Introduction

[Ivor]

This might be a duplicate, I got some IP timeout message.

I came along to the last club session on the star of Bethlehem which I found really interesting and have decided to join the society. A couple of years ago I used my 40th birthday as an excuse and bought myself Williams Optics FLT110 refractor with a SkyWatcher EQ6 Pro, this has been supplemented with a Bresser 70 and a starlight Express guiding camera. As you can probably tell from the choice of kit my interests lies with astrophotography, I have been using my EOS400D (unmodified) to take images with mixed success which I think is mainly down to post image processing and lack of understanding of how to get the most out of Nebulosity, DSS, FITS liberator and Photoshop so I'm keen to learn from those with more experience. I've just started playing with a SPC900 webcam great for the kids to see Jupiter on the computer screen, I just need to workout how to make it brighter.

Ivor

[doug]

A warm welcome to you, Ivor.  As a non-imager at the moment, there are a lot of the members who can guide and assist you with any problems you may have on the imaging front.  All you have to do is ask and you will get a dozen people there to help......

Come along to the Change of Horses for an Observing evening on the 15th November at about 7.15 (see the home page) and you could well get some answers to your questions.

Doug. 

[Mike]

Ivor,

Welcome. The are plenty of people that can help you out with your kit and if you bring it along to the Imaging Session in December, clear skies permitting, we can give you some tuition.

Cheers,

Mike

[Carole]

Welcome to OAS and the forum Ivor. 

Lots of imaging help here, and as Mike says we hold imaging sessions on a regular basis.  Even if the sky is not suitable for imaging, we usually manage some form of demonstation or tutorial at these sessions.  So don't be put off by the weather.

We also have regular camps at dark sites which the imagers use to full advantage.

Carole

[mickw]

Welcome Ivan, it's good to see that you were kind enough to treat yourself to the WO etc. 

Nebulosity is very good but can be a pain the way it treats Raw files.
A few of us use APT for capture - it's cheap
http://www.ideiki.com/astro/

For the SPC 900, you might have some success with SharpCap - free
http://sharpcap.software.informer.com/1.3/
Try tweaking the gain to brighten.

[Ivor]

Thanks for the welcome, I look forward to coming along to the sessions.

[PhilB]

Hi Ivor, bags of help always available here, welcome aboard

[MarkS]

Hi Ivor,

We spoke on Thursday night at the meeting.  Welcome to the forum.

There are plenty of objects in the Winter sky that are suitable for imaging with an unmodified DSLR - The Orion Nebula and the Pleiades are good for starters. 

If you post one or two of the images you have taken, there are plenty of folk on here who can offer constructive criticism and advice.
You don't say where you are imaging from - light pollution could well be taking a toll.

There's a lot to learn but it is very worthwhile and satisfying when it all comes together to produce a decent result!

Mark

[Mac]

Greetings

and a very cold and clear sky welcome.

Mac

[Ivor]

I live in Southborough in between Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells, I'm on top of a hill so light pollution is OK for suburbia especially if I'm aiming due east toward Pembury.  I've got two pictures I'm pleased with M27 and M33, mind you there not brilliant but I think there alright for first efforts. A few weeks ago I took some images of NGC7023, I've had a couple of stabs at processing it but I'm becoming convinced it's not the lights that are the problem more the flats, bias and darks which aren't up to scratch. Alas google only gets you so far, so I'm looking forward to making leaps in my imaging being part of the group. I'll get my images together and stick something up in the appropriate forum and look forward to the feedback.

[MarkS]

M27 is very achievable from a place like yours - it's even achievable form the London suburbs with a light pollution filter - see http://www.markshelley.co.uk/Astronomy/2008/m27_2008.html for instance.

M33 is a difficult galaxy to do well - even from the darkest locations.

Mark

[RobertM]

Welcome to the group Ivor !

It sounds to me like you have a dark sky site compared to me anyway   That should make things infinitely easier on the processing side.  Flats darks and bias are a definite to get your head around if you want to get the best out of your images.  There are certain things to watch out for when processing DSLR images but others with more experience will point those out.  It's like most things, once you've done it a couple of times then it'll become second nature.  Even where you are I'd seriously consider a light pollution filter as it'll dramatically improve contrast.

Broadband subjects like Galaxies are the best objects go for with an unmodded camera which makes this a good time of year for you to progress.

Looking forward to seeing your images.

Robert