Very first image - Sculptor galaxy

[Spidy (Phil)]

Still very green and learning all I can about astrophotography. Got sick of waiting and wanted to take an image to see what I can get.


The image is a 9X120 sec integration of nothing but lights. No bias frames at all. Taken a month ago but waited until now (while on holidays) to process in PI using as many tutorials as I can. I'm sure there's so much more I can do to improve the image but I have to say, I'm stoked!


I love this hobby and can see that it will occupy quite a bit of my time going forward.


I was reticent to add the image but I'm sure you guys will go easy on me

[spiezzy]

phil that is a great first image of the Sculptor well done
cheers pete

[Spidy (Phil)]

Originally Posted by spiezzy

phil that is a great first image of the Sculptor well done
cheers pete

Thanks Pete.


I'm sure there's A LOT of room for improvement, but there's just so much to learn

[Robert_T]

Whoa. That's a pretty stunning first result. You gotta be happy with that. I expect great things to come! :-)

What gear are u using?

[Spidy (Phil)]

Originally Posted by Robert_T

Whoa. That's a pretty stunning first result. You gotta be happy with that. I expect great things to come! :-)

What gear are u using?

Thank you Robert. Appreciate the kind words.


Uhm, equipment. Yeah, I can't blame the equipment for my poor processing skills. They say astrophotography is a marathon and not a sprint. And I'm only beginning. So, I made a conscious decision to buy the best equipment I could afford.



I'm using an Edge HD 9.25, ASI 071Mc Pro main cam, ASI 174MM Mini as guide cam, all on a CGX mount.

[PKay (Peter)]

A galaxy for a first image is pretty rare!

Studying tutorials is a great way to learn the processing, and take notes.

Well done Phil.

[Spidy (Phil)]

Originally Posted by PKay

A galaxy for a first image is pretty rare!

Studying tutorials is a great way to learn the processing, and take notes.

Well done Phil.

I chose it using the Telescopius web site. I wanted something high in the sky. I was having all sorts of issues with my polar alignment, but was getting increasingly frustrated that I didn't yet have an image set to start processing practice during the day.


As usual, Melbourne's weather is not very kind to astrophotographers so I decided to give up the Polar alignment and just take 10 images of Sculptor to have something to play with in the upcoming cloudy days.



Of course that was two months ago as life got in the way.


I was actually surprised I only had to cull one image.

And yeah, take notes alright. Man, PixInsight is one complicated puppy.

[Fernando]

Nice first image. With no bias, darks and flat frames! Congratulations!

[Spidy (Phil)]

Thanks Fernando.


So I've been following some Youtube tutorials on PI and have created Bias, Darks and Flats. My final image is attached. Remember I only had a total of 18 minutes of data and am reasonably happy with the result.


Can someone please tell me how to get rid of the faint glow in the bottom left hand corner of the image?


Image is fully stretched and processed.



Edit: Also, I've been reading that for low noise cameras you shouldn't use Darks. Can I get your thoughts on that too please?

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Much better, good resolving, now a few more shots and should get the noise level down. Looks really great.