Warm Night South Coast

[Startrek (Martin)]

Took some single frames on a warmish night down south last week

6' reflector on HEQ5 mount
Polar aligned to just below 1 arc minute
Unguided
Stock Canon 600D
Unprocessed

[xelasnave]

You have to be happy with those. ..single shots most impressive.
Seems like a waste of time stacking.
Good job.
Alex

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks Alex

You always give encouragement to beginners like me and all on the forum

I just trying to get the best single shots out of my basic rig without going to the next level of astrophotography being telescope control via laptop, autoguiding, stacking and processing etc...

I spend time on good collimation, drift alignment to get under 1 arc minute, experimenting with my stock DSLR ( ISO settings, aperture, sharpness, contrast etc... )

I suspect I will have to progress to the next level soon to open up the possibilities of this incredible hobby

Thanks again

Martin

[PKay (Peter)]

Well done MArtin

[jimmyh1555 (James)]

what was your exposure, ISO

[Startrek (Martin)]

Hi James,

Details for my Omega Centauri image as follows -

Single image
Polar aligned just under 1 arc minute
Unguided
Canon 600D ( stock unmodded )
Exposure 60 sec
ISO 3200
Sharpness 100%
Contrast 100%
Saturation 50%
Colour Tone 50%

Seeing conditions around Bortle 3 to 4

Hope this helps

PS: Tried ISO 1600 first at 60 sec then pushed up to ISO 3200
Star trailing was more evident above 90 sec

[jimmyh1555 (James)]

Thanks, Martin. I will have a go with those settings when the clouds let me I am not too sure how ISO in a DSLR equates to Gain on my ZWO astro camera, but will experiment! I have tried stacking but I must admit I havent noticed any improvement over just simple single shots of, say, Jewel Box - just a lot more hassle