my first attempt at AstroPhotography Sambrero Galaxy and Centaurus A

[alexV]

Took those pictures at Brias mt Eliza with my Saxon 100ED and Nikon D3000
Very exited
:D

[leon]

Fine effort indeed for your fist attempt, seems the tracking is working pretty well too.

What exposure times were you using, well done.

Leon

[alexV]

Thank you
Iam over the moon with my first attempt Leon :)

ISO was at 3600 or 1600 and aperture was at 30"
Shutter speed was at 1/2000

[vanwonky]

Good one Alex. Seeing your first astro image on screen is always very exciting. First image of the Sombrero galaxy is great. The tracking on the second image seems to have gone amiss. Are you using a tracking mount of any sort?
Cheers
Dave

[alexV]

yes, its EQ5. I only done 2 star alignment. Still have to learn about drift alignment

[vanwonky]

Great. All part of the fun. Keep at it.

[BlackWidow]

Pretty cool Alex. Great start and nice targets. It's very cool to take these sorts of shots yourself without looking at images in books. It's a very rewarding hobby. great effort for first shots.



Mardy

[astronobob]

Great start to astro-imaging Alex, nice gear too , , tho I am wondering about your settings eg, aperture = 30" inches, thats one massive scope ?
Also your shutter speed of 1/2000th of a second ? ? You could try a few seconds or 20seconds or even a minute or two ?
Just trying to help mate as learning about settings can only help your images further : )
I do like the Sombrero Galaxy, it is a favourite Target of mine, Good one & kind Rgrds , ,

[2stroke]

Think his just muddled lol 3600 iso 1/2000th, I think he means 30 seconds at 1600 or 3200.

Keep at it o.p. and checkout the projects&articles section for more help :) The second image is way off dude, was tracking on? The first image seems fair and great for your first, just need to get some darks to fix that noise up. On your next go grab one of the guys out there to do a polar align for you, may even be out there myself this Saturday. Try for iso 1600 and 15sec's check your images, if there's no trails go for 25secs. Keep doing this and working up exposure times and grab some flats. If your a member of MPAS ask Greg for some help, they run astrophotography nights alot with talks for advanced to new comers.
It takes time and i only consider myself as a newbie and have being working at it for a yr or so now. The best thing to do is read as much as you can and understand how your camera works and what the settings do, then read http://www.saratogaskies.com/articles/cookbook/index.html which is a tad outdated but covers the fundamentals of ap. Keep at it and the results will get better and better :) BTW thats some nice gear your got, we also have a ED100 and love it :)

[Forgey]

Nice attempts Alex.
I would go for longer shutter of 20-30sec or longer if you can.
Also if you take multiple images you can stack them using Deep Sky Stacker to bring out more detail.

[alexV]

I meant 30 sec
30" refractor i would love to have that
:)

[alexV]

cant do more than 20 sec
If i go more i get trace problem.
just doing some readings about drift aligment

[alexV]

If you there on Saturday come and say hello. Ill be the one next to my Ute
you will see, it says A & F Painting on it.
Everyone who will be there come and say hello.

I work in industry where not many people are interested in Astronomy. In fact they not interested in anything. So i would love to have a chat :)

BTW i do painting so if anyone need some painting done let me know ill look after you
I been painting for 10 years
www.anfpaintingservices.com.au

[2stroke]

Will do Alex, lol being lazy here lately. Last weekend i spent playing around with polar alignment in the backyard and finding placement for an ob. Have to get out there to test the 1100D iv'e modded the skys at cranbourne don't do it justice, so might catch you this saturday. I drive a silver land rover and will probably be the only guy with a vb in one hand and smoke in the other hahaha.

[alexV]

lol Ok

[ballaratdragons]

:rofl: nothing like a bit of free advertising :P

Good on you Alex, you are on the right track with your imaging. Plenty of guys and gals around to help you out :thumbsup:

[alexV]

yes, i been geting lots of help from everyone
:thumbsup: