First real QHY-9 Run. Help!!!

[batema]

Hi,

After having the camera fo 6 weeks without a break in the weather I got up and running last night with the 83% moon. I didn't care as it was great to be out.

I took 15 Lum at 4 min 1x1 binning but have not been able to work out how to put this into photoshop so it isn't included. Also I think the time I attempted it was much bigger than the other and my irfanview would not open as it is a tif i think. So we have 15x2min RGB at 2x2 binning processed as godgy as I know how to. I have two areas of what looks like blue and red stars that I don't know what they are and what seems to be a lot of faint blue stars everywhere.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated as help is obviously needed. I'm still happy with what I've got but have seen the potential of images and would like to get there. Taken using a W/O Flt 110 and Phd guiding.

Thanks

Mark

[batema]

Also no flats taken as I couldn't work out the time factor using EZCAP that came with the program.

MArk

[gbeal]

Mark,
I'll go first, but add I am not overly qualified to assist.
If that is first light, then it looks great.
Without knowing too much I would suggest you are ripe for somew form of capture and processing software, something like Nebulosity, or AstroArt, or Maxim, etc.
The capture should be straightforward with any of these, and they also process.
Maxim for example only needs to be pointed at the appropriate folder and it stacks, aligns and colour mixes the files, even calibrates them, and even with differing binning. Not cheap, but eventually the limitations of what you are using now will drive you to do something.
Gary

[AlexN]

I will agree with Gary on that.. Maxim DL is worth every cent... I just shoot my LRGB data, click a few buttons and it does the rest.. dark subtraction, flat field calibration, stacking, aligning the channels and combining... I usually only combine the RGB in Maxim, as I like to do the luminance mixing in Photoshop as you have a lot more control over what happens...

Luminance is fairly easy to layer in once you've figured it out... Heres a link to Rob Gendlers guide to LRGB image processing..

http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/LRGB.html

Cheers mate... Looking good thus far, just needs a bit more work... Good luck with it mate...

[mill]

First of all, get a bathinov mask.
The picture is a bit out of focus.
Second: Maxim dl is perfect for this camera.
Third : read, read and read some more about LRGB processing.
Fourth: PM me.

[batema]

Thankyou all. I look forward to improving. Bring on a star party.

Mark

[AlexN]

:) Too right Mark.. Hopefully April 17 provides us with a good dark sky night to go nuts! :)

If you're going to come out to Ten Chain Hill, between Robin and Myself I'm sure we can get you good and confused with a few different ways of processing your data :D