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SlipperySquid

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SlipperySquid

SlipperySquid

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Well this is my first piccy of good ol M42 Great Nebula in Orion.

I can only do short exposures at the moment as I'm trying to fiddle around with alignment as anything above 30 secs and I'm getting star trails.

Ok so eq5 with standard dual motor thingies and Skywatcher 200p using my nikon d60 prime focus...a bunch of about 10 of 30sec exposures...no darks or flats cos I don't have a clue about em.....

this is what I got...I could tease more neblosity out of the image but that makes the background lighter which I don't like.

Anyway, have a go at astro imaging ....your life really does flash before you as you stand there with your shutter release.....

It's not brilliant...but it's mine!

post-17960-133877431934_thumb.jpg

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SlipperySquid

SlipperySquid

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Thanks all for your kind comments! I did a few more last night using a narrow band filter and longer exposures! still getting star trails though but lots more detail and colour.

It is a steep learning curve but I'm getting a great buzz from putting what I see into digital format and must thank all those on the forum that have made tutorials from how to set up a mount , collimation and first steps into imaging to the never ending supply of encouraging comments.

Though I will never be in the league of the big boys/girls in the imaging stakes looking at what they can produce has pushed me to "have a go" and even in my light polluted skies with a modest set up I think it's wonderful at what can be produced!

30 years ago I suppose an image like this from an amature would have been hailed as ground breaking :headbang:.

My main task now is to get proper alignment to try and get at least one minute exposure without star trails but with clouds rolling in all the time I just seem to be trying to get the scope set up as quick as possible!

To all those just starting out "Don't give up". The clouds are a pain but if it was clear all the time I think some of the magic and interest would dissapear!

Again thanks.

Matt.

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

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Ok so eq5 with standard dual motor thingies and Skywatcher 200p using my nikon d60 prime focus...a bunch of about 10 of 30sec exposures...no darks or flats cos I don't have a clue about em.....

I kinda understand dark frames but have no clue what flats are or do. I've seen enough images here and elsewhere to know what effect both have on images.

You say that this image is your 1st astro image with a total of 5 mins exposure without darks or flats?

It looks AMAZING. You should be well pleased with it.

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knightsky

knightsky

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Just what I needed to spur me into action with my new scope + dslr. Fantastic.

I could never get anywhere near that sort of image quality with my old film camera setup. I managed a vague looking monochrome smudge at best ;)

I would be very interested to know what software you used.

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SlipperySquid

SlipperySquid

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Any chance of more info for this, like how you focussed and what camera settings? thanks

I think what brought out more detail is the fact that I used a lumicon deep sky filter as well. With out it the ligh pollution was just terrible as Orion is now over the city so I'm getting a lot of skyglow.

As to focusing....what I did was take 5 second exposures and then zoom in on the image on the camera, repeating this and adjusting the focus until the stars looked something like! and then started with longer exposure times.

Settings on the nikon .Set to manual then exposures varying from 20 secs to 30secs using the remote shutter release I got off ebay (the d60 will do up to 30secs automatically anything above that and it's a stop watch) Also left the iso at 800 as 1600 did bring out more detail but a lot of noise.Oh and set to RAW. Thats about it really.

Stacked the images with DeepSkyStacker and then manipulated the image with Paint shop pro photo xl.

It really is trial and error with levels etc and I suppose everyone is different. I found to bring the reds out I adjusted hue and saturation levels which didn't effect the other colours. Also the curves setting again trial and error.

I have better images now with me doing longer exposures with more detail and lots more colour than the picture I have posted and that's without any processing with Paintshop.

One thing I did note though when I started the evening I was getting really good images (Also using a meade narrowband filter) but as orion tracked over the sky getting more and more light pollution just killed the image.A one minute exposure over the city gave the same sort of image that I got doing my 5 second image at the start of the evening.

So if you are in a light polluted area it's going to kill what you can achieve with modest setups.I wish I could be botherd to transport my stuff to a darker site for one night as the difference must be amazing.

Thanks again all your comments are inspiring ;)

P.S. As to polar aligning......I'm going to have another go :) I downloaded polar finder but don't really understand how those charts are used :) or how I should set the reticule up on my polarscope.I'll get there in the end!

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Nexus 6

Nexus 6

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Nice picture Matt. If you want to see what the light pollution looks like over Hull then your welcome to come over to Barton were I live. Thankfully the skies over here are pretty good except looking North ie towards Hull.

Regards Alan

Celestron CPC 925

Celestron 6se

Vixen LV 40

Tele Vue Radian 18

Tele Vue Radian 12

Tele Vue Nagler T6 9

Canon 1000D

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SlipperySquid

SlipperySquid

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Thanks for the invite! I may take you up on the offer!! I have plenty of garlic cloves and silver bullets as the tales we get told about what happens "over 't river" have left me trembling with fear!

But what I would like to know Alan is are you a master at polar alignment??? I'll drop you a pm sir!

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Nexus 6

Nexus 6

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Matt sorry with the delay in answering your question about polar alignment. Sorry I can't help with that, having only used two scopes, both sct's on alt/az mounts.

Would be good to get a comparison should we get together.

Hope to see you soon.

Alan

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