Omega Cent - Dob - Crappy but Interesting

[davewaldo]

Hi Everyone,

I didn't think it was possible to capture objects such as these with my standard Dob.

It's Omega Centauri taken with 20D on 10" Dob. No tracking or Stacking. 0.8sec ISO 1600. Processed in Photoshop CS2.

There is a lot of noise and some trailing but I was suprised I could even see it.

Would and object like this work better if I was to take shorter exposures to minimise trailing then stack several shots?

Cheers,

Dave.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Thats really really good Dave.
Well done.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Originally Posted by davewaldo

Hi Everyone,

I didn't think it was possible to capture objects such as these with my standard Dob.

It's Omega Centauri taken with 20D on 10" Dob. No tracking or Stacking. 0.8sec ISO 1600. Processed in Photoshop CS2.

There is a lot of noise and some trailing but I was suprised I could even see it.

Would and object like this work better if I was to take shorter exposures to minimise trailing then stack several shots?

Cheers,

Dave.

Well done Dave.

I don't know about stacking shorter images coz I know nothing about DSLR's. I don't know if they will capture enough light in shorter exposures. But the best way to find out is 'give it a go'

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

0.8sec exposures are pretty short to begin with!
You could try stacking heaps (20+) to increase the signal to noise ratio.
But, I reckon you did pretty well by getting a pic like that from an undriven Dob.
Played around with your pic to remove some of the noise for fun.
Cheers
Doug

[davewaldo]

Thanks everyone!

JJJ you exagerate....

Dugnsuz, thanks for the image cleanup. What process did you use to achieve that result? The cluster now looks a little blown-out but it does look a lot better overall!

Cheers,

Dave.

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

Hi Dave,
Yeah at 1.07am i look a little blown out too!!
I used Noise Ninja for noise reduction and used some photoshop "actions" to muck it up completely!!
Still think yours is a pretty good image for 0.8secs
Cheers
Doug

[acropolite (Phil)]

Fantastic effort Dave, it is amazing to see the results IISers are getting from such humble equipment.

[Ric]

That's a great effort Dave with no tracking or stacking.

Keep at it, your doing great.

[davewaldo]

Thanks Guys, I too was surprised to get anything "on film" let alone something that like this.

It's got me thinking what else might be bright enough.

Cheers

Dave.

[Dr Nick (Nick)]

For that exposure, thats great!!!