My first attempt at deep sky objects...

[Omaroo]

Hey all - My first deep sky attempts :)

It's been a little while now since my wife gave me a Nikon D40 (for being a top husband) and it's only last weekend that I had a chance to give it a go on DSO's for the first time. Given that I forgot to take my infrared ML-II shutter remote which would have enabled me to use bulb beyond 30secs, I think that it did pretty well. These images are a little degraded given that I've downsized them for web presentation, but the images still look OK I guess. All are taken at ISO1600 or 3200 in the case of the Triffid and tarantula) and 30secs at prime focus on a Meade LXD75 SN-10AT 10" Schmidt-Newtonian @f/4 on an unguided Losmandy GM200 EQ mount. The Milky Way shots are a little noisy, but came out OK taken through a 35mm f/1.4 lens. The wind was up at the point I grabbed these, so they are a little wobbly.

I think that the camera did OK given that it was limited to 30 sec exposures for the evening... can't wait to try it with some decent exposure time. (Lesson - keep the remote WITH the camera at all times!!!!) I usually start to get amp glow on the D40 at around the 9-10 minute mark, so should be good for some better shots.

Anyway - I had fun.

Cheers - and thanks for looking :)
Chris

Nikon D40 - single 30 sec unguided shots @ISO1600 and RGB curves applied - nothing more.

1) Eta Carinae

2) M42 Orion Nebula

3) 47 Tucanae off the Small Magellenic Cloud

4) Triffid Nebula in Sagittarius

5) Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellenic Cloud

6) Milky Way

7) Ditto

[montewilson]

Great start - keep it up!

[sheeny]

Nice start Chris!:thumbsup: Looks like plenty of potential there once you get into stacking and HDR processing!

Al.

[mill]

Nice pics , keep them coming pls.

[leon]

Great effort for a first time attempt, well done indeed.

leon

[Phil]

Great stuff there keep then coming.
Phil

[Omaroo]

Thanks everyone for your encouragement. I'll certainly take a pile more shots next time and attempt to stack. I'd also like to see what I can get out of the camera in single long exposures.

Quite a learning curve! :whistle:

[h0ughy]

hey you can do better than that, surely you could go with longer exposures, or if need be more multiple ones, then stack. Fantastic shots for 30Seconds

[strongmanmike]

Nice first time deep sky images Chris :thumbsup:

You will deffinitely need longer exposures if you want to be able to display them at a reasonable size and still look ok but they are nice to look at non the less as is with rather good colour balace actually, well done.

Welcome aboard!

Mike
ps how's the Bino coming along?

[tornado33]

Well done. I agree, the colour balancing is very good.
Scott

[Ric]

A great start Chris, they are great for single images.

Can't wait to see some stacked images.

Cheers

[Omaroo]

Thanks everyone for your comments :)

Yes - H0ughy - I'll remember to take my remote next time which will give me exposure times up to whatever I need. I'm still kicking myself for forgetting it this time. :doh:

Mike - I JUST PICKED UP MY TWO 12" f/5 MATCHED MIRRORS FROM MARK SUCHTING TONIGHT after he came to our monthly MAS meeting to give a talk on binocular telescopes!!!!!!!! YAY!!!! 12" bino design phase is on the way! :D

[Garyh]

very nice Omaroo! fantastic results for such short exposures
:thumbsup:
12" bino`s Awesome! I would love to look through them!
cheers

[strongmanmike]

I have looked through Mark Suchting's (borrowed) pair and they provide the best views you will ever see visually through a scope in the 12" class and better than a much larger telescope even - the 3D effect is simply magic!

Mike

[astroboy]

Hi Chris
The shots came out well be good to see what longer exposures will do.
A couple of corrections re the equipment , the Meade 10" SN has a ED correcter / flatener / reducer which makes it F3.5 with out the corrector you get dodgy looking stars off axis .
And I think the milky way shots were taken with your 50 mm F1.4 stoped down to F2.8
Great to see you and Jenny and the MAS boys .
Good luck with the binos :thumbsup:

Thanks
Zane

[Alchemy]

great first shots, look forward to more.

the gm200 is the pre titan model i think.... you could put a lot on that mount even the binos i reckon.

[Omaroo]

Thanks for those corrections Zane - you're totally correct. It was the 50mm f/1.4 stopped down to 2.8 for that sequence. Using the older Ai lenses they don't provide, of course, the camera with any EXIF-related data.

Here's another one from that night too - the LMC: