Astro: I have an imaging problem thats driving me mad.......help required please.

Hi Guys
Ok the seeing was not great but this is my 1st attempt at true, fully
guided, astrophotography and as you can see I have a problem and I cant
see what I'm doing wrong???
This is meant to be a picture of M65 and M66 and not just a big red blob!!


The kit that this was done with is an 8" Meade LX200GPS (polar mounted), an
F6.3 reducer, and attached to that is a Canon EOS 1100D (iso3200)
Guiding is done with PHD and a Meade Etx80 with a Meade DSI as the Guide
camera.

Its on everything I do and I can't seem to get rid of it at all (even in
post production its hard to hide)......any ideas / advice gents??

Many Thanks

Paul


--
Hi Everyone, as you may know Pete Marten and I are going to
be doing the Help for heroes european rally and we are looking for
sponsorship
anyone who can help please contact me or you can donate directly
at http://www.bmycharity.com/podracing

Hey,

How are you calibrating your images? For ages I had a similar blob
problem, and as a newbie it took me a little while to work it out. I
wasn't using decent calibration images (darks, flats etc) when processing.

I now use a white EL panel to create my flats, the difference it makes
is huge! Darks are easy

I'm sure the more experienced guys will be able to give you more
information than I could ever hope to.

Thanks,
Chris


On 5/04/2012 2:27 AM, Paul wrote:
Hi Guys
Ok the seeing was not great but this is my 1st attempt at true, fully
guided, astrophotography and as you can see I have a problem and I cant
see what I'm doing wrong???
This is meant to be a picture of M65 and M66 and not just a big red
blob!!

The kit that this was done with is an 8" Meade LX200GPS (polar mounted),
an F6.3 reducer, and attached to that is a Canon EOS 1100D (iso3200)
Guiding is done with PHD and a Meade Etx80 with a Meade DSI as the Guide
camera.

Its on everything I do and I can't seem to get rid of it at all (even in
post production its hard to hide)......any ideas / advice gents??

Many Thanks

Paul

On 4/4/2012 11:57 AM, Paul wrote:
Hi Guys
Ok the seeing was not great but this is my 1st attempt at true, fully
guided, astrophotography and as you can see I have a problem and I cant
see what I'm doing wrong???
This is meant to be a picture of M65 and M66 and not just a big red
blob!!

The kit that this was done with is an 8" Meade LX200GPS (polar mounted),
an F6.3 reducer, and attached to that is a Canon EOS 1100D (iso3200)
Guiding is done with PHD and a Meade Etx80 with a Meade DSI as the Guide
camera.

Its on everything I do and I can't seem to get rid of it at all (even in
post production its hard to hide)......any ideas / advice gents??

Many Thanks

Paul


I agree with Chris that this is due to lack of flats and other
preprocess calibration. I suspect light pollution from sodium vapor
lights is supplying your red color. This too can be corrected with
proper processing though if severe a good LP filter might be necessary
as well.

Jerry Lodriguss has an excellent book on DSLR image processing that
should help you greatly.
http://www.astropix.com/

As you have found out, collecting the data is 5% of the work, 95% of it
is in the processing. That is a steep learning curve I've been climbing
for nearly 60 years now. Each time I think I see the light at the end
of the tunnel new advances move it beyond view again.

Rick

--
Prefix is correct. Domain is arvig dot net

Thanks guys for the advice, but before I rush off and order the book
I thought I had better just add that I am using Nebulosity 2 to capture
and Photoshop to process......don't think I've missed anything.

Best wishes

Paul


"Rick Johnson" wrote in message
. com...
On 4/4/2012 11:57 AM, Paul wrote:
Hi Guys
Ok the seeing was not great but this is my 1st attempt at true, fully
guided, astrophotography and as you can see I have a problem and I cant
see what I'm doing wrong???
This is meant to be a picture of M65 and M66 and not just a big red
blob!!

The kit that this was done with is an 8" Meade LX200GPS (polar mounted),
an F6.3 reducer, and attached to that is a Canon EOS 1100D (iso3200)
Guiding is done with PHD and a Meade Etx80 with a Meade DSI as the Guide
camera.

Its on everything I do and I can't seem to get rid of it at all (even in
post production its hard to hide)......any ideas / advice gents??

Many Thanks

Paul


I agree with Chris that this is due to lack of flats and other preprocess
calibration. I suspect light pollution from sodium vapor lights is
supplying your red color. This too can be corrected with proper
processing though if severe a good LP filter might be necessary as well.

Jerry Lodriguss has an excellent book on DSLR image processing that should
help you greatly.
http://www.astropix.com/

As you have found out, collecting the data is 5% of the work, 95% of it is
in the processing. That is a steep learning curve I've been climbing for
nearly 60 years now. Each time I think I see the light at the end of the
tunnel new advances move it beyond view again.

Rick

--
Prefix is correct. Domain is arvig dot net