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My first M42

JMac85X

By JMac85X
in Getting Started With Imaging

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JMac85X

JMac85X

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I shot this a couple weeks ago with my new William Optics GTF 81 on a CGEM mount. I was going to shoot M33 but I came down with the flu last week, wow did it hurt. Anyway criticism is much appreciated. I tried my best to get out the subtle details on the edges.post-29491-0-03374900-1389159075.jpg

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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That's very good indeed. It belongs in the main imaging section, ideally a bit larger.

My only suggestion would be to take some short exposures to bring detail to the Trapezium region. These then need to be blended into the image you have using Photoshop, or a comparable graphics programme. This is a good tutorial; http://www.astropix.com/HTML/J_DIGIT/LAYMASK.HTM

Olly

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Stargazer33

Stargazer33

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Very nice image, and for a first attempt - wow!

I agree with Olly about doing some shorter exposures for the Trapezium stars and blending them in. I did that with my first attempt at M42 and it does improve things quite a bit. My image is still nowhere near as good as yours though.

Any information on camera, exposure, subs, etc would help us mere mortals to try to get something close.  :wink:

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lensman57

lensman57

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That is a superb image, well done. I took the liberty of running a single pass of the gradient xterminator, and a single pass of the HLVG just get rid of the remaining background blue-magenta cast, Hope you don't mind.

Reagrds,

A.G

post-28808-0-46253700-1389206196.jpg

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JMac85X

JMac85X

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I wish I would have noted all my subs but I know I did five at different times. I believe I did 25 5 second, 25 10 second, 25 20 second, 25 45 second, and 25 60 second. All done at ISO 1600. I plan on doing M33 next if possible. Do any of you have any experience photographing this galaxy? I'm seeing people are taking long subs, about 5 minutes. I tried the night i took this M42 image just to test it out and at 2 minutes I saw nothing, so I think 5 minutes for each sub would be required.

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lensman57

lensman57

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I wish I would have noted all my subs but I know I did five at different times. I believe I did 25 5 second, 25 10 second, 25 20 second, 25 45 second, and 25 60 second. All done at ISO 1600. I plan on doing M33 next if possible. Do any of you have any experience photographing this galaxy? I'm seeing people are taking long subs, about 5 minutes. I tried the night i took this M42 image just to test it out and at 2 minutes I saw nothing, so I think 5 minutes for each sub would be required.

M33 is one noisy Galaxy to image, you'd probably going to need a lot of subs about 300s to bring out detail out of it, particularly the outer arms as these fade away and get burried in the noise if the S/NR is weak. Judging by your M42 you seem to have good seeing so try and get as many subs as possible.

Regards,

A.G

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JMac85X

JMac85X

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It was taken not in my backyard but in the mountains in Malibu,CA. A friend and I drove to the site which was kind of scary because of all the curvy roads you have to take to get to it. It reminded me of the start of a Twilight Zone episode. The things people do in this hobby.

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lensman57

lensman57

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It was taken not in my backyard but in the mountains in Malibu,CA. A friend and I drove to the site which was kind of scary because of all the curvy roads you have to take to get to it. It reminded me of the start of a Twilight Zone episode. The things people do in this hobby.

I think the clarity of the detail in the M42 capture confirms the first class condition of your imaging site, there is nothing like a proper dark site to image from.  I would concentrate on a single subject and give  it long enough exposure but as many as possible to build the S/NR and reduce the noise, once done you can then stretch it untill photons scream . If the  site is truly dark you could perhaps dispose of the LP filter and use a UHC-S on the nebulea to bring out more fine details. Look forward to seeing your captures .

A.G

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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It's a very good M42. Well done.

M33 is a different animal, with very, very low surface brightness. I used subs of 15 minutes with a CCD, but at a very dark site. Even when you have enough data to sink a ship, (over 20 hours) it still has a noisy look because it has a genuinely speckled appearance. That's how it is, I think.

Olly

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JMac85X

JMac85X

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Wow Olly, I looked at some of your images on your site and they are excellent. You even brought out the stuff around the Orion Nebula that almost nobody ever tries to get. Your equipment is also top notch.

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