NGC5139 - First shot at new house

[LucasB]

Hey there astronomers,

Been a while since I have posted a picture as I have moved house. While the clouds were about , I decided to mod the DSLR. When it was finally clear I thought I would take a test shot of NGC5139. Unfortunately I could only get 18 minutes of data but hey, you take what you can get!

Scope : APM 130/780 APO with TMB Flattener
Camera : Modded Canon 550D (Astrodon)
Filter : IDAS LP2

I will get gutsy and take off the LP2 filter one day.....

Feel free to comment/critique
Thanks for looking,
Lucas

[LucasB]

Probably shouldn't have posted this one. The night actually started with trying to frame the running chicken IC2944 (which would have been good to test the modded DSLR) but no matter how I turned the camera I couldn't frame it(too large). The trial frames of IC2944 showed fantastic Ha response and nice round stars at the edge of field but I spent too much time on framing. Out of frustration I turned to NGC5139 and took a few frames to try and get something from the night. By that time I think focus suffered a little and so did guiding. The result was as you see but is not a true representation of the capabilities of the APM and flattener. Next post will definitely be with decent integration time.
Lucas

[gregbradley]

A very nice image. A slight brightness gradient running from bottom to halfway. Gradient Xterminator or gradient tool in Photoshop would take care of that.

Even a lasso over the bottom half, feathered 50 pixels and move the blackpoint up to match the top half would work

Greg.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Hi Lucas,

You got some nice star colours in there, looks natural.
It's something I still to practise.

Cheers,

Justin.

[Paul Haese]

Looks pretty nice to me. Never tire of looking at images of this great globular.

[LucasB]

Thanks for the advice Greg. I have downloaded gradient Xterminator so I will have a play with it and see what comes out.



Thanks Justin. As you know, it can be a little difficult with the DSLR and star colours!



Thanks Paul. I was reading a post you made a while back regarding star colours with DSLR cameras. It has inspired me to try my best to get nice star colours whenever I shoot.

[strongmanmike]

Nice new house shot that Lucas good work :thumbsup: Omega looks good in a square frame too I recon...

Where have you moved to?

Mike

[Ross G]

Nice shot Lucas.

Ross,

[LucasB]

Thanks Mike. I am only another 5km out from melbourne CBD in Altona Meadows. I have unobstructed views all around but light pollution to the north (transport depot). Still thinks its a tiny bit darker than where I was but and I can see and image around the pole now...yeah!



Thanks Ross.