Helix

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

I've had a run of good nights this week.
This one is from Tuesday night. My guiding, while looking fantastic on the graph, wasn't working. Each of my 3 minute subs had trailed stars, see attached image.
But, as you know, I'm stubborn. and processed them anyway. I wasn't about to throw away 1 hour and 51 minutes of data.
Here is what I came up with.
Many thanks to the clever fella who came up with the "Star Rounder" plug in.
canon 20d @ iso 1600
ed80
heq5pro

[pvelez (Pete)]

Looks good JJJ - lots of data there

Pete

[rogerg (Roger)]

nice sharp focus and vibrant colour on that second one

[bartman (Bart)]

3
Well Done J !!!!
So that second picture is a refined pic of your data? using the round star plugin?
Where can I get it?
Bartman

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

That first image shows the quality of the subs I used.
Some had even more trailing than that.
It's an awesome little plug in.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

http://www.grekalova.com/photo_Astroplugins.html
I like the Chromatic Abberation plugin too. Handy for cleaning up colour fringing.
It's not just for Photo Shop either. The 8bf file can be dropped into the appropriate folder of PaintShopPro and Irfanview as well.

Did I mention that it's FREE too.

[TrevorW]

Good one JJ

I use this plugin regualry to tidy up those tracking descretions that appear in the corners

[bartman (Bart)]

Wicked thanks JJJ ( my 3 above the J didnt work by the looks of it... Twas meant to be J to the third.......)
Bartman

[suma126 (Shane)]

the colours look really good jj i wish i had photo shop so i can use the plug ins.

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

VERY nice Jeanette,

This is my next target for the fourth light of my rig.

Interestingly, the blobby stars you posted look a lot like the results I was getting unguided my first night with only sidereal tracking running, so I must have been pretty close to perfect polar alignment.

Still have to figure out the best way to mount a guidescope and then go to town on the Helix!

Love your work.

Cheers

Chris

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Originally Posted by suma126

the colours look really good jj i wish i had photo shop so i can use the plug ins.

You don't need photoshop to use them.
I used to use the free program Irfanview for my image processing. You can use plugins with it.

[gregbradley]

A very nice Helix. Its such a beauty isn't it?

Greg.

[anthony.tony]

Lovely shot. tony

[TheAstroGuy (Shane Ross)]

Hi There,

Lovely shot of one of my favorites, nice work.

Does anyone know why Star rounder Plug-in causes both my CS3 and CS5 to immediately crash?? i use star rounder occasionally and on my laptop it works fine but i have a new desktop with Win7 and every time i access the plug in it instantly closes photo shop without any warning!!, help me OB1 kenobi your my only hope.

Regards

Shane

[spearo (Frank)]

I especially like the wide field one which has the best color contrast
well done
frank

[multiweb (Marc)]

Looks Great JJJ! Top shot.

[batema (Mark)]

Hi JJJ,

How good has this weather been in the last week. A lovely image of the Helix and also thanks for the link. Lets hope the weather continues for the next 10 days. Will see you at astrofest for only Saturday night this year.

Mark

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Mark, first or last Saturday?
Looking forward to catching up. It's been a while.

[batema (Mark)]

First Saturday. In 2 days time Yahoo. Adam and I aim to get there about 2pm and thendo an all nighter and head off Sunday morning. But yes there are two saturdays so might try to make both. I can't believe its been a year since last one and also how much we learnt that has carried through this year. See you Saturday.

Mark

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

My car is packed, oh boy is it packed. We're leaving just after 7am tomorrow.
If you can get leave for next Saturday too, that would be terrific.
See you then!