Eta Carinae First Attempt

[Decimus]

This is my first attempt at Eta Carinae, taken on Feb 23, during my very first attempt at astrophotography with a telescope and DSLR camera - WO GT102 and Nikon D850. I had no reducer/flattener and forgot my 4" spacer, so I experimented and finally managed to achieve focus by inserting the camera into the WO diagonal. A cardinal sin but it seemed to work, despite the unconventional image train! :D Capture software, BYN.

It was a newbie's luck too as I managed to get Omega Centauri, 47 Tucanae, the Tarantula nebula, and, the Orion Nebula, all on this same evening. Someone whispered in my ear, at the end of the night, 'Of course, you're never going to be lucky like this again...' A sobering thought.

Three stacked 30-second exposures at ISO 3200 and edited in PS.


Cheers,

[assbutt94]

Wow, that's a great first attempt!
Good go with the diagonal too, my first attempt using an EQ mount I forgot the power cable :lol:

[Paulyman]

That’s looking great! Can’t wait to see what you produce once everything is up and running.

[xelasnave]

You can be proud of your tesult Richard and it will be downhill from here. .. it only gets easier☺.
Thank you for contributing we need more folk showing their work and telling their story.
Alex

[Startrek]

Great first effort congrats
It’s a beautiful Nebula
Nice to see an Astrophotographer from Tassy too

[RyanJones]

Congrats on your foray into the wonderful world of AP

All cardinal sins are forgiven for though who has not committed one shall be the one to cast he first stone.

It a great first capture. I will agree with the whisper though. Luck won't stop you from imaging so many DSOs in one night, when you see how much more you can capture with longer subs and more of them, the hours of darkness will become your limit.

[Atmos]

Great first attempt Richard! Although I was hoping to see the magnificent APM getting its first light ;)

[Nikolas]

Wow if you can do that with a first attempt the sky's the limit!!

[Shano592]

That is lovely! Great colour range that you have in there.

You should be very proud of that, as your first attempt.

[JA]

All hail Decimus :thumbsup:

Best
JA

[raymo]

Very nice, welcome to the dark side,[or should that be the light side?]
raymo

[carlstronomy]

Lovely image, love the detail and colours :thumbsup:

[astro_nutt]

Great image Richard! It does get easier, (and more expensive), but the WOW factor is a reward in itself!

[Decimus]

Thanks for the kind words. I am always prone to misadventures, so it was no surprise I left stuff behind!

[Decimus]

Thanks, Carl. I was really lucky. All the more so because at various stages, the camera rotated loosely and I had to tighten the screws. Not an ideal way to image!

[Decimus]

I have a long, long journey ahead, Raymo. Thanks for the comment.

[Decimus]

I must admit, I was so thrilled looking at the unedited image on BYN that I started shooting everything, :lol: Thanks for the encouraging words!

[Decimus]

Thanks, Carl. Amazing how much more you can see with some work in LR and PS! I didn't think the D850 would be up to the challenge of imaging DSOs as its Ha sensitivity does not seem to be great....

[Decimus]

Thanks, JA. At this point, I should don the Roman armour which has been sitting in its box since I retired from teaching (no more opportunities to wear it for my year 11 and 12 classes). It cost me an unmentionable sum of money, (it's coated in nickel, silver and gold), and I shudder to think what astro goodies I could have bought with the dough...

[raymo]

The Ha in Eta Car is quite strong, so any DSLR would show it well; I got plenty of it in a single 45 sec sub with my 8" f/5 Newt. DSLRs vary quite a lot in
Ha sensitivity; my 600D is noticeably inferior to my old cheaper 1100D.
raymo

[Decimus]

Thanks for the kind words, Shane - love your Rimmer avatar, by the way.

I hope I get more imaging opportunities because we have not had a single good night since the 23rd of Feb.!

[Decimus]

Truly, Nik, I think I was just plum lucky, but that is not to say I won't try again!

Thanks!

[Decimus]

Thanks for the encouragement, Colin. I must say that when I look through the APM, other scopes just don't compare, even the often much larger SCTs around me. Yes, they collect more light, but the view is just not the same. I don't have the imaging gear for it yet - i.e. an autoguider camera, spacers to achieve focus, a dedicated flattener/reducer, etc. (You can see the absence of a flattener on the edges of the Eta Carinae image with the WO GT102).

Your Rho Ophiuchi panorama, by the way, is just outstanding and humbling for a base level newbie like me. Very inspirational!

Thanks again.

[Decimus]

Thanks, Ryan. Yes, once I get the polar alignment right, longer subs it will be.

[Decimus]

Thanks, Martin. Yes, we Tasmanians are blessed, not so much by clear skies which appear to be increasingly rare, but by the presence of a few very talented astrophotographers who lead, coach and inspire us, Richard Higby for one!

[Decimus]

Thanks, Paul. I hope the imaging gets better with more experience but truly, I just love observing too, especially with my larger scope. If only I could do both at the same time.

[Decimus]

Thank you so much, Alex. I have seen some of your fantastic deep sky images on this site and they are inspiring, so your kind words matter.