first everything

[graham.hobart]

Hey astro folk,
I have been an owner of an FS 106N for about six weeks now. My jobs turned incredibly busy at the same time and the weather was also pretty naff on nights off. Despite that I have tried my best. Here is the fruits of many short times on a project I have been planning for ..... well I never planned it until it was happening. Four frames - eye ball alignment, once I started I decided to pursue it. First mosaic, first proper FSQ image from this scope, first post on Astrobin....
The nights of 19/8, 20/8, 24/8, 27/8, 31/8, 8/9, 10/9, 14/9, 15/9..
FSQ 106N, Canon 60Da cooled DSLR , ISO 800/1000, mainly 300 sec exp. All in all about 11.5 hours with most of the time in the bottom two segments, Moon affected the top part more.

http://astrob.in/full/312594/0/?real=&nc=grahamhobart

[Atmos]

Really nice Graham and congratulations on all of the firsts :)

[Placidus]

Optics and camera working very well. Beautifully framed.

Will look more contrasty if you tweak the zero point.

Great first.

[graham.hobart]

Thanks peeps, Placidus can you explain the tweak ? I am not particularly great at processing so any help appreciated:question:

[RickS]

A lovely FOV, Graham.



Just move the black point right a little so the gap at the left hand side of the histogram is not so big.

[Placidus]

Delighted! The attached image shows before (left) and after (right) using PhotoShop. Press Ctrl-M to show the Curves dialogue. Slide the zero point (circled in red) to the right, until it is at the foothill of the histogram, as shown at bottom right. Job done.

Absolutely no meaningful data are lost if you do this. You are just removing "haze", not data.

We always do the three channels (R, G, B) separately, so as to remove any cast in the background. This removing of background (zero point) colour cast is a very important step before doing any other adjustments to colour or saturation.

(In GoodLook 64, the whole process is done with a single mouse click. New version coming out shortly.)

[graham.hobart]

Thanks folks- always keen for a bit of advice!!:thanx:

[alan meehan]

nice one Graham my fov in the sky
AL

[strongmanmike]

Ha ha well me too (an EDX4 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/165735102/original)) :P..and more like 10 weeks..and I haven't used it yet....


This is a great first light Graham :thumbsup:...yeah, a bit of extra contrast might look good too.

Mike

[LewisM]

I loike it. loike it a LOIT!

Being a pedant - it's an FSQ-106N, not an FS :)

[el_draco]

Been busy I see.... ;)

[atalas]

Lovely shot of the trio Graham :thumbsup:

[graham.hobart]

"Being a pedant - it's an FSQ-106N, not an FS :) "
Duly corrected Lewis!!

Thanks everyone will have a look again at the data when I can. :thumbsup:

[Octane]

Welcome aboard the FSQ train! :)

Great first light -- onwards and upwards from here. :)

H

[rustigsmed]

Looking good Graham! Great field and a fine result.

Cheers