This Years Dumbell!

Full frame image is excellent.
Is it a bit "squashed" left to right (as seen) compared to any others I have seen? Or is it my imagination?
For example:
www.astro-tom.com/messier/messier_images/m27.jpg

Not "squashed" at all! It was the monitor I was using! Not my usual one !

Excelent picture

I think the wide frame is better, the zoomed in version shows some non-perfect stars, again fab images Dave.

Fantastic images. The colours are beautiful and breathtaking. The first image probably shades it for me. I'd be proud if I could produce something even close to the second one!

Great work!

Ray

I guess we've all learned over the last year or so that in order to get images of this quality you need to start off with good raw data (exposure durations and number of images) and calibration frames.

Thanks for all the kind comments folks. It seems most folks prefer the wide wiew, I think I do too.

Dave: I think you've hit the nail on the head there. I beleive the biggest mistake that people make when starting out is rushing to get results. I remember when I began doing this the merest flash of red on the back of the camera was enough to send me into a frenzy where I couldnt wait to get processing and in doing so missing out on getting enough quality data to make a decent image.

Admittedly its not a lot of fun waiting for a couple of hours worth of data but it is immensly satisfying knowing that if you see it out a good result will follow.

I suppose the other imprortant thing I've learned is the ability to recognise when things are going well and when they are not. Particulary that its not about what you see on the back of the camera or the screen, rather the quality and quantity of the data. Even then, quantity is nothing without quality.

What I am really looking forward to is getting just one of those classic nights this winter where you can shoot all night. When that happens I plan to pick one object maybe M42 or the horsehead or something like that and then shoot that for the entire night maybe 10 hours or more worth of data and see what that looks like.