Caroles First Deep Sky Attempt, was - Re: Deep Sky Camp - February 20th 2009

[Carole]

I don't think the one image I took is going to be much cop,

As predicted the image I got was not much cop, I have shown it to Mark who thinks I should post it anyway as we all had to start somewhere. 

Still lots to learn, but at least I got something and it was completely steady throughout the 31 minutes I attempted to capture thanks to my new mount and pleasing to me that I had done a good alignment (2nd attempt).  Unlike my previous attempts with the ETX where there is no polar align process and the target rarely stayed in the frame for very long. 

I took 13 files of one minute each, 2 were unuseable due to a Koom Fay going up in the middle of it.  Several must have been dropped by K3. 
I processed in Registax as this is the only software I am familiar with (I will try some other software) and it would only acept 10,000 frames, so I removed the less detailed ones, and it accepted 707 out of 4574 frames.  Processing with wavelets and Brightness and contrast in Photoshop. 

So here it is:
No cropping

http://gallery.orpington-astronomy.org.uk/albums/userpics/10047/Orion_Nebula_20th_feb_209~0.jpg

WO Megrez 72 APO F/6 72mm aperture
Astronomiser Cooled CCD ASTSC3 11 (no filters)
707 out of 4574 frames (no barlow, should have used one I can see now)
I completely forgot to do any darks (never had to before).
Processing Registax, wavelets and Photoshop B&C

Oh well, Rome wasn't built in a day.

Carole

[Carole]

Why did the picture not post?
Only the URL

?

[Fay]

Carole, you did well, getting your setup up & running, considering you were doing it for the first time in the dark!!!

[Mike]

Carole you are quoting from a different thread.

[Carole]

Carole you are quoting from a different thread.

Mike, the quote is on page 3 of this thread.

Carole

[JohnP]

Well done Carole with your first DSO .. It looks like you had the camera set to 320X240 (or similiar) - Full resolution should be 640X480. You got the trapezium & some nebula as well so it's a good start. It also sounds like you were using a very short exposure (if you were capturing thousands of frames) not long exposure which you should be using. If you try & do the same thing again but with say 30 or 60 secs exposures I think you will be pleasantly suprised. Also make sure that the gain on the camera is set to 100%.

To insert an image you need to put the link inside the image tag. I have taken the liberty of putting your link above between the tags. There is a little box you can press on left (just above smilies) that inserts the image tags for you.

HTH,  John

[Mike]

Aaah I see the threads been hijacked.

[Fay]

Well done Carole!

[Carole]

To insert an image you need to put the link inside the image tag.

Duh!!!  I knew that, but just forgot.

Thanks John,

It looks like you had the camera set to 320X240 (or similiar) - Full resolution should be 640X480.

not sure how to do that, but will find out.
I was taking 60 minute exposures in K3 at 5fps, this was spread over 31 minutes.  However when I got home there were only 13 AVI files, so I guess K3 must had dropped the others as it was capturing non stop during those 30 minutes.

Mike

Aaah I see the threads been hijacked

I only posted here because it followed on with what I was saying on page 3.

Carole

[JohnP]

Carole - You need to set your camera to long exposure mode - with 5fps it means that each exposure is only approximately 200msecs long...!!!! Have you got long exposure control setup in K3..? You need to set up the LX port control settings in options/ settings. You then access the LX control by pressing the little square yellow icon which has the picture of a camera in front...

John

[MarkS]

Carole,

John is right - for deep sky objects you need to set capture for long-exposure (LX) mode and not 5fps.  This will make an absolutely HUGE difference in your final image - you'll see much more nebulosity.  And you won't fill up your disc drive with large AVI files!

A hint for polar alignment:  once you have leveled and achieved polar alignment in your own back garden,  mark the position of the tripod feet.  Next time you image you can then return the tripod to exactly the same place and this will mean you just have to do a quick final alignment.  It saves a huge amount of time!

Mark

[Carole]

A hint for polar alignment:  once you have leveled and achieved polar alignment in your own back garden,  mark the position of the tripod feet.  Next time you image you can then return the tripod to exactly the same place and this will mean you just have to do a quick final alignment.  It saves a huge amount of time!

Yes thanks Mark, I was thinking of doing something like that but hadn't quite worked out how to mark the patio. 

John, have made a note of what you say and will have a look at the laptop on K3 and see (using my desktop at the moment) .  Some-one was helping me set up the capture programme (I think it was Duncan, although got very confused in the dark and thought it was Paul helping me), and I remember clicking something or other, but might just have been timed explosure.

Yes the AVI files were pretty huge 100mb each x 13!!!  At least that tells me the laptop can take it, but the memory stick which I used to transfer the files to my desk top couldn't, I had to do it in two goes.

I don't use the laptop for processing as I hate the fiddly little keys often in a slightly different place to the desktop, and I keep making mistakes.

Carole

[Fay]

Not a good idea to mistake one person for another in the dark, Carole!!!!!!

[The Thing]

Paul here NOT. I have been called Malcolm many times by many people of the years but never Paul

Nice start Carol, it will only get easier as you get more familiar with your new gear. You should see my first effort.

I wish I had know that your your CCD had a long exposure capability - Mike did tell me your camera was 'just like a Phillips webcam' as he waltzed by across the grass. Hopefully there will be another clear evening soon for more practice for us all, I need a lot.

[RobertM]

Well done Carole!  It must feel like quite an achievement getting that first image, even if perhaps not quite what you had expected.

God - this Forum is slower than a slow thing !

[Ian]

Mike was waltzing? I don't recall that turning up on the "things to do at DSC" thread...

[Carole]

Paul here NOT. I have been called Malcolm many times by many people of the years but never Paul

I think the confusion arose from me asking Mike about capture settings in K3 and he said he wasn't familiar with K3 but Paul was.  So when a tall person in a woolley hat came over, in the dark, I just assumed it was Paul.

I was obviously more intent on what I was doing rather than looking at the person talking to me.

Paul was even more confused later when I went to ask him about something I thought "he had told me to do", because he didn't have a clue what I was talking about.  I then got even more confused thinking "this guy's just told me all this and now he doesn't remember"!!!  thought he was either winding me up or I was going balmy.  Anyway, eventually the penny dropped.

Duh!!!!!!!!!

The joys of working in the dark.

Carole

[Fay]

 

[Carole]

John,

Have you got long exposure control setup in K3..? You need to set up the LX port control settings in options/ settings.

Have now got laptop on.

Under options/settings Under camera SC mod there is LX mode ON and under Jg mod long exposure settings, not sure which I should be using or what any of the other things mean.  

I have got a long exposure button (camera with a yellow frame).

Should I also be entering the telescope and CCD camera settings according to my set up in CCD button?

Carole

[Ian]

you should use the SC mod. The JG mod is for a different sort of camera. The camera will have a parallel port connection (or maybe serial) that the computer will use to control the shutter of the camera. Steve Chambers did try and find a way of controlling the shutter over the USB port, but it's not possible.

The telescope and CCD setting are worth setting, but it'll work quite happily without. IIRC there's a CCD calculator that'll give you field of view and so on. I think those setting might be important to guiding too, but I don't use K3 for guiding so I don't know.

[Carole]

Thanks Ian.

[Rocket Pooch]

Well done Carol, you will not spend all your life waiting for clear skies.....

[Mac]

you will not spend all your life waiting for clear skies

Just most of it.