NGC 5139

[omneferuss]

G'day, new here and kinda 'shy' :obut here's my first Glob'. Single frame, 10 sec, ISO 3200 Pentax K100D-super, unguided, RA-drive running, EQ5...

the scope is a salvaged 90mm f/5 achro 'land-scope' objective & cell, cheap 2" R&P f'ser, and PVC downpipe

The top and right edges show distortion I believe is likely my poor craftsmanship with unsquare cut of the tube end ...yet to blacken the tube etc, so might fix it yet.

Baader Neodymium filter used for moderately severe light-pollution, outer-urban site.

Target is Omega Centauri NGC 5139

Comments suggestions advice all welcome, thanks Russ. Forgot to mention: cropped.. that's obvious, but in the interests of full disclosure

[Tim]

Your pic puts many expensive setups to shame

Dont be shy about posting, we are always glad to see images of all standards.

Looking forward to more from you.

Cheers

TJ

[omneferuss]

Thanks TJ Still feeling my way around, and missed the 'first pic' subforum where I should've posted this, sorry. Will post'em if I've got'em.. (gettin' 'em is the hard part )

Russ

[centroid]

Hey, shy thee not Russ, for a 'first', that's pretty damn good.

If my first 'glob' image had been as good, I'd have been well chuffed.

Dave

[omneferuss]

Thanks Dave! All due credit to the Glob' tho'.. it is the biggest and brightest there is in our skies, sofar as I know ..in keeping with my present level of ability, it's an easy one.. like the Moon and Jupiter.. a 'rusk' to 'cut my teeth ' on

[barkis]

That's a hell of a start for a beginner. I get the feeling you are going to make rapid progress at this game. much like a guy in this thread I know.

Anyway, congratulations on your first pic.post.

Ron.

[RobH]

Very nice result, and you must be very proud of a result like that with a scope you've made yourself.

Top marks sir!

Cheers

Rob

[omneferuss]

Very encouraging comments! thanks Ron and Rob... now the pressure's on to do better

[661-pete]

Very good for a first effort, put a bit more work into the focus and you'll be delivering some crackers! Also this Omega looks like it might have a whole lot more stars hidden in your image, just with a bit of stretching maybe.

Whenever someone posts an Omega Cen. on this Northerner-dominated forum, the first question that comes to my mind is "where are you based" but the first word of your post gives a strong clue! Looking forward to more Far South delights from our none-too-numerous Southern contingent!

[Sam]

Awesome image! and more so given that you built the scope. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your images!

[steppenwolf]

For a first, Russ - that one is excellent so no need to be shy!

[gary1968]

A great result for a 1st image, and with a home crafted scope. Looking forward to seeing more of your efforts.

Gary

[omneferuss]

Thanks again fellas ..and Pete, yes I haven't mastered focus yet, but I'm hoping my new magnifying angle viewfinder will help.. but also, can you tell me what "stretching" is.. I don't have Photoshop or the like but use Paint.net for resizing contrast etc. thanks. Russ

[661-pete]

Thanks again fellas ..and Pete, yes I haven't mastered focus yet, but I'm hoping my new magnifying angle viewfinder will help.. but also, can you tell me what "stretching" is.. I don't have Photoshop or the like but use Paint.net for resizing contrast etc. thanks. Russ

For focussing aids look no further than the numerous tips on this forum! I use the Hartmann mask method but other people go different ways: the choice is yours. (My first attempt at focussing an image came out worse than a bunch of grapes).

I'm no expert on image processing and I'm sure others here can advise you better. If you have, or get for yourself, a processing tool that will show the histogram and allow you to adjust the endpoints, you may see regions to the right and/or left of the intensity range which are not used: you can 'stretch' the rest of the histogram to make use of the full intensity range. Actually I tried that with yours but it merely brought up some noise and burnt-out the core a bit, sorry.

Or with a tool with a 'curves' feature (most of them have) you can do finer adjustments on the transfer curve: this usually involves dragging bits of the curve upwards with your mouse.

It is very easy to spoil an image altogether while processing so save often!

HTH.

[omneferuss]

Thanks Pete So much to learn ! Now back to the 'Primers' section !