M42 help processing

[scooby007]

this is an image combing 140 shots ranging from 5 secs to a minute. with a total combined exposure of over 1 hour this is only my second attempt at m42, infact only my second attempt at a DSO. my setup is rather restricting piggybacking my DSLR using a 300mm lense at f5.6 as well as local light pollution.

basically i think i have stretched the histogram as far as i can but being a complete novice wondered if i should expect to get a little more from this image and maybe a bit more colour.

[Simms]

Is your setup on a motorised EQ mount? If so then you could probably get more than 5 secs of tracking as long as your polar alignment is relatively good. To be honest I`d expect more from 140 shots. Could you give us a more accurate description of your kit and then maybe I could offer a couple of pointers.

[nmoushon]

Simms is right. Need a bit more information about your set up. But from your image you posted I can say that your focus is just a bit off, not much, and your polar alignment is off (Assuming your using a EQ mount). Because your stars are starting to take on a pill shape. But you do have a good amount of data...keep it up!

[scooby007]

set up is as follows piggy backed sony a200 using the 75-300mm lens at 300mm on top of my skywatcher 130/900mm which is attatched to an EQ2 mount with the motor attatched, to be fair i didnt polar allign very well as still getting use to my set up and not totally sure how to polar allign accurately.

camera settings lens wide open at F5.6 using iso 1600 focus set to infinity i was also using a remote for the shutter.

all the best

Rob

[nmoushon]

You did a pretty good job polar aligning. The stars are just starting to trail at 1min so not too shabby. Setting to infinity doesn't always do the trick. On my Canon XSi and my Sony a350 my true focus is not at the infinity mark. It's actually just shy of the mark a bit. And remember that the weather plays a factor on your focus as well. Depending on how long your outside and the weather you will probably have to refocus your lens. Best target to check your focus is the moon. If no moon your brightest start. Stars should be nice pin points. Also did you take any darks? If you didn't you definatelly need to! Flats and bias if you know how but for biggest improvement darks. And the other factor that's more likely your biggest problem is your light pollution. That blueish gray color thats kind of smoking your image a bit is LP. Its annoying I have to deal with it to. You can buy a LP filter to help with that or find some dark skies that are in driving distance. It makes a big difference!

Also you could try layering your image in Photoshop or similar program. That will help with the burned out core and the fainter nebulosity.

[scooby007]

also stacked in dss with default settings if that helps