Just wanna show my first attempts

[bartman]

In light (pardon the pun) of Kens 'Image of the Week' and a pic I saw in one of the astro mags I was looking through, I just wanted to show my attempt of capturing ngc 253.
Last Sunday I tried my ed80pro, just mucking around. By this time Jupiter was below the fence, so I had a look at some other noteworthy objects.
M77 & M74 were still below my roof line, so I had a look at my star chart .NGC 253 was the one. Took some shots with the dslr. As you can see tracking is way of. only 172 sec iso 800:(.BUT not to fear ! I was so happy I gotst a pic and I can only improve and aspire to Kens great shot!

Last Monday clear skies above Perth and had the night off -I do night and grave yard shifts-. So I had a real chance to play with the stuff I bought two months ago. I had taken it out a few times, but just to muck around with what all the knobs, buttons, barlow, aligning etc.
After a few hours (yes I took my time cause my friend - Jack Daniels- made me question everything I did!!!!) of trying to get South and Lattitude correct. Three star alignment was not possible cause the building around me obscured the stars that synscan wanted me to look at!. After a bit of guess work, I started to take a look at some stuff.
This time it was the 10" 's time to shine / illuminate ......whatever....
Didn't go for ngc253 but thought I would try something easy and yes well covered by the forums. M42.
this was the best shot I could muster. I had shot several images and tried to stack them but most of the shots were a bit out of focus or produced trails.
Nevertheless (one word ?????) I was very happy with what my friend and I had accomplished.

I'm sure that if JD stays away, better alignment, couple filters, some guidance and TIME, I'll one day have a pic of the week! heheheheh:rofl:
(one day:shrug:)

Cheers
Bartman

[zipdrive]

Great job on the Orion for 1st attempt:thumbsup:

[TrevorW]

We've all been there so keep plugging away

Cheers

[Astrod00d]

Congratulations! It's such a thrill when you point your scope and camera at the sky and get shape and colour! You're hooked now :lol: Onwards and upwards.

[multiweb]

That's a terrific shot Bart. Data is excellent. You can coax some more out of it. Here's a quick repro that should give you ideas. Nice work :thumbsup:

[leon]

We all have first attempts, and yours is just like our first attempts, you have done well, and with some more attempts you will get there.

Leon

[Ric]

A good start Bart, you should have seen some of my first attempts.

It's a learning curve but a fun one and keep lot's of notes, you'll find them a great reference in the future.

Cheers

[Robbie]

good onya Bart thats a great first attempt
be proud of your shots and just watch them get better and better as you progress.:thumbsup:

[bartman]

First of all THANKS for all the great replies!!!!:thumbsup:
I kinda got goose bumps when I read your replies and saw what Marc- thank you- had done to the lo res pic!! I'm pm'ing him soon to get some tips.
The original pic is about 3.2 MB...so I wonder what I can get from that?

It has given me a boost in confidence that I'm on the right track.

Once again thanks.......

Bartman

[spearo]

Well done Bart. The stars are nice and round.
My first image was also of M42 and looked a lot like yours.
Save it for posterity (mine is on my webpage! and framed on my "Wall of Shame" at home :lol:)
Its all about improving against your own performance and everyone here will gladly offer advice.

Keep at it and enjoy the journey
cheers
frank

[telecasterguru]

Bart,

That's a fine effort first up. You're on the right track.

Frank