First image

[stevenson166]

Hi, Well being new to astro imaging this was taken with a Canon EOS800D and a samyang 2.8/14mm lens...About x20 subs at 20 seconds with about x20 dark , stacked and botched with Star Tools ( I aint got a clue with what i am doing yet) Even though its a mess, its my first pic and quite chuffed..Things can only get better. I have added the Tiff file if anyone has a few minutes to get me a post processed image done properley 😀. Cannot save the "processed" image as not bought the licence yet.

first picture.tifDoc1.docx

Thanks in advance .

Edited November 23, 2020 by stevenson166
spell check

[PeterCPC]

It's normal to post either png or jpg images as people won't want to download images. Me included.

[stevenson166]

Sorry

 

 

[Moonshed]

Stevenson166,

I really do not consider you have anything to apologise for, you have done nothing wrong, some people can just be a bit grumpy at times that’s all it is.

[vlaiv]

Here it is slightly processed from attached tiff:

It is nice wide field image of Milky way - centered on Deneb region. I can make out North American nebula.

There is some structure to milky way, and unfortunately there is rather strong light source in bottom right corner - but that is the thing with wide field images - any LP will create strong gradient.

I would say that this is rather nice image for first time. Well done.

[almcl]

Had a very quick go at your image in StarTools, as you mentioned it, and the result is below.  I had to crop quite a bit off the bottom to avoid the artefacts that Vlaiv mentions, but there's still lots of stuff in there, I think the Ring nebula (M57) is just about there in Lyra and there's something in the area of the Veil nebula in Cygnus as well.

Widefield shots of the Milky Way are great fun, aren't they?  So hang on to this one as the first step in this wonderful part of the hobby.

[happy-kat]

Hi

When using the trial of startools you can always save the process using print screen and pasting in a picture editor and then save, it might help you in your evaluation. It's a great product and pretty powerful irrespective of price.

Irfraview is great for file resizing and GIMP is good as well.

Many members browse using mobile devices and I won't download an image to view it, which is where saving and uploading as a jpeg or png just makes it easier for getting comments on what you want to share.

 

There are tutorials on the startools website which can help of you are new to using it.

[stevenson166]

wow brilliant ...thanks everyone..the pic was taken with a cls clip on filter in a bortle 8 area and the light source at the bottom right is the house adjacent....

As a reference for me can anyone name any of the stars in this picture 😀

Edited November 23, 2020 by stevenson166

[almcl]

Here you go.  I put the processed image into Astrometry.net and this is what it came up with:

[stevenson166]

Cygnus...wow...I see it....How Ironic my favourite Band mentioned Cygnus...

So the top star is Deneb ?

Edited November 23, 2020 by stevenson166

[happy-kat]

To limit light ingress and limit dewing on the lens, I flocked a small plastic flower pot I had hanging around and use that on the camera lens held with a rubber band.

[almcl]

12 hours ago, stevenson166 said:

So the top star is Deneb ?

Yes, indeed; the tail of the swan.

If you haven't already got one, a planetarium program like Stellarium or Cartes du Ciel (both free) include quite a bit of star lore, names and so on.  Sky Safari is quite popular on tablets, but unless you strike lucky on special offers, usually has a cost.

Edited November 24, 2020 by almcl

[stevenson166]

I have Stellarium app on my phone 

[Moonshed]

I have always used PhotoShop to process my images as I happened to have it but see that many members use StarTools. I checked out their site and it all looks good, I like the idea of a program that is exclusively designed for astrophotography. Having had a good look at their site and also other sites that review it I have not been able to find out if it is only suitable for DSLR cameras or if it can be used with other types such as my ZWO. 
It also appears to me to be purely for DSOs, I see no mention of the moon and planets and would like to know if handles these objects as well.

Any info would be much appreciated.

Keith

[happy-kat]

Hi

Startools Compose module is great for narrowband images which are often individual files for each stack. The Decon and Sharp module are useful for planets/Moon processing. The trial is free so easy to have a play. Need to use DSS, Siril or Registax to create the stacked image on which you then use StarTools.

[Moonshed]

16 hours ago, happy-kat said:

Hi

Startools Compose module is great for narrowband images which are often individual files for each stack. The Decon and Sharp module are useful for planets/Moon processing. The trial is free so easy to have a play. Need to use DSS, Siril or Registax to create the stacked image on which you then use StarTools.

Hi happy-kat

Thanks for the info. I have downloaded it and started to play around with it. I can see that it does in fact process planets as well as DSOs and ASI cameras as well as DSLRs.

It is a tad complicated and I will need to get the hang of it in order to determine if it is worth buying, I expect it is.

Thanks again.

Keith