fradog23
super member
Reged: 02/19/08
Posts: 198
Loc: mt. pleasant, SC
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so after what seems like months (oh yea, it has been!) i finally got just about all i need together for astrophotography. took everything out las night to try it out for the first time. got pics of M13, M57, and M27 that came out better than i expected. well enough talk, here is M13.
8-30 second images
Canon XSi
80mm ED
Atlas EQG
stacked in Deep Sky Stacker
comments welcome, just remember its my first image!
thanks for looking
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Orion XT8
Orion 80mm ED
Atlas EQ-G
Canon XSi
Messier hunter - 39/110
http://fradog23.zenfolio.com/
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wbrogdo1
member
Reged: 05/21/08
Posts: 55
Loc: Lakeland, FL
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I like it.
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Canon 450D unmodded
Orion Atlas EQ-G
Orion XT-8 Dobsonian
Orion 6" imaging reflector
Nexstar 5SE (ota)
Meade ETX-60
Meade DSI color
Meade Webcam
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http://www.brogdon.ws/astronomy
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Chris_H
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/24/03
Posts: 2858
Loc: Norway
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Very nice indeed and congrats on your first astro image! Just remember that this stuff gets addictive! 
I adjusted your image a tiny bit to bring the cluster out more
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Chris
"Big Papa Smurf" (254mm f/4.7 Sky-Watcher Newt)
Custom Orion Optics 150mm f/8 reflektor "Planet Killer" (On its way!!!)
SPC900
Canon Powershot A610 (CHDK modded)
Canon 10D (modded)
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 USM L
My Website
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Adrena1in
sage
Reged: 09/02/07
Posts: 275
Loc: Hampshire, UK
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Nice, looks pretty sharp to me. I'm still a total beginner after nearly a year, and like me you'll find that post-processing is a steep learning curve, just like the actual imaging.
Where are your M57 and M27 shots then?! 
And what were your image settings for the 30-second exposures? What aperture, what ISO, stuff like that??
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Phenix 102mm f/5.9, Phenix 127mm f/9.5 and Orion ST80 f/5 refractors on EQ5 with GOTOStar
Phillips SPC900NC, Meade DSI-C, Canon EOS 450D with 18-55mm IS, 28-105mm and 75-300mm plus 2x TC
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SanDiegoPaul
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/22/05
Posts: 605
Loc: San Diego
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Quote:
Nice, looks pretty sharp to me. I'm still a total beginner after nearly a year, and like me you'll find that post-processing is a steep learning curve, just like the actual imaging.
Where are your M57 and M27 shots then?!
Don't worry about the 'beginner' feeling! I have been doing it three years and still feel like I know very little ...
See my gallery below:
And what were your image settings for the 30-second exposures? What aperture, what ISO, stuff like that??
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Meade 10" Lx200-R with Moonlight SCT Focuser
Mitty Evolution Wedge
AT-80 Guide Scope
SBIG ST402ME CCD Imager
Canon Digital Rebel DSLR
Meade DSI-c CCD for Guiding
Please visit my gallery!
http://www.pbase.com/sandiegopaul/
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fradog23
super member
Reged: 02/19/08
Posts: 198
Loc: mt. pleasant, SC
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guys, thank you so much for the positive feedback. i was reluctant to put it up on the forums at first but im glad i did. Chris, man yours looks a lot better. you making the sky darker really helps to bring out the cluster.
Adrena1in, you are right about the post processing learning curve. WOW, it is the hardest part. i figured it would be a challenge.
here is M57:
12-30 sec. exp
80mm ED
Atlas
canon XSi
ISO 800
hope you like it!!
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Orion XT8
Orion 80mm ED
Atlas EQ-G
Canon XSi
Messier hunter - 39/110
http://fradog23.zenfolio.com/
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sang33ta
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/08/08
Posts: 539
Loc: UK
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Nice images you got your focus just right, how are you doing it?
I had a go at fixing this one
- brightness
+ contrast
+ sharpen
red hue on the ring with some + saturation
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Hioptic 152mm f12.5 Maksutov
Celestron Advanced CG5-GT Mount (Mr Noisy!)
Meade 4000 Super Plossl Set
Casio QV-2900UX
Got fed up of waiting for Meade ETX-150 so put this together for £500/$1000
Edited by sang33ta (08/06/08 01:25 PM)
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NyxAither
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 09/11/07
Posts: 829
Loc: Arlington VA
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Nice work!
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Thomas
Orion XT8i
Orion 80-T Refractor
CG5 GoTo Mount w/ COL
Meade DSI II Color
Meade DSI (THANKS TODD N!!!)
Orion 4.5" Imaging Reflector
Laptop: Trusty Mac osX Powerbook G4
Early 1960's Gilbert 3" astronomical telescope
10x50 binoculars
SPC900NC
..::*~*Clear Skies*~*::..
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s58y
Post Laureate
Reged: 12/12/04
Posts: 4850
Loc: Eastern NY
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Good results for the first try at DSO imaging (lots better than mine).
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Hutech 30D, SBIG ST-402 autoguider
SV80S, SV66 guidescope
AP900, G-11, Barndoor tracker
http://www.pbase.com/s58y
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sang33ta
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/08/08
Posts: 539
Loc: UK
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I had a go at pulling some more out of your m13
+ scale 100% (would look less blocky if I had mandlebrot zoom  )
- brightness
+ contrast
+ sharpen
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Hioptic 152mm f12.5 Maksutov
Celestron Advanced CG5-GT Mount (Mr Noisy!)
Meade 4000 Super Plossl Set
Casio QV-2900UX
Got fed up of waiting for Meade ETX-150 so put this together for £500/$1000
Edited by sang33ta (08/06/08 02:50 PM)
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fradog23
super member
Reged: 02/19/08
Posts: 198
Loc: mt. pleasant, SC
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Quote:
Nice images you got your focus just right, how are you doing it?
Live View on the XSi. man does it make it easy to focus. main reason why i got one with live view. just put it on a bright star, adjust till focused. all done!
well, while im showing off my first pics, heres M8 that i also did last night.
didnt come out as well as i would of liked but not too bad:
13 - 30 sec exp
80mm ED
Atlas
canon XSi
ISO 800
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Orion XT8
Orion 80mm ED
Atlas EQ-G
Canon XSi
Messier hunter - 39/110
http://fradog23.zenfolio.com/
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Jared
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/11/05
Posts: 1871
Loc: Piedmont, California, U.S.
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Emission nebulae are tough with an un-modded DSLR since the sensitivity is fairly low. The trick is to take the longest exposures you can without guiding errors, then take as many of them as you can. Looks like 30s images are leaving you with nice, round stars (though it's hard to be certain without looking at a couple of crops), so you might want to try upping the exposure a bit. One minute exposures may still leave you with enough dynamic range, and you will get a lower noise level overall than you are getting with thirty second exposures since there will be less read noise.
As you already know, the major next step is to work on your post processing a bit. It looks like you have data acquisition pretty well nailed--focus and tracking are both excellent.
Very nice start! My first attempts at imaging were a comparative disaster. Now, two and a half years later (and many thousands of dollars) it is all starting to come together.
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- Jared Willson
- Fluorostar FLT-110 w/ TEC optics
- Vixen VC200L
- Astro-Physics Mach1 GTO
- Stellarvue SV80S
- Takahashi Teegul SP Mount
- STL-11000
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DaemonGPF
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/22/08
Posts: 1460
Loc: New Mexico
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I like the M8 image. Don't worry about posting images in this section, you're in the right place regardless of if the image is good, bad, or otherwise. I find that posting my crummy images is more useful for me in here compared to posting my "good" ones, as people are very helpful in showing ways to improve them.
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-Josh
*Orion Starblast Imaging 150mm OTA
*Orion Starblast Imaging 114mm OTA
*Meade 50mm AR short tube OTA
*Meade DSI Pro IIc
*Orion Starshoot DSCI
*CG5 mount
http://cleardarksky.com/c/AlbuqNMkey.html
My Messier Project Gallery
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Bob Moore
professor emeritus
Reged: 04/07/06
Posts: 543
Loc: New York
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Not bad at all for a first image .... not bad at all.
Bob
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R.A.C. Advisory Committee
NEAIC Co-Chairman
NEAF Advisory Committee
http://deer-pond-observatorie.wetpaint.com/
Warwick, New York
41.15984 -74.2541
Losmandy G11/Gemini
TAKAHASHI MT-160
10" F4.5 Newt
Vixen R200ss
Orion Starblast
Astro Tech 80 ED
Astro Tech 66 ED
Coronado PST H alpha
ToUcam pro,& DSI Pro II, SX MX716,QSI 532
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Adrena1in
sage
Reged: 09/02/07
Posts: 275
Loc: Hampshire, UK
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Is the XSi the same as the 450D? I've just got one of those, and though I've not tried it for AP yet, (haven't had any clear skies), the Live View is amazing! Especially when you hook up the PC and get Live View on screen, and can even focus it from the PC (as long as the camera has an A lens on it.) Blew me away when I was playing with it the other evening, and can't wait to get out and try it. Tonight looks like a possibility.
I would say that if you're only exposing for 30s at the moment, and you're still learning, you might as well push it up to ISO 1600, mightn't you? Will introduce a little more noise, and not always great for longer exposures, but you'll grab more photons. Or, because your tracking looks so good, why not go for a minute or two, or more?
Tim.
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Phenix 102mm f/5.9, Phenix 127mm f/9.5 and Orion ST80 f/5 refractors on EQ5 with GOTOStar
Phillips SPC900NC, Meade DSI-C, Canon EOS 450D with 18-55mm IS, 28-105mm and 75-300mm plus 2x TC
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fradog23
super member
Reged: 02/19/08
Posts: 198
Loc: mt. pleasant, SC
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thanks again for all the praises  . i cant wait for the next clear night to try some more targets, including M31. oh i cant wait to get that one! i might get a chance Saturday night. i'll post pics of that one as soon as i can.
Quote:
Is the XSi the same as the 450D?
yes its the same camera. i wish theyd just pick one name and stick with it.
Quote:
I would say that if you're only exposing for 30s at the moment, and you're still learning, you might as well push it up to ISO 1600, mightn't you? Will introduce a little more noise, and not always great for longer exposures, but you'll grab more photons. Or, because your tracking looks so good, why not go for a minute or two, or more?
i might try the higher ISO but figured 800 would be a good place to start. as for the longer exposures, camera only lets me do 30 seconds (as far as i know) unless i have a remote, which i dont as of yet. and i think that in bulb mode you have to actually hold the button down manually (someone correct me if this is not right). otherwise i would love to try longer exposures. oh yea, i also live in a pretty badly light polluted city. so i guess 30 seconds will keep the pollution down a bit.
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Orion XT8
Orion 80mm ED
Atlas EQ-G
Canon XSi
Messier hunter - 39/110
http://fradog23.zenfolio.com/
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Nils_Lars
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/04/08
Posts: 981
Loc: Santa Cruz Mountains , CA
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I bought a cheapo timed remote off ebay for 50 bucks and it was worth the money since it lets you go over 30 secs and also be able to automate your shooting for long periods , gives me time to cruise the star party and chat while its snaping away.
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Erik
Orion ED 80
Orion Atlas GOTO mount
Williams Optics reducer
Various eyepieces and other gear
Baytronix 80mm guidescope
Orion Starshoot Autoguider
PHD guide
Canon 400D (unmodded)
Stilleto Focuser
Tamron 75-300mm&28-80mm lenses
NexImage webcam
http://home.comcast.net/~eriknlarsen/site/?/photos/
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sang33ta
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/08/08
Posts: 539
Loc: UK
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Most cameras you can control from a PC with a USB cable.
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Hioptic 152mm f12.5 Maksutov
Celestron Advanced CG5-GT Mount (Mr Noisy!)
Meade 4000 Super Plossl Set
Casio QV-2900UX
Got fed up of waiting for Meade ETX-150 so put this together for £500/$1000
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Chris_H
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/24/03
Posts: 2858
Loc: Norway
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The timer remote Erik talked about is the best 50 bucks you can spend on AP gear. Just program it and let it do all the work for you while you go and enjoy something else 
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Chris
"Big Papa Smurf" (254mm f/4.7 Sky-Watcher Newt)
Custom Orion Optics 150mm f/8 reflektor "Planet Killer" (On its way!!!)
SPC900
Canon Powershot A610 (CHDK modded)
Canon 10D (modded)
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 USM L
My Website
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