First Auto-Guided DSO's! NGC253, NGC1365, M45..

[iceman]

Hi all

Last night was the first clear night in 5 days, and the only clear night predicted for the next 7. THere was still patchy cloud at times, but I wanted to tackle auto-guiding so I was ready for the next clear night.

Turns out auto-guiding is a snap :) Especially with PHD Guiding and GPUSB. It was up and running almost immediately, so when the clouds did clear for an hour or two, I was able to get some auto-guided imaging in!

All objects with:
Saxon ED80 on EQ6, auto-guided through 80mm refractor using DMK21AF04, PHD Guiding and GPUSB, WO 0.8x II reducer and Canon 350D.

NGC253 and NGC288
- 13x 180s exposures @ ISO800

NGC1365 and friends
- 5x 180s exposures @ ISO1600

M45
- 10x 180s exposures @ ISO1600

All dark frame subtracted and processed using ImagesPlus, post-processing in Photoshop.

I have learned that:
- 3 minutes is way too long for ISO1600, just too much noise. I'll stick to ISO800 from now on.
- clouds are very frustrating, especially when you're in the middle of a long exposure.
- Auto-guiding rocks! It's just so simple and easy, don't need to touch it! I'll never drift align again ;)
- I hate light pollution and want dark skies
- I need a lot more exposures
- I hate setting up and packing away
- NGC1365 is small and faint, but it's near a galaxy cluster! (which i'll image on it's own next time)
- M45 is a challenging target! Needs a lot more, and longer, exposures.
- DSO imaging takes forever!

Thanks for looking.

[allan gould]

Really lovely shots. The shot of 1365 and companions is really brilliant as is the one of 243. Didnt realise 288 was in the same field for an 80mm scope. Very well done

[[1ponders]]

Nicely going Mike. Great start.

You will still have to drift align otherwise you will still get field rotation for longer exposures.

[iceman]

You're such a party pooper.. You know how to ruin my day don't you ;) :lol:

[[1ponders]]

trust me mike, once you get comfortable with it and learn how to do it with K3 you will be welcome to all the best Star Parties. :D

[avandonk]

Welcome to base camp Mike! The rest of us think we are higher on the mountain. Some of us are suffering from delusion.

Bert

[Dennis]

Hi Mike

Great images – well done. Your enthusiasm is infectious and I hope it will inspire many others to embark on the path of auto guided astro photography; from base camp to mind numbing high altitudes where the air is rarefied indeed when working at focal lengths of 2000mm plus!

Cheers

Dennis

[vash]

Yep, you make me want to get autoguiding up and running now.

I'm going to order in my GPusb adapter very soon, I first want to see how the EQ6 handle with out first, get used to the mount, that being said I'm sure my tube rings for my guide scope are in.

[rogerg]

Excellent stuff Mike, great first shot at autoguiding :thumbsup: I find the clouds don't affect the imaging as much as they affect the autoguiding. If there's cloud about and it cuts out the guidestar briefly it can ruin the lot when your autoguiding software goes hunting for the guidestar.

[leon]

There you go Mike, I bet you stood there and smiled to your self when you watched that little Star try and escape from the grip of the cross hair, well I did, :) To auto guide for the first time is such a buzz, I reckon, and it still is for me, nice work Mike. ;)

Leon :thumbsup:

[Lee]

The man with the golden touch..... They are awesome Mike! The NGC1365 shot with the galaxy cluster is beautiful..... Look out Jase! :D

[h0ughy]

how come they still let me go then Eh?

[[1ponders]]

I reacon you know how to do it h0ughy, but you just like the company :D

[h0ughy]

sad, I havent touched the G11 since August 28, or the eq6 for that matter:help: as for the alignment, much needed practice, must learn from master!!!!;)

[Lee]

Wow.... NCG1365's friends include:
NGC1374, NGC1375, NGC1379, NGC1387, NGC1399, NGC1404, NGC1381, NGC1380, NGC1386, NGC1369, NGC1389.... :eyepop:
and a couple of others too.....

[jase]

Mike, your "I have learnt that" section summarises DSO work quite well. Its a stark contrast to planetary imaging. Once you get the basics down, you can begin to refine how you collect data and more importantly how you process it - which is actually where 80% of the work resides.

Well done on the milestone. Only up from here. You do realise that as you progress, you raise the stakes. Thus, everyone will expect more from you (or at least I will anyway:lol:). ;)

[Tamtarn]

Good to see everything went well for your first attempt at autoguiding Mike, you should be proud of your results.

A whole new area has now opened up for you with your imaging. We look forward to your progress. Hopefully one day we will have a clear sky to attempt autoguiding ourselves.

Well Done. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[gbeal]

Yep, while it isn't rocket science, it sure gives a buzz to have the machine do all the work huh? Well done. as Jase said, only upwards now.

[tornado33]

Great work. Well tracked and focussed, looks like the autoguider is doing its work well.
You should take the rig to Kulnurra or other dark sites then you could use ISO 1600.
As a guide I find if the histogram is more then halfway across then images are too bright and either exposure time or ISO need to be reduced.
Scott

[Bassnut]

wow Mike, awesome, you learn quick ;-). You should get 5min at 1600 with the 350D (with darks) without too much noise.

[Alchemy]

enjoyed your effort.:thumbsup:

[Ric]

Well done Mike, you've captured some wonderful images.

The galaxy cluster is a beauty

Cheers

[iceman]

Thanks Allan, I found it by accident a few weeks ago when I first attempted NGC253, but it was too close to the edge to include. Since I got the WO 0.8x reducer, with the camera oriented just so, they fit nicely.


yeh I really need to start using the DMK for drift aligning. At the moment I'm using the reticle. I'm sure next time the battery in the illuminated reticle goes flat it'll inspire me to use software to help me :)


Thanks Bert, it's been a fun journey to this point so far. I'm planning to take the supplimental oxygen with me from here on in!


Thanks Dennis, but I think i'll stick with short focal length stuff for DSO imaging.. it's much less demanding on my time and patience. I'll save the 10,500+mm stuff for planetary/lunar.


I was surprised how well my mount handled guiding.. I thought it would've been stuffed after driving the heavy 12" newt and 25kg of counterweights around. Give it a go!


Thanks Roger - you're right about the guidestar, I found that a few times myself. At least PHD beeps at you when it loses the star. I was worried how much it would've slewed off target when it lost the guidestar, but it wasn't too bad.


You're right Leon - it was great.. technology doing its thing!


Thanks Lee, I was surprised to see the galaxy cluster. I was only intending to image 1365, but saw the cluster and tried to fit as much of it in as I could without putting 1365 too close to the edge. Next time I'll image the cluster on it's own. It sure surprised me to see so many faint fuzzies in a 30s exposure while framing.


Thanks Jase - I still have a long way to go with processing - i'm sure there's more I could be doing, but need to get the data acquisition right (and get good data!) before I delve too deep into the processing (and start bugging you for hints and tips!)

When I get 50x 5 min exposures in good seeing and good transparency, you can expect to hear from me :)


Thanks Barb/David. I used your early imaging results as inspiration to try this myself.


Thanks for the tip Scott, i'll make sure I check that more carefully next time. I can't wait to give this a go under dark skies.


Thanks Fred, it's help from all the folks here that has helped me get to the point I am.. I've picked up heaps of bits and pieces of information while reading posts, so when I decided to try it myself, I had the info sitting at the back of the brain I didn't realise was there. It's great to finally be able to put it to use.

Next I want to start on flats, but still waiting for h0ughy's light box to go into production :)

Thanks again for all your nice comments, it makes it all worthwhile.

[h0ughy]

well plasmodium has seen it, and taken away a prototype (ie one of my white foam core boards) to have a go himself

9.95 from an art supply place and 39.00 for the white LED and 6 volt battery from bunnings:lol: and a bit of tape.:whistle:

[iceman]

Send your bank account details ;)

[jjjnettie]

LOL A legitimate excuse for a trip to Queensland Mike.
Paul explains how to drift align so well, even I understood it.

[netwolf]

Mike, well done looks like your well on your way now. I am learning quiet a bit from your progress. The problem is finding the time to get out there and practice.

Regards
Fahim

[Shawn]

Great stuff Mike. Fine images...Autoguiding sort of takes the fun out of it though hey, Yeah right...:lol:

S