Omega, keyhole and ghost of jupiter.

[scarper]

OK so I am new to astronomy and astrophotography (wife bought me a scope for Christmas)
I have found that the mount that came with the celestron was totally a waste of time. So bought an EQ6 pro.....ahh much better......so without further ado....my first pics with said mount, 8'' SCT prime focus with 40D.

I havent tried a drift align yet so limited to around 30 sec exposures.
Taken in my back yard...not dark and no filters.
hope u like my first attempts.

Marty



http://mdhphotography.biz/images/omega1.jpg




http://mdhphotography.biz/images/keyhole1.jpg




http://mdhphotography.biz/images/goj.jpg

[iceman]

They're excellent, Mart.
You're experience in normal photography will definitely decrease your learning curve.

[CoolhandJo]

Did you say new? Excellent first images! Like the Ghost.

[jjjnettie]

Nice work.

[telecasterguru]

Marty,
Great images, I especially like Omega Centauri. Very nice.

Frank

[Robbie]

Very well done :thumbsup:

[Jen]

Beautiful results for a newbie nice work :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Starkler]

Its great that you picked up internal detail in GOJ. A bit more exposure would bring out the outer part of this object.

[bloodhound31]

Very good first images Marty. Good work mate. Now practice practice practice!

Baz.

[multiweb]

Pretty impressive for first shots. I wish mine looked half as good when I started. Keep going. :thumbsup:

[Lester]

Good ones Marty, much better than my first images were.

[jase]

I'd be pleased with those for first images Marty. Onward and upward from here. Look forward to seeing more.

[scarper]

thanks for the comments guys.....I will hopefully get some better results once I get the polar alignment worked out......

[Hagar]

Nice images Marty, Get the drift alignment under control and some active guiding and take some longer subs and you will be producing some corkers.

[scarper]

Would anyone know if there is a place in Perth I can get my 40D modded???

Cheers
Marty

[iceman]

You can try Eric at www.ezystyles.com. He's in Melbourne but mailorder is fine. I don't know that you'll find anyone locally.

[scarper]

Thought about doing it myself, but thought better of it after watching youtube video :whistle:

[spearo]

Very nice Marty
You gotta love better halves who buy you astro goodies!
I especially like the Omega shot
well done
frank

[dcalleja]

Nice job on those

[scarper]

tried ghost of jupter again tonight...much more detail..

http://mdhphotography.biz/images/ghost.jpg

[g__day]

Welcome aboard - they are great first shots. Looking at your Ghost of Jupiter the focus seems okay but looking at that second star I wonder if you've nailed collimination?

Trial CCDWares 30 day evaluation CCD Inspector http://www.ccdware.com/downloads/ and check your collimination - you may find you can greatly improve how sharp your shots are.

Secondly even a home made $2 Bhatinov mask (i.e. black cardboard and hobby knife or print one off the web and photocopy it onto A3 transparency at office works) really improves focus.

Third - drift alignment - must learn skill to develop!

Fourth permanent peirs - Godsend!

Fifth - light pollution suppression filters :)

By comparison - here is a two second snap of the Ghost of Jupiter yesterday - with a C9.25 into a Canon 400D unguided.


Sixth - guiding (say hello to PHD software from Stark-labs) :) :)

Seventh - the wonders of Photoshop, levels, curves and filters :) :) :)

It's a fun hobby your entered well judging by your first efforts!