Orion Nebula and Andromeda Galaxy

[rizzi]

Hello, I've got a skywatcher 130p. I am a complete beginner so please bare with me lol

My question is that why can't I see the glow of the Orion Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy?

I've posted pictues of them using a 25mm eyepiece and a digicam with +2 exposure and ISO 1600.

Is this the best I'll get. If not, then any tips on improvements on my seeing and/or pictures?

Thanks

[Moonshane]

I am no imager but you'll find it extremely difficult to get images of these objects with a webcam I feel.

they are bright for their type but really very faint objects from an imaging point of view.

in your eyepiece, with your scope you should get good detail of M42 but M31 might be a fuzzy cloud with a brighter core. light pollution will affect both objects as it does with all faint targets. hope this helps.

[acey]

If you can't see them well it's because your sky is too bright (i.e. light polluted by streetlights etc). It may look black, but that's only because your eyes adjust to that level and no further. A truly dark sky is one where you can see the Milky Way clearly. If you can take your scope to a place like that then you will get fine views of the Orion nebula and M31. Not like photographs, but bright and impressive none the less. Even from a moderately light polluted site it's possible to get pretty good views of them, particularly the Orion Nebula.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I think generally, webcams are for Planets, and DSLR are used for DSOs. Obviously, both can be done with the other, its all to do with chip size etc.

[dark knight]

without an unmodded webcam or a dslr you just aren't going to get the required exposure lengths.

[Velvet]

If you want nice images then you will need possibly deep pockets. I have just started imaging and for planets you need webcam

but for DSO's you need DSLR or CCD camera to do them justice. Plus lots of other stuff, mount, guiding, software etc etc

The darkside seems to suck in cash like a black hole LOL

velvet

[cantharis]

Webcams are for (relatively) bright planets - not faint and fuzzies.

[nicks90]

Webcams are for (relatively) bright planets - not faint and fuzzies.

even if you took a couple of thousand stills with the webcam and stacked tthem?

[rizzi]

If you want nice images then you will need possibly deep pockets. I have just started imaging and for planets you need webcam

but for DSO's you need DSLR or CCD camera to do them justice. Plus lots of other stuff, mount, guiding, software etc etc

The darkside seems to suck in cash like a black hole LOL

velvet

LOL nice one

[rizzi]

Thank you so much for so many feedbacks and ideas. I think its probably the light pollution since Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh and one of the most crowded places on earth lol.

I guess I do need DSLRs to take decent pictures of DSOs ...I thought I could get away with my digital camera. Atleast there is sort of a purple-ish glow on M42 haha.

But what are CCDs? Never heard of em

[John]

......But what are CCDs? Never heard of em

This sort of thing:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/atik-cameras.html

[Stargazer33]

even if you took a couple of thousand stills with the webcam and stacked tthem?

Yep, even then. If each frame isn't exposed long enough to record the light then it doesn't matter how many you stack. If the information isn't there in the first place you can't create it by stacking.

HTH

[rizzi]

lol starts from 465 quid....i guess i have to sell off one of my kidneys now, hope its all worth it haha

[rizzi]

I am no imager but you'll find it extremely difficult to get images of these objects with a webcam I feel.

I use a 5 year old canon digital camera moonshane its topped nicely with the fact that live in an area with fantastic light pollution haha so even if the skies were perfectly clear these past days, the light pollution just ruins everything.

I guess I need to head far far away so get any sort of proper skies

[dtr42]

to see any nebs/galaxies in lp skies and to get any image is excellent hopefully you can get to a truly dark site and try your camera there you may be surprised by the results , good luck and enjoy your hobby as that's the most important thing

[rizzi]

yea thanks dtr42. its a really nice hobby and i think its never gonna get boring and i will never stop stargazing coz there are always bigger scopes to buy which will only fuel this hobby

I think all I need to do is go somewhere with little civilization, eg a village, to get some better views of the sky

[dark knight]

of course you can always mod a cheap webcam to allow for long exposures, there are plenty of tutorials on how to do this here on the forum or on the internet. Most folks mod one of the £20ish phillips webcams, these are a great introduction to astrophotography, there are plenty of people using these, all you need are the bits and a steady hand with a soldering iron.