Author Archives: Kenneth Crichton

Horse head and flame

Posted February 20, 2018 by Kenneth Crichton

I’ve been reading a lot recently about camera noise and recommended ISO settings for each particular camera for astronomy. The camera I’ve been using was said to perform best at ISO 1600 which I think in astronomy terms is actually quite high for a Dslr. So I decided to test this out on the 8th Feb and managed 74x1min exposures at ISO 1600. I was very pleased with the low noise, although the light pollution south of me (Tamworth, Birmingham) was very strong since the horse head is relatively low on the horizon. I’m pleased with the result, although I think with a bit more processing experience I could possibly improve the image??? I was trying out Pixinsight for a second time so I hope to improve over the coming months/years. Canon 6d+Idas d1+Takahashi fsq.

Soul Nebula

Posted January 15, 2018 by Kenneth Crichton

The Soul nebula from 6.1.18. Unfortunately im limited by the local light pollution so only able to achieve 2-3min exposures from home. I do hope to purchase a monochrome sensor this year so i can try out narrowband imaging but im not 100% sure what camera to buy. 60×2.5min 10x darks, bias and flats. Takahashi fsq 85 + canon 6d + Idas d1 filter.

California nebula

Posted January 9, 2018 by Kenneth Crichton

Its taken some time but Ive finally managed to start processing some of the images ive taken over the past few months. This is 60×2.5min ligthts iso 640, 10x darks, bias and flats. Takahashi fsq 85 + modified canon 6d + idas d1 filter.

M33 first attempt

Posted November 22, 2017 by Kenneth Crichton

Unfortunately i was unable to take any lights due to having to remove the camera but im relatively pleased with the outcome considering. The focus is also slightly out unfortunately but im pleased for the first attempt. This was from Friday 17th Nov. Tak fsq85 + Canon 6d + Idas D1 filter. 30x3min subs. DSS

IC 1396

Posted November 4, 2017 by Kenneth Crichton

Last weekend i had initially set up to image IC 1396 but changed to M45 after only 5x3min subs. Im pleased with the result but clearly need more subs to finish this image. Id like to also visit the elephant trunk nebula this winter with a higher resolution scope. ISO 640, dss, takahashi fsq 85 and canon 6d.

Reprocessed M45

Posted November 2, 2017 by Kenneth Crichton

Since its been cloudy ive been busy trying out different processing techniques. Whats become apparent to me is that every person has a view on how a particular image looks best. Ive taken out some hot pixels from this image and changed the histogram. I prefer it to my original but some others have commented they prefer the original ?

Pleiades

Posted October 29, 2017 by Kenneth Crichton

For some time now I’ve been absolutely fascinated by the Pleiades! On some clear evenings ill set up my lunt 70mm bins on a tripod so my wife can have a look and it never fails to disappoint! I was checking the weather all week and finally on the Friday evening a clear night was forecast. I planned for Nick to join me with his 9″evo and we sat about imaging the Pleiades and the ring nebula. Nick got some lovely pictures of the ring which should follow shortly and i ended up with 12x3min exposures of M45. Ive still got some post processing to do with my image but I’ll change it over when complete.

North American Nebula

Posted October 23, 2017 by Kenneth Crichton

SGL 2017

Myself and Nick went to the SGL 2017 event in Lucksall for a weekend in October. The weather was very cloudy for most of the time but we had a very brief period on the Saturday evening where the cloud dissipated. This led to panic stations getting polar aligned and maximising the number of images. I had decided on the North American Nebula as it had just passed the meridian at the point of clearing and I didn’t want to footer around with a meridian flip half way through. I set up to do 30×8 min exposures but sadly the weather started to cloud over again after the first hour or so. I managed to capture 6×8 min subs which I stacked on DSS. I was using a Takahashi fsq 85 and modified canon 6d with an Idas D1 filter.