M16 Sept 09

[Dean]

Here is my attempt at the eagle nebula taken over a few nights last month.

Image for M16 is a stack of 31x 60 secs at ISO 1600 using an unmodded canon 350 and a Equinox 80.

My mount is an EQ5 with a synscan upgrade kit.

The subs were taken after polar aligning with polefinder and using the mount to track. I bought the upgrade kit so I could start auto guiding but I am still having problems which hopefully I will sort out soon.

Thanks Dean

[RichieJarvis]

Wow - looks pretty good to me for a DSLR widefield

How on earth did you manage to image M16 this late in the year? Are you not in the UK?

Cheers,

Richie

[Deneb]

Not bad image there, your suffering from some Vignetting. Taking some flats will cure that problem. Or even better make a light box.

[Dean]

Thanks Richie, I live just outside Bath and south of Bristol. I had a slot of about half an hour between 21.30 and 22.00 and got the subs over a couple of nights when the weather permitted, as well as dodging neighbours bonfires!

Cheers

Dean

[Dean]

Hi Deneb,

I have been thinking about how I could get over this problem by maybe using a two inch camera adaptor or would I still have to take flats?

Thanks Dean

[RichieJarvis]

You will probably still have to take flats - the problem is that with a big chip like on a DSLR, you will find that the chip is not evenly illuminated unless you buy a very expensive scope.

Guiding-wise - whats the problem you are having??

Cheers,

Richie

[Starflyer]

Nice image Dean and a tough target from the UK at this time of year

Here's a thread showing my home made lightbox for my WO ZS80. Flats (and bias frames) will make a huge difference to your images as will auto guiding when you get that working.

[Cloudwatcher]

I'm not an imager I'm afraid,don't know nowt about bias frames or flats etc. but I know what I like.

I like your image a lot being a fan of widefield views. If you have Photoshop installed you can reduce the 'clutter' quickly using Gamma reduction in the Exposure tool. I like a dark background myself (not everyones cup of tea) shows up the detail of the subject a bit better I feel.

For what it's worth here is my view of you very creditable image.

[Dean]

Guiding-wise - whats the problem you are having??

Cheers,

Richie

I haven't really nailed the problem yet, I think it may be related to the backlash on my mount, but I am going to have another go at sorting it tonight.

Thanks for asking. I will post an update on my findings but would be grateful if you have any ideas on the problem.

Thanks

Hi Starflyer, great thread - thanks for sharing it with me. I think I will have a go at that.

Hi Cloudwatcher, great improvement, I like your view too.

Thanks to you all

Dean