Carina Nebula - taken with DSLR

[Cimitar (Evan)]

Hi Everyone

Took this shot of Carina Nebula over 2 nights back in December 2014. I was still struggling with my polar alignment so it was taken in Alt-Az mode.

It was my first attempt at astrophotography so I picked a nice bright object and shot about 30 images at different ISO's (ranging from 800-6400).I wasn't sure how I'd go stacking multiple images with different ISO's, however I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I might be pushing my luck... but next time I'm keen to try it without the reducer and see if I can capture the Mystic Mountain. Definitely have to guide though I think? - given that it will be a 2000mm focal length.

Details:
8inch LX200 ACF (with focal reducer)
Canon 600D (stock)
30 x 60 sec exposures (un-guided)
Processing in Nebulosity & Photoshop.

Cheers
Evan

[multiweb (Marc)]

Star shapes and colors look great. You just need to dial down the noise reduction and sharpening as it blurs a lot of the details you've captured.

[Atmos (Colin)]

That's a really nice effort unguided and in alt-az mode :-)

[Cimitar (Evan)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

You just need to dial down the noise reduction and sharpening as it blurs a lot of the details you've captured.

Thanks Marc, I've noticed that many of my photos are a little blurry. At first I thought it was because my focus was out, however the stars seem ok and I use my bahtinov mask. You're right, I need to ease up on the NR (things get pretty grainy at ISO 6400). I think lower ISO and longer subs will also help

Originally Posted by Atmos

That's a really nice effort unguided and in alt-az mode :-)

Thanks Colin