First Picture

[quicksimon]

Hello again everyone
Finally i had a clear night so out came the Meade LPI. I had a go with it during daylight at terestial objects to get to grips with the basics like focusing etc. During the night is a different ball game!Without a tracking mount and my computer being 4-5 meters away I found it pretty tricky to capture the moving objects. However, I got a good picture of Saturn before my mum was complaining about the cold, it was freezing.

I'm a bit unsure what else I can do to obtain better pictures. Do I have to click the 'save every image' button to process in registax? What can I do in photoshop to improve the pictures? I realise you can only tell me the basics because there is a lot to learn but it would be very much appreciated as I am new to astrophotography:confuse2:
Heres the pic, 8" dob with *2 Barlow Meade LPI. Thanks

[iceman]

ahhh another sucker, astrophotography with a dob! :) Welcome to my world :D I'm not alone anymore! :)

That's a great first start, well done!

I think you have to save them as bmp's from the LPI software to be able to load them in registax.

I'm not sure what the LPI software does to improve the image.. but in registax, you can use the wavelets tab to adjust layer 2 normally, and then in photoshop you could try a little unsharp mask and despeckle.

Good luck on this slippery slope! :D

[[1ponders]]

good first shot quicksimon. Especially with an LPI and a Dob. Lookout Mike, you've got some healthy competition :P

[ving]

best of luck simon and try not to go crazy like mike did! :P

[quicksimon]

Thanks guys

Yeah its tricky with a dob. Its an awesome telescope but for photography I think in the future I'll buy a tracking mount. Thanks for the tips. I'll save the images as bmp's next time and see what I can do with them in registax then photoshop. Thanks again :)
Simon

[rumples riot]

Nice first pic. Colour need to be white balanced out a bit, but you are certainly on your way. Keep em coming.

[ving]

reminds me of your first saturn shot ice! :)
http://www.iceinspace.com/images/images/planets/20041201-saturn3.htm

[iceman]

haha I know, it's uncanny isn't it? I was going to post it myself when I saw it :)