First 115mm serious effort

[xelasnave]

This is my first serious effort with the 115mm refractor using R,B,G L and HA..not that there was much/any ha.

Captured before my tumble. There was not much data and it was not flash.
Unguided HEQ 5... 60 second exposures hideous high gain at 300...did 20 dark frames trying to introduce small improvements..as the mount tracked incredibly well I did not get my usual auto dither:D. as I had to rest up I pulled it down to pass the time...I am pretty fast with pull downs these days.
Zwo CAMERA RUNNING AT -15. each filter got a run of 30 minutes so not much time really but I wanted to get something in one night...as my first..M31 was after this its taken a long time to process for a number of reasons.
3x drizzle however using Deep Sky Stacker, short run in Startools merged in Photoshop and downsized and little tweeks in Gimp.
I have turned down the colour but I expect when I look tomorrow it with seem way too saturated ..but its late so...

M33 is the third largest galaxy in our local group I seem to remember but if you want details look it up;)..

probably will need to fix it tomorrow as to saturation as usual.

Edit..the second one I touched up on my phone...I think it looks the better if the two
alex

I tried a funny approach to create my Luminance..I had a few Luminance but before stacking I added the very best from the other channels ..like 4 or 5.. to pad out data..I think it could have helped...and for a few reasons have not been using the focuser mask cause the lappy is not well place so I blow up the star and wing it.
alex

[casstony]

I'd say the scope passed it's introductory test Alex.

[xelasnave]

Given I have been casual with focusing and high gain etc I must say I am extremely happy.

And thanks RB for tidying up my mess..you obviously realised U was having a few problems and I thank you for your help.
Alex

[glend]

:thumbsup:Nice start Alex

[xelasnave]

Thanks Glen. I am very happy with the scope and find the heq5 does not complain. In fact I should have tried longer exposures as the drift over the time I was out there was hardley noticeable. Usually I need to recenter the object but not this time.
I just can't wait to finish the observatory and get serious, longer exposures, more darks, auto guide, plate solving, flats...most of all get gain half of what I currently use...
Getting close with the observatory and so disappointed I had my tumble as Well would have had both piers in and the floor...and being able to leave stuff in place means you can make real progress.
Anyways I am happy with my journey.
Alex

[Startrek]

Alex
That’s a really good image with your 115mm considering only 1 minute subs and limited data
When you eventually get your guiding up and running you won’t believe the control it provides for your imaging , not just tight round stars but more detail from your object
One day I’ll jump ship and use a cooled Astro camera but still a lot to learn with the DSLR
Well done !!

[Ant0nio]

Well done Alex, I agree with you about your phone edit being the better of the two. As you mentioned, a bit of a tidy up with saturation & colour correction you'll have a decent M33 there. :thumbsup:
The TS gear is very appealing, excellent build quality & optics by all accounts.
Congrats,
Tony

[xelasnave]

Thanks Martin. The mono camera increased the work but it is surprising how more "crisp" the images become.
I think if I was not so heavily invested both in time and money I would be happy with a star adventurer and a red cat ... But here I am working to house two scopes and thinking of bringing the cube up from Sydney to house all three scopes...but without the demands AP makes on me I really don't think I would get out of bed...well after the back operation and before AP all I did apart from visit my Dad was lay on the bed ... But AP has me always doing something...and I must say I am rather proud of myself building both the observatories, particularly the one in Sydney..built mainly in the garage I had to get the part up the stairs...just getting up those stairs with a couple of shopping bags is an effort but 4 X 4 panels with framing seemed impossible for me. And then the computer side of it...I am like many old folk who find them frustrating but I persist. My brother in law on the other hand won't leave the past...won't have a smart phone or even the simplest mobil and just missed out on so much...oh and won't have a digital camera as they will never beat film. His ten years younger than me but it's like I am trying to talk to someone older than my Dad...
Thanks again.
Alex



Thanks Tony. The data was poor. The graph in DSS showed like tooth picks but at 300 gain and 60 second subs I think I pulled off the perfect crime. But this slack approach is helping my processing skill particularly with overcoming noise so hopefully when I have the gain and triple exposure times it will all come together.
Thanks again.
Alex

[Saturnine]

Love what you're doing Alex, despite the challenges being thrown at you. M33 is a great target and is probably one of the easiest near face on spiral galaxies that we can image and observe, if you can get away from city light pollution. Maybe not from Tassie though, that's a bit far south