After much struggle, my first real DSO Image - The Pelican Nebula

[AlanP_]

Hi all, I have had so much trouble with my mount telescope, camera and software over the past few months. Mainly just down to me being so new to the hobby. However, last night the stars aligned (hehe) and I finally got my first image. I only got 47 minutes worth of light frames at 30 seconds exposure, but it was 2:30am and I had work today.  I am using a Canon 600D, TS-Photon 6" f5 telescope and a HEQ5 Mount. 30 seconds seems to be my max before star trails, is that normal or should I be able to do more? 

Anyways, here is the image. Its not perfect at all, but im happy all things considered. I probably will come back to this in the future and re-edit it as im sure I can get a lot more detail out of it, but editing photos is still new to me! I'm sure some of the people here would edit it a lot better than me. I have to say a big thank you to the people on this forum too, I'd be lost without the help of many of you!

[Budgie1]

You've done well with that image. The background is nice & clean, the stars are round and you're starting to get good detail.

I also think there's more nebulosity in there to be pulled out so it may be worth having another go at processing it.

If you're EOS 600D is standard then this is quite a hard target because most of the nebula is hydrogen, which is blocked by the filters on the camera sensor, so you need more integration time than you would with a modified DSLR. You don't mention which ISO you used but it's worth experimenting to see what the sweet spot is for your camera. My EOS 1300D & 4000D were best at 800 or 1600 ISO.  

You should be able to get more than 30 seconds with the HEQ5 mount. Make sure the tripod is level and get your polar alignment as accurate as you can. Do the balance when everything is attached, camera, finder scope, cables etc and make sure the clutches, tripod brace and mount are all tight. 

You've got a great start and things will improve further with time.

[AlanP_]

1 hour ago, Budgie1 said:

You've done well with that image. The background is nice & clean, the stars are round and you're starting to get good detail.

I also think there's more nebulosity in there to be pulled out so it may be worth having another go at processing it.

If you're EOS 600D is standard then this is quite a hard target because most of the nebula is hydrogen, which is blocked by the filters on the camera sensor, so you need more integration time than you would with a modified DSLR. You don't mention which ISO you used but it's worth experimenting to see what the sweet spot is for your camera. My EOS 1300D & 4000D were best at 800 or 1600 ISO.  

You should be able to get more than 30 seconds with the HEQ5 mount. Make sure the tripod is level and get your polar alignment as accurate as you can. Do the balance when everything is attached, camera, finder scope, cables etc and make sure the clutches, tripod brace and mount are all tight. 

You've got a great start and things will improve further with time.

Thanks a lot! Yeah theres definitely more that can be done with that image, ill give it another go during the week

I think polar alignment may not have been fully accurate for me. I'll have to do some research on it and go at it again but overall im happy with it! Thanks for the advice