First M42

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Here we go, this is the very first image taken with my Canon 20d, through my new scope (SW 120 f5 refractor).
28 x 10 second subs at ISO 1600, stacked in DSS, with lots of careful tweaking in Paint Shop Pro to try to make the most of the poor data.
Can't wait till I get the tracking sorted so I can go for longer than 10secs.
The CA is atrocious, but hey, you get that with short tube achro's.

[RB (Andrew)]

Turned out nicely jjj, with good detail and well framed.
For 10 sec subs, this is a great result.

[Tandum (Robin)]

Jeanie, what happened to your dob? it might go on that eq5...

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Cheers Andrew.
Robin, I sold the old Annie Jump Cannon. It was starting to get to awkward for me to handle safely, my health not being the best.
I'll work out something with the CA, either through PS or just buy a filter. But for now, I can put up with it, they're only beginners photos anyway.
Thanks for looking.

[TrevorW]

Not bad for fisrt go especially with such short exposures, as they say practice makes better, keep it up

Cheers

[leon]

Nice going JJJ, especially for a first attempt, keep at.

Leon

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Your bashing yr head against a brick wall with 10secs Jeanette. Tracking is pretty important, let alone guiding.

[xelasnave]

Well I must say that is fantastic Jeanette you caught that outter band of nebulosity..it took me ages to get that..you can be very proud of that first effort.. I am surprised that 10 seconds did so much for you... great work.. dont give up your day job but start cleaning out the desk because you are really on your way.

alex

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Nice purple mushrooms JJJ!

Thats a pretty pleasing effort for the SW120! I certainly would be happy with something other than black for my LE through my webcam with my current lack of Parallel port.

A quick question, wouldnt the cube's 80mm refractor be better quality than the SW120? Its supposed to have "ED"ish glass?

Nice work.

Chris

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

I'm in the process of processing one out of the 80mm at the moment.
I'll post it for a comparison.

[gregbradley]

Nice first image.

The 20D is a wonderful camera especially if modified (clear glass option gives the most options).

You could try using a minus violet filter with the 1200mm scope and the 20D to cut down on the halos.

10 seconds of course will limit what you can get.

Can you get 30 seconds with your mount? I think most can do 30 seconds without too much star elongation.

Also set it to ISO3200 (ISO expansion set to on first in the menus) if you didn't already - that helps when using very short exposures.

Greg.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Well done.

The first is only the first afterall, there will be a few more to come I am sure

I wouldn't mind a 20D

Mike

[AlexN]

Nice going JJJ!

A minus violet filter or fringe killer is what you're after.... Have you given the G-star a fly in this new scope for some REEEEAAALL close up views!

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Thanks everyone.
Greg, I have no tracking with the new mount at the moment. So 10 seconds is it for now. I bought a new power supply, so the dual axis motors do work when I use the paddle, but I can't work out how to get it to track on its own.
Thanks for the hint on ISO expansion.
I've been looking at fringe killers on the net, Andrews has a 2" Ba'ader for $179.
Alex, I popped the Gstar into the scope, and was blinded by the brightness of M42. I had to knock the intergration time right down. Amazing.

[Garyh]

Good first start! JJJ focus and color look good!
Yes those short tube Achro`s are rather harse with the CA..Yes a minus violet filter will work wonders!

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Originally Posted by Bassnut

Your bashing yr head against a brick wall with 10secs Jeanette. Tracking is pretty important, let alone guiding.

You should see the bruises on my forehead Fred.
I'm hoping if I keep at it though, I'll break through that brick wall and maybe produce something really good.

[h0ughy (David)]

nice start JJJ