My First Attempt on 3 Oct 2004

coolcat · Post by **coolcat** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 5:08 am

[Moved from Observation Session to correct forum here. Pictures taken at Tampines field next between the Swimming Pool and the Mosque on 3 Oct 2004 at 0200 hrs by Coolcat - Moderator

Sure had fun tonight! At least now I roughly know how to go about using the LXD55

The sky was pretty decent tonight. Took some pics of the moon through weixing's 6" Newt. Camera used EOS 20D set at ISO100 1/80

Also took some photos of Orion Nebula. Taken thru my 127MCT with EOS 20D set at ISO800 20"

I've yet to figure out how to stack the images. Will post again once I get that done.

Once again, thank you so much guys for your help! Looking forward to the next obs!

gwenyi · Post by **gwenyi** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 9:36 am

whooo... the trapezium !

Post by **Airconvent** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 10:47 am

yes Coolcat...I was surprised your Orion shot was only 6 seconds!
I've tried it on my Nikon 4300 and any exposure below 30 seconds yields nothing at all. Anything above that resulted in blurred images. I guess apart from the scope, camera is also important...
glad you had fun last night (or should I say, this morning!).

rich

coolcat · Post by **coolcat** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 1:11 pm

This one is 20". The 6" shot was with ISO set to 3200.

I took about 8 shots. How do I go about stacking? Actually what exactly will stacking achieve?

MCYM · Post by **MCYM** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 1:57 pm

Hi Coolcat

Pretty images. It's very good start if this is your first attempt at deep sky imaging. The abcd trapezium of M42 is nicely resolved. Since these were taken thru a GEM and there is no field rotation, Registax would be able to align and stack the raw images. This free program could not process CRW but will have no problem with jpeg.

Stacking improves the S/N ratio, allowing one to push further with levels and curves. Bringing out nebulosity and dimmer stuff in the background that would otherwise remain invisible.

In this RG reference, you will also find the trapezium surrounded by a lot of jawdropping stuff. http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/M4211KL.html

At this rate progression, I am certain that you will be able to take deep sky images beyond the visual magnitude.

Keep shooting and CS

Matthew

Post by **VinSnr** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 3:14 pm

coolcat wrote:This one is 20". The 6" shot was with ISO set to 3200.

I took about 8 shots. How do I go about stacking? Actually what exactly will stacking achieve?

I am quite surprised that for 20", the stars appear pretty round and there is no trails.

The tracking must be pretty good!

AGMI · Post by **AGMI** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 12:44 pm

i helped you stack this image with Astrostack 2 its 8 image stack
sorry the image is quite noisy and black and white.detailes oso gone

swee sin · Post by **swee sin** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 7:56 pm

last time i did get one pretty good shot on M42 too! it's with nikon cp4500 set at F2.6 iso400 8s. the scope is C8 @ F10 with 40mm EP.

http://sweesin79.tripod.com/astrophoto/index.album?i=4

astro · Post by **astro** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 10:25 pm

you didn't jio me again ...

chrisyeo · Post by **chrisyeo** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:43 am

Nice shots coolcat!

Why don't you email me the 8 photos and I'll experiment with stacking them?

Anyway, I also took a shot of orion a few weeks back but was shy to share it... tracking was rough, but was surprised to see the 'rainbow', details in the dust and hints of the 'wings'. 15", canon ixus5, etx90ra.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/159 ... 8724QZtmwv