Inspired by Raymo ....my M44

[PaulSthcoast (Paul)]

Hi everyone,

I have been admiring the images being posted by Raymo,
and his post of M4 inspired me to post another open cluster.

M44, The Beehive Cluster.

Paul.

[raymo]

Hi Paul, I'm glad my efforts have inspired at least one person.
Just a little point, M4 is a globular cluster, not an open one.
Good job with M44. Just one thing; the stars in the upper half
of your image are elongated away from the centre of the image,
which means that you almost certainly have camera tilt. Either the focuser is sagging in its drawtube, or the camera is sagging in the focuser, or both.
For future reference, when posting images it is customary to include details of equipment used and settings used, so members can help you improve your images. I have not done this with my oldie's images as they have all been posted before.
raymo

[PaulSthcoast (Paul)]

Thanks Raymo.

I cant recall all the details of the image, but some as follows

Scope
120mm Skywatcher F5 achromatic refractor

Mount
Celestron Advanced GT

Camera
Canon 500D DSLR unmodded

6 x Images taken via Astrophography Tools and stacked in Deep SKy Stacker

No guidance

ISO/Exposure unknown
Sorry

The images were taken around 22/04/20 during a trial of set up
and for Polar Alignment exercise.

I was aware the PA was off a little, which may explain the elongation of the stars after stacking.

Yes, agreed, there were some issues that night, but posted, warts and all.

The drawtube in the scope has been replaced after these images were taken, great observation !

Thanks again.

Paul.

[PKay (Peter)]

Hi Paul

You live just up the road!
How you coping with the deluge?
It is totally wild outside and we have lost power (again).

The main thing with Astro photography is to have a go.
Posting the failures as well as the success's is the best way to learn.

And there is no shortage of experience here at IIS willing to offer advice.

So good effort and we can look forward to your progress!

Regards

Peter

[Sunfish (Ray)]

I do like a good cluster. All those different size and colour stars in the same shot. You seem to have captured some of that. I hesitate to add to comment except to say that I can see the six images in the stack as there are six dead pixels stacked in a row I think. You can set the stacking in DSS to remove all hot and cold and remaining dead pixels and also will take account of the dead pixel map from the camera. In most cameras you can create a dead pixel map in the menu which will keep that in the raw file so other software can leave out the dead pixels so they are black I think, or median. DSS and PS will read this.

[PaulSthcoast (Paul)]

Thanks Ray.

Yes...I did see the six images 'ghosting'.

I did remove them by pulling down brightness and contrast
but lost quite a bit in the process, so left it as is.

I have recently acquired a PC with Photoshop, (thanks Bob !)
so I'm hoping to cut my teeth with it asap.

As I said...warts and all.

I appreciate all your comments and feedback.

Paul.

[Sunfish (Ray)]

I mean the six white dots in a row that look like tiny stars.

Originally Posted by PaulSthcoast

Thanks Ray.

Yes...I did see the six images 'ghosting'.

I did remove them by pulling down brightness and contrast
but lost quite a bit in the process, so left it as is.

I have recently acquired a PC with Photoshop, (thanks Bob !)
so I'm hoping to cut my teeth with it asap.

As I said...warts and all.

I appreciate all your comments and feedback.

Paul.

[PaulSthcoast (Paul)]

Ray,

Yep...thats them !

Paul.