Since I first purchased by 8″ Celestron StarSense Exporer I have been trying to see and photograph Bodes Nebula. I actually gave up getting a photo until I purchased my 8″ Celestron Evolution. Even with this telescope I felt like I was fighting a losing battle. Finally, after reading a lot of blogs, watching a lot of videos and a practicing, I GOT IT. Ok, these might not be the greatest pictures of the galaxes, but they are all mine!
I used a Cannon Rebel Xs old school dslr. I figured out how to us Backyard EOS – (GREAT TOOL) and DeepSky Stacker. I took 5 images each at various shudder speeds and various ISO settings. As it turned out DeepSky stacker liked the ISO 1600 and 2 min exposures the best. Most of the images taken with 400 or less ISO settings came out as black images. Could barely see any stars let alone 2 nebulas.
After stacking, this Bodes-raw.jpg image is what you get. This was resized from the original to fit the web.
The rest of them are me playing around with features in the free Paint.net application. I would say I am sure I will be getting PhotoShop soon.
