Dumbell nebula (first image)

[Torazz]

Hi all,

after getting my telescope 6 months ago and having a terrible winter the last couple of months having being taken up with moving house i've finally managed the last few days to get some good nights in, all but short...lol.

Anyway here is my first go at imaging something after lots of reading.

First real go at processing also.

Comments would be welcome.

p.s. where do i go from here to make my images better, i know i need an equatorial mount .

Celestron CPC 800XLT f/10 @ prime focus (unguided)

Canon 300D (unmodded)

17x30s lights @ISO1600 5x30s darks

No flats

Stacked in DSS

[Greg]

Looks good to me well done..

p.s. where do i go from here to make my images better

I'd start with more subs...

It's only what i've learnt from others. Most DSO's require at least an hours worth of data..

Good image though..I'd be proud of that.

Greg

[Tim]

Hi,

That's a cracking start to DSO photography, well done. I think for the short amount of time (8 1/2 minutes) you have probably got the most out of the data you captured.

An EQ mount with some form of guiding will permit you to take much longer exposures, which in turn will reveal the fainter details of the DSO's.

Even if you cant take that route at the moment, then I would take many many more subs to build up a more detailed image. For instance, I have just spent 8 hours on this target, probably overkill, but as Greg says, you could do with at least an hours worth, but preferably 2 or 3 hours worth of subs. The more the merrier.

Great start though, thanks for posting your result, and, oh, Welcome to SGL

TJ

[Aza]

Welcome, and thats a great start.

Here is a tip to use with DSS, that will give your stacked image a good colour balance, which in turn helps further processing!

After clicking 'Stack checked pictures' in DSS, click recommended settings.

In that section you can scroll down and ensure you use the option that says:

"If the colour balance in the resulting image is hard to fix......."

[Torazz]

thks guys!!

@Aza i think i used that setting in DSS anyways (result of lots of reading...lol)

but thanks for your input

As for more subs should i stick on 30 secs and take a lot more or should i try to increase exposure time?

[Tim]

Get them as long as you can without trailing/oval stars appearing, then take as many as you can