Sculptor Galaxy

[mattferg (Matt)]

I'm new to astronomy and even newer to astrophotography. This is my first attempt at capturing a galaxy.

Any feedback would be great.

[graphworlok (James)]

Great shot, i'm jealous.

How long was the exposure? Is it stacked?

And what hardware did you use?

I'd be interested to find out whats caused the few bright noisy specks in the image. It doesnt look like bright pixels, unless the image has been stacked.

You'll find dark and flat frames can improve the image dramatically.

[mattferg (Matt)]

Hey James,

Thanks.

The image is stacked, composed of about 25 images @ 30sec exposures. I used Nebulosity to capture the images and stack and some brightening in Photoshop.

Thanks for the advice on the darks and flats, I was a bit pushed for time (clouds where rolling in) but will try again on the next clear night.

Cheers,
Matt

[RobF (Rob)]

Hi Matt

Miles better than any galaxy image I got early on.

I'd suggest your next move should be buying a Bhatinov mask to get tighter focus, and start to learn about bias and dark frames.

[graphworlok (James)]

Originally Posted by mattferg

Hey James,

Thanks.

The image is stacked, composed of about 25 images @ 30sec exposures. I used Nebulosity to capture the images and stack and some brightening in Photoshop.

Thanks for the advice on the darks and flats, I was a bit pushed for time (clouds where rolling in) but will try again on the next clear night.

Cheers,
Matt

Ok, the stacking would explain the patterns of bright pixels that showed up. I'm guessing they were barely noticeable in individual exposures.

Dark frames are easy to take, and will take care of those, and flat frames will add "brightness" correction. (flattens image and can remove dust mote distortion), but are more fiddly.

What sort of telescope where you using? I dont see much chromatic abberation.

[Lee]

A good start - plenty of signal to work with.... work on tightening up focus and you'll be well on your way.
There is a little coma by the looks - a newtonian scope?

[mattferg (Matt)]

Hi Lee,

It is a Newtonian Scope, I am hoping to have a coma corrector delivered today or early next week to help with the coma issue and will be working on tightening up the focus.

Cheers,
Matt

[mattferg (Matt)]

Hi Rob,

Wow! I just had a look at your images, they are fantastic, I have a long way 2 go. Thanks for the advice on the Bhatinov mask and frames and will look into it.

Cheers,
Matt

[Nortilus (Josh)]

more details on gear used. What scope? what mount? what camera? are you autoguiding?
It is a great start and I myself am just a beginner. More infor on what you use can help the rest of us with advice we can give.

[shenanigans000 (Greg)]

Awesome mate!

Apart from the aforementioned focus, I'd also recommend making the background darker. Not sure what software you're using, but it's pretty easy to darken the background / increase the contrast using DSS or Lightroom etc.

I've taken the liberty of having a quick fiddle with your image - I hope you don't mind. What do you think?

Keep it up!

[mattferg (Matt)]

Originally Posted by Nortilus

more details on gear used. What scope? what mount? what camera? are you autoguiding?
It is a great start and I myself am just a beginner. More infor on what you use can help the rest of us with advice we can give.

Hi Josh,

Thanks, i was autoguiding, please see gear details below:

Scope: Bintel BT250 f/4
Mount: Skywatchers NEQ6
Camera: Canon 60d

Cheers,
Matt

[mattferg (Matt)]

Originally Posted by shenanigans000

Awesome mate!

Apart from the aforementioned focus, I'd also recommend making the background darker. Not sure what software you're using, but it's pretty easy to darken the background / increase the contrast using DSS or Lightroom etc.

I've taken the liberty of having a quick fiddle with your image - I hope you don't mind. What do you think?

Keep it up!

Hi Greg,

Thanks for having a fiddle with the image. Looks great with the darken background. Will have a look at Lightroom and see what I can learn.

Cheers,
Matt