Finally...

[Aster]

Finally got my imaging setup working. 2x2.2m roll of roof DogHouse completed telescope pier mounted, a touch more drift alignment needed, knife edge focuser working, may have to move the mirror up the tube a bit to allow focus for filters but otherwise all is working.

Thanks to Barbara and David for their help in getting me started with Photoshop, got a lot to learn :(

So here are my first attempts...

10" F6 (1530mm) EQ6, no filters or field flatterners, Canon 400D (unmodded) PHD guiding.

All images stacked as RAW
in DSS

CenA 8X5min ISO800 darks Autolevel in CS2

Lagoon 10x5min ISO800 darks AutoLevels in CS2, Havent got around to fiddling with it as yet

Eagle 10x7min ISO800 darks, Levels and Curves in CS2

Triffid 6x10min ISO800 darks, Levels and Curves in CS2

Thanks to Jase and Andrew for some advice on File format re stacking.

[leon]

Alexander, you have done very well for your first attempt, and you have obviously done a heap of work to get these images to the standard that you have presented them, nice work indeed, keep at it mate, they are right on.

Leon

[Liz]

First attempts ..... :jawdrop: gooood golly, they are wonderful.

[Deeno]

Congratulations. :thumbsup:
Looks like you've hit the ground running........

[AlexN]

phwoar!! Very nice for first time round... Im on night 2 tonight hoping for results half as good as those :D

You've done an awesome job on those mate! No doubt about it.

[Craig_L]

The Eagle in particular has heaps of detail. Well done. Can't seem to get the same with a modded 450D. Those 400D's are great.

[Garyh]

Good one Alexander! I really like that Eagle! :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

great set of pictures Alex. Very sharp and tracking's spot on :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Yep, all really satisfying shots I would imagine Alex...now the fun starts :thumbsup:

Mike

[gregbradley]

Brilliant first images. You are doing a lot of things right to get images like that.

Greg.

[Tamtarn]

Excellent images Alex nice selection. :thumbsup:

Now that your finally set up with the Dog House Observatory we can look forward to seeing your results as you create an impressive imaging portfolio.

[spearo]

wow! First go?!?!?!?!?
very well done!
Eagle neb is a stunner,
consider playing a tiny bit with saturaton levels to bring out even more of the beautiful colors
I reckon you're spot on with focus on most the shots and couldn't have picked better exposure lenghts and ISO settings for a start.
very impressive first go!
frank

[RB]

Ahhh you beauty !!!
What an wonderful start mate, they're lovely indeed.

Just remember not to clip the histogram and half the battle is won in this game.

Looking forward to more from you.

:thumbsup:

[Matty P]

Amazing first attempt Alexander!

Looks like you have everything sorted out and your guiding looks spot on. The Lagoon and Eagle are particularly nice.

A wonderful effort indeed.

Very well done. :thumbsup:

[Ric]

Great first images Alexander, well done on a fine range of images.

Cheers

[Jeffkop]

I concur with all said before me Alex ... FAN-BLOODY-TASTIC first shots .. geeze what am i saying, they are so far advanced from most first shots exhibited on this forum mine well and truly included in that. They are up there already firmly nestled in the very acceptable category .. you can easily know this ... you would just have to look at your own appreciation of them.

[Aster]

Firstly let me say, Thank You All, for your nice comments.

Secondly, let me dispel the idea that this is my first foray into Deep Space Photography, Digital SLR and CCD Yes, but not otherwise. Actually I never held a Digital SLR in my hand until earlier this year.

Have done a lot of Black&White Film DSImaging, all types, freeze them, bake them, force them, back in the late sixties to mid seventies. Due to a lot of reasons I then got out of practical Astronomy. Last Years Comet rekindled my interest and here I am.

In other words, I am not a beginner in Astronomy. The practical knowledge gained in 45 years makes the mechanical side of taking images a breeze to me. The Digital side of imaging made me want to go back to kindergarden. Especially the proccesing of Images.

But I still have a BIG ADVANTAGE over someone just starting out.

Thirdly, I wanted to show the many new comers to the field of DSImaging, who read or look into this Forum, that one does not need a $5000 or more GEM or a Mewlon, or a Triplet APO, or a BRC250 to take some reasonable DSImages. Sure, it would be nice, BUT A REASONABLE QUALITY REFLECTOR and GEM like the EQ6 will give you very satisfying results.

Have attached M8 The Lagoon Nebula 10x5min, which I put through CS2. Would appreciate some instructive comments.

[strongmanmike]

Ah Alex, know exactly what you mean. I was a 24/7 astrophotographer in the 80's only to get side tracked by the desire to become the worlds strongest man... :screwy: :lol:

When I returned to Astronomy in 2002 I tried film photography with off axis eyeball guiding again, because that was all I knew. I had purchased an LX200 12" GPS and Lumicon Giant Easy guider and was going for it in a "locked in the 80's" fashion...it was hard work, with reasonable results I guess but not what I wanted (no fun guiding a 1hr exposure with your eyeball glued to the guide eyepiece, while standing!) . Then I was shown a starlightxpress CCD camera by Dave Higgins and I was hooked. I had to get my head around autoguiding, quantum efficiency, LRGB processing etc etc...but boy has it been a wonderful journey to where I am today :)

Like you have suggested, the experienece with film photography (film processing and darkroom - the works!) really helps and the steps I have made in imaging improvements have much to thank from my painstaking raw, in the field camera capture, film and darkroom development and printing experience I am sure.

Look forward to your future work :thumbsup:

The above Lagoon is a great start back!!...imagine getting that back in 1980..??

Mike

[Aster]

Weather and Health permitting

Not bloody likely :) Although Spectroscopic A emuslsion, where you had to remove the black backing from the film after developing, came quite close. Mind you, wouldn't be able to sit on top of a 6 foot step latter for near on 90 minutes with the eye glued to the Offaxis Guiding Eyepiece anymore.

How times have changed.

[Hagar]

Lovely set o first images. Definitely can be proud of this bunch. Well done. Keep at it.