M42 a brief run

[squeaky]

Hi all,

My first quick look at M42 through more haze than is sensible, really, especially when lit up by an almost full moon. The run was stopped by cloud moving in, so darker skies and lots more data should help a lot. But still, not bad for a first go

[andyo]

Looking good,how many subs and how long exposure

[Gina]

That's amazing considering the conditions

I had a look at several objects last night / this morning and it was pretty hopeless with the full moon and occasional clouds. I did manage to see M42 but didn't bother trying an imaging run - too much cloud about. M42 didn't come up above the trees and distant hills until about 12:45 then it was shrouded in thin cloud well lit by moonlight. A 10sec exposure at ISO 6400 made the fields, hedges and trees look like it was daylight! I gave up at 1am when more cloud came in and put an end to it all.

[barkis]

You've done remarkably well with this, considering the overhelming glare from La Lune, which must have been even more

troublesome if there was any mist too.

I'm sure some processing could make this even better.

I admire your tenacity, many wouldn't have got a scope out under the conditions described.

Ron.

[Austin]

Great effort for a first go

[stellawolf]

Excellent effert well done

[squeaky]

Thanks.

Yep...my primary reason for the outing was to test the 200mm and 135mm lenses that I was recently given. The 135 is a write off - the iris blades are warped and the whole thing jams up. The 200 gives a nice 4.5 deg FOV but I wasn't overly impressed by the results. Mind you, conditions were barely marginal at best.

The image is 14 stacked 15 sec subs at a mix of ISO 800 and 1600 on Prime Focus - so not a lot. Normally those first 20 or so subs would end up getting binned as I fine tuned the tracking etc. before going for the real imaging run. So just 3.5 minute's worth of data as opposed to the hour's worth I was hoping for.

It doesn't get above my horizon until around 4am so I'm not really contemplating this one as a "good" target until December.