E-180 First Light

[KenMiller]

I mounted the E-180 last night. This image is the result of six 2-minute exposures.

I suspect there's more stuff in the raw images that my limited processing ability is not yet able to coax out.

I tried a 4-minute exposure, but the frame was virtually white!

[neilfleming]

Good start, Ken. Take another 14 or so of those and you'll be able to draw out some more detail.

...Neil

[BT Technologies]

Ken, I "played" around with your image through Photoshop and got a little more nebulosity shown. What Neil suggested about taking more images would deifinately help to get more data. Overall I would say that this is a great "first light" for your E-180!!

Originally Posted by KenMiller

I mounted the E-180 last night. This image is the result of six 2-minute exposures.

I suspect there's more stuff in the raw images that my limited processing ability is not yet able to coax out.

I tried a 4-minute exposure, but the frame was virtually white!

[mikestrieber]

Great start Ken. Can't wait to see when you add more data to it.
Mike

[budguinn]

Ken, which camera? I would guess that you have a ton of information in the subs if put together properly......12mins is a ton of time in an E180 on a really bright object such as this.

bud

[KenMiller]

Thanks guys, I can do that!

How does one estimate the amount of data required?

Where is the point of diminishing returns?

[KenMiller]

I have an SBIG11000 on order but in the mean time, I'm using a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi.

It's that "put together properly" part I'm working on

Here are links to the raw images if anyone is interested:

www.astrobeginner.com/images/FlatsLight.zip
www.astrobeginner.com/images/FlatsDark.zip
www.astrobeginner.com/images/M45Darks.zip
www.astrobeginner.com/images/M45Lights.zip

Not having done flats before I wasn’t sure how exposed the frame should be so I have a lighter and a darker set.

[neilfleming]

Ken, I notice that all of the subs in the .ZIPs are jpgs. Is that how you captured them? If not, could you provide the FITs versions? (That is how you want to capture all of your data. FITs images contain header information important to various programs for astrometry and post-processing.) I would also recommend a minimum of 12-15 flats, preferrably 15-20. About 25 darks is best, too. I wouldn't worry about flatdarks.

Regards...Neil

[KenMiller]

I captured Canon EOS RAW and JPG but I've only been using the JPGs because the results I get when converting RAW using either Photoshop or MaxDSLR don't make sense.

When I attempt to convert using MaxDSLR, the result is a single image four times the size it should be. I've attached a screen shot of an example.

When I import into Photoshop, the result doesn't correlate well with what I see in the JPG. I've also attached a screenshot of an attempt to import a dark into Photoshop.

I need to get these issues sorted out, but in the mean time I've been trying to use the JPGs, which at least "look" right.

The doorbell just rang and it was the mailman with my Shoestring adapter so I'll try having MaxDSLR do the complete capture this evening and see if I can capture directly to FITs with any success (I was previously doing exposures over 30 secs. manually using a shutter release - ugg).

[KenMiller]

I should have attached the equivalent JPG. The previous two images and this JPG are all the same image - go figure.