First Galaxy Shot

[Mark_Heli (Mark)]

I recently bought a Canon 550d to try some astrophotography using my Meade LX90.

After getting some good shots of nebulas and clusters, I finally thought I would try a galaxy. My impression was that galaxies would be difficult to photograph from Sydney and that the results would be faint and blurry.

However I was really surprised when I took my first shot of a galaxy (the Sculptor Galaxy). It was huge and contained plently of detail. It was not nearly as difficult as I imagined and very rewarding.

It is amazing to think of all the objects in the sky.

Details:
* Object: Sculptor Galaxy
* Date: 20/9/2011, 10:30PM
* Camera: Canon 550d
* Telescope: Meade LX90
* 10 x 30 second exposures
* ISO 6400

I have also attached some other photo's taken in the last two weeks - the Lagoon Nebula and a globular cluster.

[graham.hobart (Graham stevens)]

that's amazing really, is your LX 90 an 8"?, and are you in alt-az ? as in the fork mount?
graham

[Mark_Heli (Mark)]

Hi Graham,

It is the 8 inch with the standard alt/az mount. I have found that I can get exposures of ~30 seconds (sometimes slightly longer) before getting trails.

Cheers,
Mark

[Mark_Heli (Mark)]

I finally worked out how to process the images in Paint.NET using curves and levels.

Attached are the same images of the sculptor galaxy and lagoon nebula after processing.

[cventer]

Well done. A whole lot better than my first galaxy attemp I can assure you that.

[Visionoz (Bill)]

Congratz! That's superb - good round stars to boot!

Cheers
Bill

[ZeroID (Brent)]

ISO 6400 @ 30 Seconds !!
That's impressive and a real for the CCD on that camera for sure. Very low noise and some excellent work on your part to bring out the details in the reprocessed pix. I reckon you're a natural and dangerous with it.
Well done, nice pix.