No laughing please ....

[darthvader]

Took my first photo this evening with my new Skywatcher Star Adventurer... finally got round to working out how to polar align it ( it turned out to be not as complicated as I thought it would be - i'd been putting if off for weeks as it looked so complicated in the manual !)

 I think I messed up the infinity manual focus on my camera (Canon EOS 700D) so it's a bit blurred but I did grab a galaxy in the bottom left (no idea which galaxy it is as I was just pointing the camera at a random spot in the sky to see if the tracking was working).

Definitely need to adjust my camera manual settings too (exposure was approx. 3 mins) - seems a little 'bright' - less ISO ? 

any tips very welcome ! 🙃

 

[mdstuart]

Nice. I think that is the Andromeda galaxy and m110 is also just visible. 

I am sure you will get lots of help on here to take it to the next level.

Mark

[darthvader]

thanks, am I right in thinking the tracking looks like it's working ok? there  doesn't seem to be any obvious star trailing, although it's difficult to tell because it's so blurred 🙄 

I was a little concerned that I had nudged it out of alignment when attaching the camera and then loosening the clutches to re-direct the camera. I think next time I won't tighten the clutches so much as I struggled to get them undone without moving the whole assembly.

[mdstuart]

He stars look good to me. You can use a bratinov mask to help with the focus although I am no expert as I am a visual observer!

Mark

[Paul M]

It's obviously M31 but I to the liberty of running it through astrometry.net: http://nova.astrometry.net/user_images/4092848#annotated . It'll give you some idea of the scale of the image. 

[darthvader]

that's a very clever tool, will add that to my list of astro bookmarks 👍

[Marvin Jenkins]

You captured a galaxy. Might not be an award winning shot but a ‘galaxy’. 
 

Think about it..... how many ordinary people have seen a galaxy? They are clearly visible in the sky, like globular clusters etc.

99 % of the population have no idea that what is in your picture exists, except in a text book. It is now up to you to improve your framing, and use the gear you have to great effect.

You are at the beginning, but no longer a beginner. Keep up the good work, the night sky is yours for free.

Marv

[Paul M]

7 minutes ago, darthvader said:

that's a very clever tool, will add that to my list of astro bookmarks 👍

Even more cleverer is AAS Worldwide telescope, it's linked to in the bottom right of the astrometry.net link I sent above. It takes you to a sky map with your image overlaid. You can fade and zoom and have all kinds of fun:

http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/webclient/?wtml=http%3a%2f%2fworldwidetelescope.org%2fwwtweb%2fShowImage.aspx%3freverseparity%3dFalse%26scale%3d10.534610%26name%3dIMG_5971.JPG.c44a2aff8a8b740f56fef9d038879c39.JPG%26imageurl%3dhttp%3a%2f%2fnova.astrometry.net%2fimage%2f9413058%26credits%3dAstrometry.net%2bUser%2b(All%2bRights%2bReserved)%26creditsUrl%3d%26ra%3d13.081508%26dec%3d48.727464%26x%3d2744.0%26y%3d1331.4%26rotation%3d-92.05%26thumb%3dhttp%3a%2f%2fnova.astrometry.net%2fimage%2f9413060%26wtml%3dtrue#/place=Open_Collections.IMG_5971.JPG.c44a2aff8a8b740f56fef9d038879c39.JPG.0&ra=0.87210&dec=48.72746&fov=40.00000

Edited October 22, 2020 by Paul M

[darthvader]

6 minutes ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

You captured a galaxy. Might not be an award winning shot but a ‘galaxy’. 
 

Think about it..... how many ordinary people have seen a galaxy? They are clearly visible in the sky, like globular clusters etc.

99 % of the population have no idea that what is in your picture exists, except in a text book. It is now up to you to improve your framing, and use the gear you have to great effect.

You are at the beginning, but no longer a beginner. Keep up the good work, the night sky is yours for free.

Marv

definitely still a beginner 😀 although I was quite impressed with myself that I got the setup to work on the first attempt ! (mind you I did read the manual about 37 times and watched a couple of youtube videos too! -> thanks to Kamil Pekala)

Fingers crossed for clear skies this weekend so I can have another go

[darthvader]

19 minutes ago, Paul M said:

Even more cleverer is AAS Worldwide telescope, it's linked to in the bottom right of the astrometry.net link I sent above. It takes you to a sky map with your image overlaid. You can fade and zoom and have all kinds of fun:

http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/webclient/?wtml=http%3a%2f%2fworldwidetelescope.org%2fwwtweb%2fShowImage.aspx%3freverseparity%3dFalse%26scale%3d10.534610%26name%3dIMG_5971.JPG.c44a2aff8a8b740f56fef9d038879c39.JPG%26imageurl%3dhttp%3a%2f%2fnova.astrometry.net%2fimage%2f9413058%26credits%3dAstrometry.net%2bUser%2b(All%2bRights%2bReserved)%26creditsUrl%3d%26ra%3d13.081508%26dec%3d48.727464%26x%3d2744.0%26y%3d1331.4%26rotation%3d-92.05%26thumb%3dhttp%3a%2f%2fnova.astrometry.net%2fimage%2f9413060%26wtml%3dtrue#/place=Open_Collections.IMG_5971.JPG.c44a2aff8a8b740f56fef9d038879c39.JPG.0&ra=0.87210&dec=48.72746&fov=40.00000

cool, I managed to locate M110 in my image thanks to that 👍

[tomato]

Well done for grabbing Andromeda if that was just a random point at the sky.  The great thing about widefield imaging is modern  kit is so sensitive you can point it just about anywhere and you will capture something.

The tracking looks pretty good, and nice colour capture. The star adventurer is a great piece of kit, just need to sort out your focusing.👍

[darthvader]

Just now, tomato said:

Well done for grabbing Andromeda if that was just a random point at the sky.  The great thing about widefield imaging is modern  kit is so sensitive you can point it just about anywhere and you will capture something.

The tracking looks pretty good, and nice colour capture. The star adventurer is a great piece of kit, just need to sort out your focusing.👍

definitely a case of beginner's luck catching Andromeda !  I literally just pointed it vaguely upwards away from the house lights and hoped for the best 😀 I expected to see bad star trailing but was pleasantly surprised as the tripod was on soft grass, not the most stable base 😐 Also need to take some spare camera batteries out next time as the camera battery ran out really quickly.

[tomato]

Cold nights will sap your camera batteries really quickly. It might pay to run the camera off the mains if you have a power supply and can do this safely, otherwise as you say, keep some spares handy.

[bob-c]

A good first pic.

Bob.

[dobblob]

Darthvader, I am surprised that no one ( OK tomato has hinted) has yet mentioned dummy battery packs for your Canon.

For most (if not all) Canons there are dummy packs that replace the battery that can be powered via a Canon DC adapter from mains 220 vac ( needlessly expensive!) or much cheaper generic brands powered from a 12 vdc battery. They may need a converter to get from 12 vdc to whatever the camera dummy pack needs, often 7-8 vdc.

The combo can be found on Amazon and will probably run 20-30 GBP.

Really worth it to be able to operate all night for several nights without changing battery after battery , touching your camera and spoiling your alignment.

It was a major downside for me to have to swap batteries every 1 1/2 hours, if that. Just a big worry not to have .

[Sunshine]

Your great effort is no laughing matter, slightly out of focus which is actually tricky so no worries, I struggled with it and still do sometimes. Lately I have been using a method where I use the auto focus while there's still some daylight to focus on a very distant object. Then I carefully switch the lens to manual and use a small strip of tape on the focus ring where it meets the main barrel to keep it from moving. This way i find stars are pinpoints and the tape prevents any slipping of the focus barrel.

[darthvader]

thanks for all the kind words and the tips about the batteries - I shall look into that, I do have 3 batteries, but like you say it's a bit of a pain to keep changing them. 

 

 

[darthvader]

10 hours ago, dobblob said:

Darthvader, I am surprised that no one ( OK tomato has hinted) has yet mentioned dummy battery packs for your Canon.

For most (if not all) Canons there are dummy packs that replace the battery that can be powered via a Canon DC adapter from mains 220 vac ( needlessly expensive!) or much cheaper generic brands powered from a 12 vdc battery. They may need a converter to get from 12 vdc to whatever the camera dummy pack needs, often 7-8 vdc.

The combo can be found on Amazon and will probably run 20-30 GBP.

Really worth it to be able to operate all night for several nights without changing battery after battery , touching your camera and spoiling your alignment.

It was a major downside for me to have to swap batteries every 1 1/2 hours, if that. Just a big worry not to have .

is this the sort of thing you mean? 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ACK-E8-Adapter-Replacement-Coupler-Battery-Single-USB/dp/B07C21NT92/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=dummy%2Bbattery%2BCanon%2Beos%2B700d&qid=1603445503&sr=8-3&th=1&psc=1

 

I already have a couple of these 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B076KS92ZT?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

 

which I assume would be OK to power it? 

[wxsatuser]

Use 10x liveview to focus.

Pick a high ISO3200 should do it, and use 10x liveview.
As you focus on a brightish star it should pop in and out of focus, some where between you should see
the star as a nice point, that's the focus.

With a bit of practice you will crack it quite easily.

[maw lod qan]

Nice image. The more you practice, you'll get better and better!

Dont worry about anyone laughing at this image, I still provide all the material they need for that!

With no tracking mount, I've only managed the core of Andromeda, but even that made me smile.

As much as we all like the compliments from those who are more talented at this than we might be, I'm certain everyone will say the important person to make happy is ourself.

I suffer with this insanity for my own pleasure!

The dummy battery is a wonderful thing. My Canon SL1 just sits there clicking away all night long plugged in to it.

 

[dobblob]

 Darthvader,Yes those items you link to are exactly what you need. A little more expensive than ones I ordered some years ago but you will thank yourself.

[happy-kat]

As you have a canon I'll add that I use DSLR Controller, it's an android app and it gives me focus control on a large screen either on my phone or tablet. For pointing the camera, if you aren't plate solving, I have a red dot finder mounted in the flash hot shoe. I also find the camera in back button focus mode means less accidents changing focus, I leave the camera in this all the time regardless of whether day or night use.

[happy-kat]

15 hours ago, darthvader said:

Definitely need to adjust my camera manual settings too (exposure was approx. 3 mins) - seems a little 'bright' - less ISO ?

What was your ISO?

A bit bright is better than too dark, as long as the light histogram is clear of the left edge that should be ok.

[darthvader]

5 hours ago, happy-kat said:

What was your ISO?

A bit bright is better than too dark, as long as the light histogram is clear of the left edge that should be ok.

it was set to 800, do you think 400 would be better for a 3 min exposure? 

[darthvader]

5 hours ago, dobblob said:

 Darthvader,Yes those items you link to are exactly what you need. A little more expensive than ones I ordered some years ago but you will thank yourself.

just found the little hole next to the battery cover for the cable do go through. Never realised that was even there 🙄😝