My first ever DSO image - M42

[AstroAdam]

HI All,

Right - here it is! This is my first ever (literally first frame!) of a deep sky target, and I can;t believe how well it's turned out!

Its a single 30 Sec exposure at ISO 1600 on my canon 5D at Prime focus on the f6 200p reflector. I was absolutely amazed how much detail I managed to get for a single exposure! This was only with basic polar alignment, as well as no dark etc frames and post-processing in just Lightroom 4.

Can't wait to see what I can come up with with a bit more in the way of exposures, and stacking etc.

The only thing that spoilt it was a satellite gatecrashing my exposure! Only noticed afterwards!

M42 by Adam Leach, on Flickr

Cheers, and here's to dark skies so I can improve on this

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Someones obviously a natural at this

[Steve 1962]

Cracking start Adam. Really nice image ...and I quite like the satelitte trail too!

[ollypenrice]

I remember my first M42 as well. Exhilarating. This really is a remarkably good rendition. I get the feeling that we ain't seen nothin' yet - though I doubt that the father of that phrase could have got anywhere near this!!

Oly

[kirkster501]

Well done. thanks for sharing - a very good start! I like the detail you got in the core. Very nice.

[springbok]

Cracking start, wel done.

[AstroAdam]

Cheers all.

The full-frame sensor of the 5D means I can rack it up to ISO 1600 without it giving crazy noise (may even try 3200 and see what happens). Hopefully, with the addition of dark frames etc and stacking, then I should end up with something nice.

Also, the fact that it's a full frame sensor gives me a nice wide FOV, probably with a bit more vignetting, but again, the processing should be able to deal with that.

I must admit, I'm gravitating towards nebulosity as the all-in-one package for capture and processing, as I've heard great things about the quality of the processing output. Once I've done a bit of experimentation to make sure my setup is stable (am going for the finder-guider approach), then I may take the plunge...