Hi Steve,
Firstly let me congratulate you on your new scope.
Secondly welcome to the world of Astrophotography or as most of us like to call it " empty my bank account "
The image you've taken of the keyhole nebula is really good for a first go. Don't be hard on your self and don't look for instant perfection. It will only serve to discourage you. I'd like you to take a look at my recent Keyhole nebula.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a...e.php?a=238727
In particular note the double stars to the right side of the ball shaped bit. Your stars in your image are better resolved than mine.
What are you using to focus ? If it's sharpcap or similar I can't help because I haven't gone down that avenue yet. If not, a bahtinov mask is the thing to use. The shaper your focus, the sharper your stars.
Don't forget that you're using a reasonably long focal length, things are going to look big. I compare my 560mm images with my 1250mm images and in the shorter ones the stars look like beautiful pin pricks. Once you over double the focal length, everything looks big. Also the longer the focal length the more faults it will find and the more smooth and well balanced and aligned everything has to be.
You've done a great job Steve. Well done
