Just wanna show my first attempts

[bartman (Bart)]

In light (pardon the pun) of Kens 'Image of the Week' and a pic I saw in one of the astro mags I was looking through, I just wanted to show my attempt of capturing ngc 253.
Last Sunday I tried my ed80pro, just mucking around. By this time Jupiter was below the fence, so I had a look at some other noteworthy objects.
M77 & M74 were still below my roof line, so I had a look at my star chart .NGC 253 was the one. Took some shots with the dslr. As you can see tracking is way of. only 172 sec iso 800.BUT not to fear ! I was so happy I gotst a pic and I can only improve and aspire to Kens great shot!

Last Monday clear skies above Perth and had the night off -I do night and grave yard shifts-. So I had a real chance to play with the stuff I bought two months ago. I had taken it out a few times, but just to muck around with what all the knobs, buttons, barlow, aligning etc.
After a few hours (yes I took my time cause my friend - Jack Daniels- made me question everything I did!!!!) of trying to get South and Lattitude correct. Three star alignment was not possible cause the building around me obscured the stars that synscan wanted me to look at!. After a bit of guess work, I started to take a look at some stuff.
This time it was the 10" 's time to shine / illuminate ......whatever....
Didn't go for ngc253 but thought I would try something easy and yes well covered by the forums. M42.
this was the best shot I could muster. I had shot several images and tried to stack them but most of the shots were a bit out of focus or produced trails.
Nevertheless (one word ?????) I was very happy with what my friend and I had accomplished.

I'm sure that if JD stays away, better alignment, couple filters, some guidance and TIME, I'll one day have a pic of the week! heheheheh
(one day)

Cheers
Bartman

[zipdrive (Dave)]

Great job on the Orion for 1st attempt

[TrevorW]

We've all been there so keep plugging away

Cheers

[Astrod00d]

Congratulations! It's such a thrill when you point your scope and camera at the sky and get shape and colour! You're hooked now Onwards and upwards.

[multiweb (Marc)]

That's a terrific shot Bart. Data is excellent. You can coax some more out of it. Here's a quick repro that should give you ideas. Nice work

[leon]

We all have first attempts, and yours is just like our first attempts, you have done well, and with some more attempts you will get there.

Leon

[Ric]

A good start Bart, you should have seen some of my first attempts.

It's a learning curve but a fun one and keep lot's of notes, you'll find them a great reference in the future.

Cheers

[Robbie]

good onya Bart thats a great first attempt
be proud of your shots and just watch them get better and better as you progress.

[bartman (Bart)]

First of all THANKS for all the great replies!!!!
I kinda got goose bumps when I read your replies and saw what Marc- thank you- had done to the lo res pic!! I'm pm'ing him soon to get some tips.
The original pic is about 3.2 MB...so I wonder what I can get from that?

It has given me a boost in confidence that I'm on the right track.

Once again thanks.......

Bartman

[spearo (Frank)]

Well done Bart. The stars are nice and round.
My first image was also of M42 and looked a lot like yours.
Save it for posterity (mine is on my webpage! and framed on my "Wall of Shame" at home )
Its all about improving against your own performance and everyone here will gladly offer advice.

Keep at it and enjoy the journey
cheers
frank

[telecasterguru (Frank)]

Bart,

That's a fine effort first up. You're on the right track.

Frank