Orpington Astronomical Society

Astronomy => Astrophotography => Topic started by: MarkOwens on Nov 17, 2024, 16:16:42

Title: M57 Ring Nebula - first go
Post by: MarkOwens on Nov 17, 2024, 16:16:42
Hi,

Finally got round to processing my first proper data I recorded on Monday with my ED80, HEQ5, Canon 600D (unmodded) setup.
60 x 60s subs, with 25 of each Bias, Flat and Dark frames subtracted.
Image is cropped and JPEG to keep size down for the forum.

Full frame TIFF version (200Mb) here:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ni0yd440ouy0aazt76ntu/M57-ring-nebula.tif?rlkey=st5fvgw8533qtpc28ds3kj6m3&st=5ibti7ik&dl=0

Comments on how to improve on this would be welcome - I think the guiding could be better (software was saying c.3 arcsecs on average) which is probably why the stars look a bit out of focus.

Processing I've just used GIMP to stretch the histogram and align the colours, otherwise not tried all the more complex star masks, etc. yet.

Mark.
(https://gallery.orpington-astronomy.org.uk/albums/userpics/10096/normal_M_57_ED80_28basic_processingv_22C_cropped29_Nov24.jpg)
Title: Re: M57 Ring Nebula - first go
Post by: Roberto on Nov 17, 2024, 18:19:41
Mark
That's a good result. I think the guiding is fine but your focus is soft. I think you can try sharpening it before stretching.

Roberto
Title: Re: M57 Ring Nebula - first go
Post by: Carole on Nov 17, 2024, 18:26:21
That's a really good start.  Stars are round to the corners.

You have done well.  I still don't have plate solving after all these years.