of 20, 8 & 5 seconds frames, at ISO 800. SLT mount and intervalometer used. 2020.

That seems like so much hard work! 131 stacks?! wow. well done for the patience. Here is a photo I took with just my lens (85mm at f1.4, 3 second exposure)IMG_2029.thumb.jpg.f9ddcddb82e342876731d2122ac982a8.jpg

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