And today..Orion thru 80mm

[xelasnave]

From last night...cloud no cloud..had to throw away so much I am not sure how to tell what went in..maybe 100 lum and 50 of red blue ...some HA O11 and S11 but no green:):)80mm triplet,zwo 1600 cooled no darks etc..deep sky stacker, star tools, photo shop and gimp.Heq5 unguided mount.

It is what it is but I am learning more each time.
alex

[mynameiscd]

Well Alex,
You must be happy with this one. Its got all the right elements.
1 Trapezium ...perfect
2. Core.....perfect
3 colour.....perfect
4 Dust clouds....perfect
Its got that real,3D effect without having to tilt the screen.
A few more of these and its time to move to the advanced asto imaging section.
Well done again.
Get that one printed on matt about A3 size.
Cheers
Andy

[xelasnave]

Thanks Andy
It will be a long time before I am ready to move on as I have so much to learn.
alex

[Karlzburg]

Looks like a painting Alex, I have always enjoyed your artistic expression.

[raymo]

Absolute ripper.
raymo

[Atmos]

You've doen a great job in resolving the core! I haven't quite done that yet :lol:

[Lognic04]

Neat! Alex do you have the stack? id love to process your data and see what i can get!

[DavidU]

Thats excellent Alex

[xelasnave]

Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement.
I am particulary happy because my daughter did not help other than nodding when I presented the final ... she points out if I go too far over the top or make colour mistakes...otherwise she does not know what colour an object should be.
She knows her way around photo shop and has taught me a great deal with layers ... and some neat methods.
I forgot to do my "3d" tricks with this one ... maybe later on.
Alex

[xelasnave]

Hi Logan
I am thinking maybe I can email them...not sure if I can ( I need to see what my data limit is) but I am away from my lappy at the moment...pm your email and I will try when I return from where I am to where I was.
Alex

[xelasnave]

What I do is not proper Colin I expect. Darken the region with the burn tool and brighten the star with the dodge tool...this method is handy for fixing any deformed star also and I expect one could colour some stars if they are over done.
Doing all stars would be possible but just a few with more colour can fool the brain to think they all have colour...from an artists approach☺ that is.
My goal is to produce images that have non astronomers think about what they are missing.
I showed one of the doctors I saw last week (my Lagoon wild colour one) and I think he may get into astrophotography as he was really impressed that a mug like me could produce such a pleasing result.
So I tend to go overboard with false colour and little artistic tricks.
I dont think I can match your level now or in the future so I have to do it my way.
Alex

[Gavin1234]

That’s funny Alex, I have a bad back at the moment, I send a lot of time at the doctors and pharmacy. My pharmacist always asks to see any new pictures when I go in and he’s just bought himself a telescope.

[Startrek]

Absolutely brilliant image ( A Vincent Van Gogh masterpiece)

How do you do it ? No keep your secrets !

Cheers
Martin

[xelasnave]

Have you had a MRI ?

I complained about my legs and they said it was my back ... they said it was nothing...I went away but came back atyer a week... when I listed all the symptons the doctor said he was sending me to hospital and they would probably opperate the next day.. find out exactly why you have a problem as they tend to put one on pain killers and see the next patient.
I would be now crippled and a wheelchair driver if I had accepted a course of pills.

I show everyone I meet my Lagoon Neb simply to see if I can raise awarness and interest...I say " may I show you something? I have just finished it and well I am proud of it"...they look and say wow and then I tell them how easy and affordable it is and if they are interested go to iceinspace.

If you want me to look at your back I cant fit you in until next year☺

Alex4

[xelasnave]

Thank you Martin.
Interestingly enough next Tuesday I am having a piece of my right ear removed...ear marked for good things I hope..the surgeon said he could do a skin graft but with all my hair no one will notice if he just cuts out a section..he is right and anywyas who is going to be looking at my ears..and I can boast I was a cage fighter..well I sortta was as a kid but never stuffed my ears...I could have done it myself with one of those things we clip the cows ears with but I thought heck you botched your teeth filling so this time get someone who can see it better and who you can sue if you dont like the job.

How do I do it.

Well I grit my teeth and ignore the pain in my legs, set up and use what happens to be working that night...scope wise☺ .

..So after getting some sort of polar alignment I get the camera to take exposures short enough to produce minimal star trails that can be removed in proceeding...set it all running lay down to reduce the pain...after the pain eases I figure its time to change the filter and do a refocus...I lay down and get up until dawn or the clouds roll in...set it stacking and sleep setting the alarm to go off when DSS says it will be finished...wake up stack the rest..take the tesults to star tools and process each group..take all processed photos to photoshop raw ( very very handy) and give them all a fiddle...take result to layers and put one on top of the other use errasor to let colour thru or not select the best fifty or so and merge them until I find something that I am happy with and take that image and merge it with the lumance that I have combinned with the HA turn that to black and white and layer in various colours until dinner time...adjust the final result in gimp downsize it and post it so I can have dinner and read comments before I go out again.

My only problem is falling over in the dark but years of drinking to excess sees me well equipped to manage multiple falls.

Although it does take grit not to grab the scope on the way down and not put PA out...and I stay away from the car so as not to damage the paint job if I fall backwards and my head strikes any part suseptable to damage.



Alex

[Gavin1234]

Yeah had the mri, I have degenerative disc disease but my main problem at the moment is a couple of herniated discs L4 L5 and S1. They’re causing a lot of problems in my leg so I need to get them cut out next month.

Good luck with the ear.

[AstroBogan]

You're improving more and more with each image posted Alex! This has to be one of your best. Once you get that focus to a pin-point sharpness, the universe will become your oyster!