My First M42

[Wilsmaboy]

Having only taken up astrophotography in the Spring Orion was out of range for me until now - and I was desparate to get a shot of M42 - so here is my first offering.

Taken on a ST102, HEQ5 Pro, Canon 450D(unmodded) and Backyard EOS - 5x 120s at ISO1600.

I have got separate images at 30s, 60s and 90s to play around with to try and get best of colour and less glare from the trapezium.

I know its nothing like Olly's masterpiece but I'm pleased with it.

[Quatermass]

That's a great shot and I bet you really enjoyed taking it. There is always lots of good pictures on the forums but capturing something for the first time is always special. M42 is one of those targets you can keep coming back to and getting more and more out of as well.

Ollys master piece is pretty impressive no doubt but the thrill of capturing your first M42 is unbeatable. I have been having a go at the Horse Head nebula just above it which was great fun to capture, check out Decembers Sky at Night mag for a good article on how to capture it.

Orion is a fantastic constellation with lots to photograph well done great job

[Casperovic]

Great image , running man nebula should be visible i think maybe you need to play with it in ps. I did that with my m42 but at the end noise start showing up

[ollypenrice]

That's very good with the colours nicely balanced. I'd suggest 10, 50 and 300 secs if you can. (My first go was at F5, like yours.) If not, cut the 300s down to what you can guide. Now combining them is a bit complicated but perfectly possible and very rewarding. When I was learning I used this tutorial by Jerry Lodigruss and this method is the best I know, much better than some that are in print, even. I always teach this method on my imaging courses.

Compositing 2 Different Exposures via Layer Masks

Olly

[Wolfesbane]

Brilliant Mate!!!

[SJJ]

Nice one Steve, its a great area to image. My (limited) advise would be to try and take some flats (a white laptop screen should fit your scope) which will help any gradients.

Keep em coming!