5 replies to this topic

[SBacon]

Shot this Friday night with my 8" LX90 ACF.

 

60 seconds at ISO 3200.

 

Canon Rebel T5 attached directly to back of scope. No eyepiece projection.

 

Enhanced brightness, contrast, exposure and gamma with Photo Shop.

 

Used my homemade Hartmann Mask for the first time and that thing really works!

 

I welcome any suggestions of getting this better because I know the stars are bloated but I don't know how to fix that.

 

Steve

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[spiral]

Your exposure is to long with a fork mount..I usually do 15-20 second exposure @ ISO6400 depending on what area I'm in..You can get a little longer exposure the further away from the pole you are..I take 40 to 50 exposures, pick the best (usually about 15 frames) and then stack in Deep Sky Stacker..Then adjust in Photoshop..I also use a custom balance on under picture style on camera..(T3I) 0 / -4 / -2.. And I shoot in RAW format..More data in the frames..I also use an Antares 6.3 reducer..If you are shooting at F/10, you will need even shorter exposure to reduce star bloating..Hope this helps..

[spiral]

This is my latest shot of the Lagoon Nebula ..  

 

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[SBacon]

Thanks Spiral, I really appreciate the advice.  Your shot is really nice.  I shot raw images for the first time but I haven't played around with them yet.  I can't seem to get DSS to align the images when I try to stack a few.  It ends up with an image of several multiple stars.  I know I'm doing something wrong.  Do you have a link of a good instruction manual for it?

 

Thanks.

 

Steve

[spiral]

Your welcome!! I would not have gotten this far in a short amount of time, if it was not for all the helpful people willing to share their knowledge around on the forums..

Yeah I had trouble with DSS stacking the RAW at first..Make sure you have the latest version..It has added support for Canon cameras..Here is a link..

http://deepskystacke...yStacker334.rar 

 

When you load them they will not look like they should on the screen..Or at least they don't for me..When they are finished stacking they will look the way they should

This is a support group for it on Yahoo....  https://groups.yahoo...SkyStacker/info

[SBacon]

Thanks again!  I will check out the web sites.

 

Steve