First go at M31

[Keiran]

Hi all,

Got home from work this morning with lovely clear skies first time in aaaggggeeessss....

Now I will admit, I have not spent alot of time on this at all. I have to get up for work tomorrow and there is a big moon out there

I have taken 5 x 130 sec subs, some old darks and bias...

This is taken on my sony a100 ISO400, stacked in DSS.

When i get abit more time like Salisbury SP, ill give it another go...

I am still really plaesed with the really pleased with the result even thugh it is probably one of the easiest to capture

(Sorry for the little star trail, but i didnt check the subs before stacking... Ooops)

Hope you like and thanks for viewing

Keiran

EDIT: Forgot to say, this is unguided:)

[Uranium235]

Youre starting to see one or two dust lanes there, nice one. Maybe you should up the ISO to 800 and increase the exposures to at least 3min, you'l get it a lot quicker and you should be getting M110 too (did you crop it out?).

The moon is still about at the moment though, so its best to wait until a little its as it tends to wash-out DSOs. Keep em comin'!

[johnh]

Nice result for a first go at the big one, ISO800 seems to be the optimum gain setting, the longer the subs the more of the halo so see if you can add to it.

John.

[Keiran]

Thanks guys, I will have a go at adding to it.... i took on 20 sec sub at iso800, and i was worried about the noise... i will have a go though:)

Ididnt crop it out, just looked at another attempt at it an i no he has 15 subs at 2mins but its a completly different image i wonder if that was at iso800

[cardconvict]

hi bulldog i think you was referring to my m31, and yes it was at iso 800. are you guiding, if not you may only get to 1min subs without star trailing. you will definitely need more subs to bring out more detail around the arms. keep adding more subs you will get there.

[Keiran]

Thanks CD, I have checked the subs, and one of the needs ditching, and then i think it would be better... to your questions, it was yours, and what an attempt you made ... i am unguided, and i think i will have a go at iso800 next time.

[cardconvict]

yeah just keep adding more subs and you will get it, i have just received my LP filter (thanks FLO) and can't wait to get out there and see what it can do.

[steppenwolf]

Well done, there is certainly some dust lane detail coming through, especially if the image is 'stretched' a little.

[Keiran]

fingers crossed for tonight, and the coming couple of weeks for salisbury, should be able to get some good shots...

thanks steppenwolf, im confussed with the stretched bit?

[gary1968]

A good capture, I have had a couple of goes on m31 with nowhere near your success, although I have yet to try the dslr.

Nice image and thanks for sharing.

gary

[Keiran]

Thanks very much Gary

[steppenwolf]

im confussed with the stretched bit?

Stretching is the process of re-distributing the brightness levels within an image using the 'levels' and 'curves' functions in your image processing software. The following is a quick 'down and dirty' stretch of your original posted image:-

[Keiran]

Ahhhh.... thanks for clearing that up for me steve

[jgs001]

Nice start on M31 Keiran, lots more data. And get rid of the dodgy sub, it will almost certainly make a difference to the end result.

If you don't have it yet, I'd recommend Steve's book too.

[Keiran]

Thanks very much and i will do...