Your astrophotos

Re: Piece of the Veil

lothar22 — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:58:23 GMT

Overprocessed?

After looking at the initial post of this image, I thought the background was still too 'bright'.

I cut into the histogram 'hill' just a tad on the black point, but it's the final cut before 'publishing', so I figure, what's the harm in cutting into the histogram if it improves the visual quality, right?

Any opinions or comments?

Before

After

Re: Piece of the Veil

lothar22 — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:18:27 GMT

Another piece of the veil.

I used an OIII filter on this one, which definitely gives it a greenish hue, but overall, I think I got a good shot.

84x30sec exposures

Re: Piece of the Veil

lothar22 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:41:37 GMT

I will check the collimation before every stargazing session from now on!

Re: Piece of the Veil

alphajuno — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:45:28 GMT

You got a lot of detail there for a short shot. Nice!

Re: Piece of the Veil

leo731 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:03:47 GMT

Nice picture. I bet from now on collimating your scope will be easier and not so scary when you can now see the benefits! I too was intimidated when I got my first large reflector back in '76 but with the collimation tools available now and a little practice it has become a lot easier.

Thanks for sharing,

Re: Piece of the Veil

aquadan005 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:56:16 GMT

lothar22:

I have not collimated my scope since I bought it, and didn't really think it needed it. I thought I was getting pretty good images. Recently, I did notice that my images were getting fuzzier then they were previously. So, after extensive reading, I ordered a Chesire collimator.

Waiting for the collimator to arrive, I got brave and removed the primary mirror for cleaning.

I basically washed it with soap and dish detergent and rinsed it with distilled water. I got pretty good results.

You are a braver man than I. I know if I even thought about taking my mirror out a great catastrophe would befall my beloved scope. Glad it went smoothly for you, and a nice pic as well.

Piece of the Veil

lothar22 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:19:38 GMT

I have not collimated my scope since I bought it, and didn't really think it needed it. I thought I was getting pretty good images. Recently, I did notice that my images were getting fuzzier then they were previously. So, after extensive reading, I ordered a Chesire collimator.

Waiting for the collimator to arrive, I got brave and removed the primary mirror for cleaning.

I basically washed it with soap and dish detergent and rinsed it with distilled water. I got pretty good results.

The collimator arrived, I carefully collimated, and decided to try for some 30 second exposures, which is the limit for my Alt-Z mount. I chose the Veil Nebula because I knew it would be a challenging subject, but is pretty far away from the Celestial Pole, so I thought field rotation would be at a minimum.

So, here is a piece of the Veil Nebula (East).