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M42 - The Great Nebula In Orion From a Hotel Balcony.

StuartJPP

By StuartJPP
in Imaging - Deep Sky

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StuartJPP

StuartJPP

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Since it would take about an hour to get to and set up at my usual spot and I was getting clouded out most nights I decided to set up on the hotel balcony on this particular night, which luckily had a view of Polaris...but only just...the view through the polar scope had a bit of roof in it, so just enough to view the other 2 alignment stars.

It was late on (or early) so most of the hotel's lights were off but I was still thwarted by the huge beach promenade lights :mad: , two huge ones flanked Orion. I used my recently purchased 52mm IDAS filter which seemed to do a great job of toning them down. This filter fits in the filter drawer of the Canon 500mm f/4 L IS lens.

This is the 2nd image that I have used the LLRGB processing method on, the 1st being a bit of a flop. It seems to help bring out the faint fuzzy nebulosity without increasing the noise (thanks to Scott Rosen and his great 2 hour long video).

I am quite pleased with the outcome, I would have loved to have captured the data away from those pesky lights of course...something for next time :grin:

Modified Canon 650D
Canon 500mm f/4 L IS
ISO400
IDAS LP filter (52mm in the filter drawer).

AstroTrac TT320X Mount
27x 180 second lights
20x 30 second lights (for the core)

Taken in Fuerteventura on 22 Sept 2014 from the hotel balcony at 3am to 5am.

15405199672_6d09b865a9_b.jpg

M42 - Orion Nebula With NGC1993/5/7 - The Running Man by StuartJPP, on Flickr

Thanks for looking...

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carastro

carastro

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What a fantastic image for a DSLR camera and such short subs.  Well done for managing to get it through a hotel window.  I went to Fuerteventura earlier this year and the hotel lights made viewing almost impossible.

Carole 

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davew

davew

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Using the Idas in the filter drawer eh ? Sneaky. Cuts the pollution and help with focusing at the same time. Very clever.

Nice image.

You have to be at, or very near to, the pinnacle of AstroTrac imaging,

Dave.

Edit - meant to ask, do you drift align or rely totaly on the Polar scope ?

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StuartJPP

StuartJPP

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That is amazing Stuart. Short subs AND from a hotel balcony! :icon_salut:

It helps when the balcony is in a place suitable (though nowhere near ideal) for astro work. If I had known it would turn out like this I would have spent more time trying from there...though as mentioned the clouds were sparse but coming in fast so a lot of subs ruined.

wow... still trying to get even a quarter as good image as that...

this is stunning! the detail is outstanding! 

Stunning, the stuff my dreams are made of :Envy:  :Envy:

Regards

Thank you!

From a hotel blancony!!!

Sob. I cant get that from home

Sob

Sent from my iPhone so excuse the typos!

Neither can I! Nowhere near.

Amazing stuff!

Thanks Per...touché. Means a lot coming from a man of your calibre...

Using the Idas in the filter drawer eh ? Sneaky. Cuts the pollution and help with focusing at the same time. Very clever.

Nice image.

You have to be at, or very near to, the pinnacle of AstroTrac imaging,

Dave.

Edit - meant to ask, do you drift align or rely totaly on the Polar scope ?

Thanks Dave. I only rely on the well collimated and aligned polar scope. I think that there is too much flexure in my setup to be doing drift alignment (i.e. moving wildly from one part of the sky to the other) and most of the time I don't have a clear view to be able to do drift alignment.

The 52mm IDAS in the filter drawer allows me to use it on a full frame camera as well. A front 125mm IDAS filter would be a bit expensive and I don't fancy using the Full Frame Astronomik CLIP filter as the mirror has to be locked up and that is how I frame my images...using the optical viewfinder.

Regarding the pinnacle of AstroTrac imaging...well at these focal lengths possibly though I have seen longer focal lengths and longer subs but those guys have lots of imaging time to tweak and get it right. I am investigating another mount at the minute but the AstroTrac will remain in my arsenal. If I could get consistent 5 minute subs I'd quite happy, 10 minute subs and I would be ecstatic.

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StuartJPP

StuartJPP

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Now that's a good one. So much detail. Great stuff. :cool:

A very natrural looking M42 and done from a balcony wow,

very nice work indeed.

Paul

FLO when are you going to start selling balcony's :grin:

Thanks guys!

This, if scaled according to location and equipment used, may well be the best M42 on the net!

:grin: lly

Cheers Olly...

Very nice.

500mm at f4 is a great lens.

Nice location and great processing.

Makes me want to go on a astro holiday :)

Thanks, the 500mm f/4 L IS lens is a cracking lens and works pretty well as a refractor...I also want to go on an astro holiday :) The trip(s) to Fuerteventura are "regular" (cheap) holidays with the off chance that I can get some imaging in. It isn't ideal but we like it there and it kills two birds with one stone (the Mrs. gets some sunshine and I get some clear skies occasionally). Plus our fav restaurant is not far away...

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