Bearing in mind I live about 30km away from Melbourne city in the SE Suburbs
1. My first ever guided image of the M42. The white balance was wayyy off, but I still thought it was the best image ever! 2x30Sec exposure @ 800 ISO, no darks, 8" Newt
2. After more research on stacking, importance of darks etc, I got this. I changed my mind, this was the best image ever
3x5.5min + 2x2min + 3x15sec, 4 Darks, 1 Flatfield @ISO1000, 8" Newt
3. I decided to give something else a go, and since Eta Carina was rising, I decided to go for it. I still didn't quite have the hang of post-processing so this image isn't very clear, a bit of star drift too. 3x30sec + 1x60sec Lights, 3x30sec Darks, 1 Flatfield @ISO1000, 8" Newt. Total exposure time of 2.5min
4. The big one. I borrowed my first D90 which has considerably less noise and a 12-bit readout. I didn't have a long exposure cable, so all images were limited to 30sec. But i was totally blown away with this, even though I managed to screw up the colour balance
22x30sec Light + 9x30sec Dark images @ ISO3200, 8" Newt
5. My favourite image of all my star clusters, NGC 3766 (The pearl cluster). As you can see, I started understanding how to post-process much better now. 7x30secs Lights + 4x30sec Darks @ ISO2500 with a D90. Total exposure time of 3min30sec, taken with the 80ED
6. IC 2602 (Southern Pleadies). Love the way the 80ED renders the stars, the way they glow. 16x30secs Lights + 4x30sec Darks @ ISO2500 with a D90. Total exposure time of 8min, taken with the 80ED
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7. For my whole life I've wanted to see, let alone photograph, a galaxy. For me I considered it the pinnacle of my photography and passions that I have, but never at this age and *especially* not from my backyard.
Ive looked at photos of this galaxy which came with my first astronomy software that was given with my first crappy telescope over 7 years ago. I know its not much to look at, but for me I'll never forget this image.
I also wanted to add that I found the galaxy just by comparing star
sharts to what I could see with my eyes, and roughly working out where
it is relative to other stars. I dont bother properly polar aligning my scope yet, I just wing it
Its almost so dim that i couldnt even see it through the 8" . I had to photograph small patches at a time to work out
exactly where it was and within my camera's FOV, took me 1.5 hours just to find it. 90x30secs Lights + 41x30sec Darks @ISO6400 with a D90. Total exposure time of 45min, taken with the 80ED.
8. Retaken with my 8", more detail in the arms though only 40 lights. The moon started to come out and everything became washed out. Have to wait a month now! 40x30secs Lights + 20x30sec Darks @ ISO6400 a Maria's D90. Total exposure time of 20min, taken with the 8" Newt
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So I hope you've all enjoyed reading my (lengthy, and i apologise for its length) adventures into astronomy. I wanted to give back after getting so much from this hobby (dare i say passion now? Hell yea!). I hope this has helped out someone who was just as confused as me when i started, and any feedback on where I can improve would be great.
Clear skies!
Meru