My first real astro image!! YAY!!!

[that_guy]

Went over to paul's (1ponders) for my first imaging session :D it was really dark and awesome night... focusing and balance was just a pain, it was really frustrating but over it was okay for my first attempt :) The piccies are Orion and 47 tuc. Non guided with ED80. single 1 min exposure at ISO1600

Cheers,
Tony

[[1ponders]]

Nicely done Tony. Congratulation of your first catch. :cool2: Your focus looks pretty good. I'd say you nailed 47 Tuc.

I'm glad you had a great time. We'll do it again another night......without the cloud.:cloudy:

[DavidU]

Nice effort Tony, now you have the bug !:thumbsup:

[that_guy]

Thanks Paul :) had an awesome time :D maybe next time im there ill be guiding with that ST4 port.. thinking of modding the finder as a guidescope and attach my telrad on to the scope so i can use that as a finder, might be using the Philip webcam as the guidecam :) hopefully all this before the mid next year :/
Thanks again paul for an awesome time and an awesome breakfast :thumbsup:

cheers,
tony

[that_guy]

hehehe thanks david :) i just hope i can actually get some images from where i am... the polar alignment was all confusing:confused2::screwy: ill learn over time, also the focuser was being weird... as well as the balance... most of the night was spent trying to fix this prob, but terry got it all sorted :D he deserves most of the credit haha..

cheers,
tony

[Heath]

Hi Tony,

I too am a beginner at this and was interested how you got your image with no trails unguided for a 1 min exposure? I tried the Orion Nebulae from my Melbourne backyard and was no where near that sharp?

Any assistance much appreciated. I had the 105 refractor hooked with a 2x barlow and dslr on the back. ISO 6400 for a 2 sec shutter and got trails?

Cheers Heath

[that_guy]

went to a really dark sky and polar aligned real good (well as best as we could get LOL) with HEQ5 mount... there are some trails in the high res ones but not that much noticeble i was really impressed by the tracking!!! my god was i impressed... hope this was some help,

cheers,
tony

[Heath]

Cheers for that, all in the alignment!

[that_guy]

yep yep :) and the balance... if the balance is off the gears would strain and trail... no prob heath

[shelltree]

Nice shots Tony, you've done well! Was a great night, very nice and dark :)

[that_guy]

hehehe thanks shell :) i like your Eta carinae neb with the dark cloud in the frame. haha that is an awesome pic :)

[shelltree]

Not really mine as jjj did all the focusing and everything, just used my camera :P Tis a great shot though! Haha.

[that_guy]

this is the cropped version of the Orion :) alot more fuzzier cos its a crop from the full res pic... the focus is off but it was the best we could do

cheers,
tony

[marki]

Onya Tony, good to see you are finally underway and a very good first effort I must say. Lusting after new equipment is one thing but nowhere near as valuable as good friends and mentors like JJJ, Terry and Paul. A smart aspiring 15 year old astrophotographer would stick close to these folks, ask lots of questions and listen very carefully to their answers ;).

Mark

[that_guy]

hehehe.... thanks marki... those mentors are invalueble for sure :thumbsup: they are awesome friends and an awesome teacher :D

[acropolite]

Nice first effort Tony, I look forward to watching your progress. :thumbsup:

[astroron]

Good start Tony, and great to catch up with you again:thumbsup:

[that_guy]

Thanks Phil :) Thanks Ron :D
It was awesome catching up with you and your big dob :lol: your extreme wide field eyepiece was REALLY impressive!! wow!!! thanks again for the look see through the scope :) hehehe

cheers,
tony

[jjjnettie]

Lovely Tony. Glad you enjoyed yourself.

[that_guy]

you have to upload the group photo hahaha :thumbsup:

[Omaroo]

Good on you Tony. Your first shots will stay with you for a long time. Be proud of them because they're both very good - especially 47T. :thumbsup:

[that_guy]

Thanks Chris :D I am very happy with the results i got :D:D and very happy that my first shots are at a dark site haha... :D
yesss... i am a very happy boy :)

thanks,
tony

[that_guy]

Ive ummm got this pic... its a 65 sec exposure at iso1600 while trying to align the scope... hehehe... jjj shined a torch down the front by accident LOL

[h0ughy]

well done Tony, only up from here - welcome to the dark side

[that_guy]

thanks david :) ive come to the darkside... now wheres my cookie!! :P

[CometGuy]

Congratulations on First Light Tony :)

You certainly got the full gamut of AP experiences! From all the in field frustrations to the joy of the actual image.

I thought of a list of notes for you....

1. Crayford focusers need to be Tensioned correctly. How much time did we spend trying to focus when the drawtube WASNT atcually moving when we turned to knob!
2. Polar alignment takes ages with new equipment..enough said :(
3. Dew happens!
4. People will shine torches down your tube when your imaging LOL!
5. Balance is important. Somehow counterweights can slide up the shaft during an imaging session...:shrug:
6. It is actually fun :)


Terry

[that_guy]

heehe
1. yeah.. i think it was something like 2 hours!! haha
2. it was all in awkward positions and stuff...:shrug:
3. Lucky for the hair dryer!!
4. good fun haha
5. yeah... think its some electro magnetic interference from fudgie's electrical impulses... hahaha
6. It was.. the only time learnings fun LOL:lol::rofl:

[DavidTrap]

A fine first night's imaging Tony.

I've only been imaging for a year, but there as far as I can tell there are 5 Ps to Astrophotography:
Prior
Preparation
Prevents
Poor
Performance

Attention to every little detail is what's necessary for good results - alignment, balance, tracking/guiding, focus, darks, flats, etc...

DT

[that_guy]

haha thanks david :thumbsup: need to memorise the 5 P's.. :)
have to get my guiding sorted.. got the ST4 port i need to solder on and a Philip webcam :D i should be guiding by march next year :D

cheers,
tony

[kinetic]

6. Patience . You will need LOTS of it.
Well done Tony:thumbsup:

Steve

[that_guy]

LOL yeah need a LOT of that... we were stuck on the focusing and forgot about the tension... think it took us 2 hours to get that sorted haha... but it was fun :D

[Suzy]

We should take her to more star parties and teach her the rules of being around imagers ... :question: :lol:. Sorry JJJ, I couldn't resist. :D:doh:



Mark, so incredibly well said. :2thumbs:

Tony, many many congratulations on these first images of yours. They are great shots and you should be very proud. And as Mark said, you are very fortunate to have all these great teachers around you. If these are your first images, then goodness - your future in astrophotography looks very bright for you!

[that_guy]

thanks suzy :D most of the credit goes to terry for teaching me how to align and focus properly. :) not to mention he helped me to find the things haha

[allan gould]

Welldone for first images. Hope that the bug doesn't bite too hard but with good mentors you will get there quickly.

[WestAusChris]

Very nice pictures :)

ED80 isnt that an 80mm scope???

Didnt think you could see images like that with an 80mm :)

[that_guy]

thanks Chris :D it was great, i think the dark site gave the extra details... yep ed80s a 80mm APO... loving the little bugger haha. if you have the mount aligned properly, you can do longer exposures and you can get more images before the images start to go wonky haha. :)

cheers.
tony

[that_guy]

thanks allan :) wont be buying much anymore... saving up for a bigger dob :thumbsup: i still like visual :lol:

cheers,
tony

[WestAusChris]

Well if you see those images with an 80mm im hoping my 6" Dob will see them aswell, now the fun part of trying to find them lol

[that_guy]

yep yep... orion in your 6" would be great :thumbsup:

[that_guy]

Terry was kind enough to stack the images i did over there :D Thanks terry!! :thumbsup: there were 4 images all together :)

cheers,
tony

[marki]

Now its up to you to see how much detail you can extract in photoshop Tony. I would probably ask H how best to go about that.

Mark

[that_guy]

well... ive been fiddling around with it while at school (finished everything else :D) this is what ive got.. high pass and levels and such.. tell me wat you think about it... i think its better? :shrug:

cheers,
tony

[marki]

Tony I managed to get quite a bit more out of it than that. Try levels and curves before the other stuff.

Mark

[that_guy]

another fiddle around with levels and curves... at school, dont know what im doing.. just fiddling around and comparing LOL. anyways this one is wayy burnt out but i think it has more detail?

[WestAusChris]

Oh i cant wait to see things like your seeing, great work and keep them coming :)

Although now i want to go out and starting taking pictures, one thing at a time lol

[Jen]

:thumbsup::thumbsup: good on ya Tony :thumbsup::thumbsup:

I should post mine in the beginners section too ;)

[atalas]

Congrats on your first shots Tony! I still remember the buzz when first watching those images downloading from my then ST7!

[astronobob]

Nice starter image Tony and experimenting with PS, it is a good way to learn, take advise from others home with you and dont be shy to give some sliders etc a good fudge, make mental notes etc.
All the best for future sessions, when some clear sky comes our way, Lol .

[bones]

Well gone Tony, I especially like the effort you put into 47 Tuc. I look forward to seeing more of your shots in the future.
Tony

[that_guy]

thanks bones... It'll get heaps better when i start guiding... haha and when i learn to properly polar align LOL

[Hagar]

Very nice pair Tony. I must have missed bthis on my browsing rounds. Well done. If you had seen some of my early images you'de laugh your self to sleep. Mine were not very good at all. Amazing what a little bit of help and of course a digital camera can achieve. Look forward to seeing some more.
Again Great start.

[that_guy]

thanks doug... most of the credit goes to terry haha

[jenchris]

Heath - if you're getting star trails on 2 seconds, you're actually vibrating the scope - this could be from the tripping the camera or stomping around while the camera is about to fire.

You can get up to 30 seconds on Orion without trails being obvious

Tony, my friend - you are dead man walking !
I'm not about to allow those pictures as proof of your beating me!
This is war!
:D
They're great and better than my first attempt two nights ago - but I was alone and unloved.... out inthe cold on my own - no one to help me boo hoo

[jenchris]

Looks like we're going to have to team up!

[ew]

Very nice images Tony :thumbsup: 47 Tuc looks stunning. Well done.