First ever Imaging attempt

[ribuck]

Hi all,

This is my first ever attempt at imaging. After months and months of issues i finally got everything to work together. So please be gentle with me as i know it's not great, but at least it's a start.

I only had about 30 mins of clear sky, so only managed to catch a few short Lum Subs, and I forgot to do matching flats, so apologies for the image looking a bit washed out, and the stars being a bit bloated.

Image details

Scope = Ikharus 102mm Refractor

Camera = QHY9

Subs = (5 x 60secs & 5 x 10secs)

Full Size Image Here

Rich.

[yoda]

That's great congrat's.

you have set the bench mark high matey lol.

[ribuck]

Thanks for the kind words. whilst it's not the greatest first image, i'm happy it as i've finally got something out of my equiptment, after months and months of frustration and steep learning curves.

hopefully i can get some more clear sky to try and do a colour version of it soon.

Rich.

[jgs001]

That's very good for a first ever image, ok, there's been a lot of issues, but they look resolved now.

[ribuck]

Thanks John, now i'm just itching for the sky to clear......which doesn't look like any time soon

[jleach29]

very nice for a first image.

[m_j_lyons]

Great shot - very clear with good detail.

[Demonperformer]

Very good start ... looking forward to seeing more.

[RogerTheDodger]

Great stuff, I hope I can do as well on my first...

[atharh]

Very nice!

The ikharus looks like my next purchase.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

[Pete Presland]

that really nice rich! great start

[johnh]

The sensor gives a nice big clean noise free image so you must be pleased so far, you just need more clear skies to stretch your legs, we live in hope.

John.

[ribuck]

Indeed i do live in hope of clear skies, sometimes i wish i lived in places like hawaii or nevada where you get amazing clear skies.

Rich

[peter shah]

thats a superb shot....i bet you have more data in that shot though i would try pushing the curves a bit more

[ribuck]

Hi Peter, it's a step in the right direction, but i can't do much more with the curves, as i had to loose a lot of data adjusting them to compensate for the fact that i didn't have a flat field for that image.

Once i get some clear sky, i'm going to try again and i'll use ccd commander to focus on a star then immediately slew to my light box to do a flat then back to the target. that should ensure that i get perfectly matched flats, then i can play around with the curves / levels to really bring out the detail

I guess the other thing that doesn't help is that the image is only (5x10s & 5x60s), so hasn't captured all the sensitive stuff.

When i get some clear sky i plan to get a mix of 10s, 60s, & 300s Lum sub then start adding in the colour then finally add some Ha making sure that i have focus matched flats for each set of subs.

Rich.

[Penfold]

Hi Rich

Excellent first image, you might be lucky this w/e with a bit more clearer weather!

I see in your sig that you have a TS-OAG do you use the SPC9000 with it for guisding?

[ribuck]

Hi Mark,

I gave up trying to use the TS-OAG, I found it too difficult. I opted for a much simpler approach of using a 50mm guide scope with a QHY5 coupled directly to the back of it.

this approach works well for me as you get a huge selection of guide stars, and i used the WO guide scope rings, which just clip. Very simple setup, very light and i've yet to see any flexure due to the scope being so small and light weight.

If i was to change 1 thing it would be the QHY5, as i've found it to be a little flaky in terms of drivers. At somepoint i will change this to a starlight loadestar or perhaps look at the skywatcher self guiding system.

Rich.

[steppenwolf]

You should be very pleased with that as your first image and I can confirm that there is still a lot more to be extracted from your data.

[ribuck]

Thanks Steve, it feels good to finally get an image :-)

[spaceboy]

That's a great image with some nice depth.

[ribuck]

Thanks spaceboy, now i just need to keep my fingers crossed for those clear skies this weekend so i can start attempt number 2.

[4lefts]

awesome image, really nice start. i'd be very pleased.

[Tim]

You finally did it Rich!!

How did you find the Ikharus in the end? Did you manage to do a star test? The stars in the image dont look too bad, a little elongated in places perhaps. Did you add the diffraction spikes in post processing?

Dont get too hung up about having exactly the same pinpoint focus for your flats, near enough is near enough, its more important to ensure the camera hasn't rotated, been removed/refitted etc, but you may need a set for each filter.

Looking forward to seeing more results from this tube.

Cheers

Tim

[Digz]

An excellent first attempt. Far better than I ever managed with my first attempt at astrophotography. Keep it going, I look forward to seeing more.

[ribuck]

Thanks Digz.

Tim, i love the scope it's really solid and i love the focuser. I didn't add any difraction spikes to the image as the only post processing i did was to try and remove the horrible washed out look due to some haze and lack of flats.

Yes i did some start tests and they looked pretty good, i just never bothered to save them. once i rebuild my laptop i'll take some start test images and post them for you.

I'll also run ccdinspector over some test images and post the results.

The seeing was far from perfect, so i'm guessing the star elongation is down to that maybe affecting the image / guiding.

I tried to get an image last night but my laptop went into meltdown mode, so need to rebuild that and install nice fresh apps / drivers as i'm battling a lot with things crashing, in particular my QHY5

Rich.