Hello from Germany - Forums

Topic starter

Mar 20, 2020 · Edited: Mar 20, 2020

Hello Astrobin Community!

My name is Benjamin, I am 22 years old and I live near Augsburg in Bavaria, Germany where I can image from my backyard under Bortle Class 4 skies.

I have been on Astrobin for a while now, but mostly to look at other people's pictures. I have been interested in Astronomy for as long as I can remember, which is why I will also start my Master's degree in astrophysics next month. I had a Newtonian and an EQ5 for almost ten years now, but I never really upgraded my gear or tried deep sky imaging. Now I finally saved up for a while and bought an astrophotography setup consisting of an Esprit 100ED, an iOptron CEM60 and an ASI1600MM Pro with Baader LRBG-NB filters.

I just finished my first DSO picture ever with a monochrome camera, 6.8h SHO on IC405, the Flaming Star Nebula. I am still learning to get used to the acquisition and trying to get better with my processing, but I would be very happy for any recommendations, tricks or comments!

Clear Skies!

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Rich Sky

Mar 20, 2020

Hello Benjamin.
Welcome to AB.
I looked at your image, well done.

Keep Looking up,

Richard - Canada

Elmiko

Mar 20, 2020

Hi Benjamin, welcome to this wonderful site! I have about three years under my belt. It looks like you bought some very nice equipment!
   My suggestion would be to take it slow, learn each step really well before you just dive-in. For example, get your auto-guiding going accurately and guiding consistently. Then move on to say plate solving.But before you can be successful with that, you have to polar align accurately.
   Secondly, capture enough data. It's very easy to get excited and only capture an hours worth of data. And rush to process an image and overstretch to try and bring out details with data that isn't there. I know, I am guilty of this! For dim targets like galaxies and nebula you really need to capture several hours of data to bring out the intricate details.
   And , take calibration frames.. ie… Flats, Darks , Bias. They will help in the processing of a nice image. And purchase a good Pre and Post processing software. Believe me it's worth it. I bought Pixinsight about a year into this hobby, before that my images were far inferior to my Pixinsight images. Pixinsight was the best investment in this hobby by far in my opinion.
   And lastly, have fun!!! This is a hobby that takes some time to get all the components working in unison to create a nice image. I don't claim to be an expert, I myself have a long way to go, compared to a lot of people on this site. But that is part of the fun, seeing your images improve over time.
   I look forward to seeing your results in your Astrophotography journey!
Cheers, Mike

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Dave Erickson

Mar 20, 2020

Welcome…

Daniel Nobre

Mar 21, 2020

Welcome e Bem-vindo Benjamin to Astrobin!

Chris Sullivan

Mar 21, 2020

Hello, Benjamin! Welcome to Astrobin (and monochrome imaging)! I did a semester abroad in Augsburg about 20 years ago. Is Mr. Onions still around?

Clear skies!
Chris

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Benjamin Csizi

Topic starter

Mar 21, 2020

Thanks a lot everyone for the welcoming words!
Very cool Chris, what did you study here in Augsburg? And yes, Mr Onions is still around

Clear Skies!
Benjamin

Chris Sullivan

Mar 21, 2020

I studied Germanistik - it was part of my BA degree at the University of Pittsburgh, where I majored in German and Linguistics. I spent a year in Kiel after finishing my bachelor's degree studying Nordistik.

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Benjamin Csizi

Topic starter

Mar 21, 2020

Wow, thats sound really nice!

Marco Römhild

May 24, 2020 · Edited: May 24, 2020

Welcome to astrobin.
You have great pictures on your page.
keep it up