My first quick attempt at M42

[ElijahB]

Hi All,

Haven't been on here in a while, new jobs, etc, etc .... won't bore you with all the details. Anyway glad to be back and thought I would post up my first ever attempt at M42.

I didn't spend much time on it as I didn't have much .... I'm also typing this at work so I'm relying on memory rather than hard facts... but here goes:

The shot was compiled of 8 images of 20 seconds exposure at ISO 1600 (could have been 800 but am fairly certain it wasn't).

Camera used was a Canon 350D at Prime focus F10, Scope is a Celestron CPC 800. Stacked the images using RegiStax.

Un-Processed Stacked Image:

(click to enlarge)

My Attempt at processing it in PhotoShop:

(click to enlarge)

The I handed it to one of the members at my local club ... who clearly showed how poor my Photoshop skills really are :

(click to enlarge)

If anyone wants the TIFF file to have a go themselves, you can download it here: http://www.axvg31.dsl.pipex.com/Orion_Nebula.tif

All feedback, good or bad, is always welcome.

Cheers :occasion5:

[markcol]

Not at all bad for a first attempt Elijah! See Martin's topic above to see other first attempts.

Imaging at prime focus on a SCT is pretty tricky anyway, so the end result is very creditable.

cheers

Mark

[centroid]

A lot of people would happy to get a result like that at their 2nd, 3rd, 4th............ attempt

Very nice, well done!!

Dave

[Sam]

Wow! for your first go that is stunning, you should be very pleased with that!

[Paxo]

Cracking first attempt Elijah, you should be very proud of it

Steve..

[radioactive]

thats an outstanding first attempt you should be really pleased we certainly are for you very well done!

[steppenwolf]

That's good for a first attempt! Although this is a very popular object to image, it is not that easy to get right because of the difference in brightness between the Trapezium area and the outer filamentary region - you have a achieved a fair balance with the individual stars of the Trapezium clearly visible.

[ElijahB]

Thanks all .... after I saw the results that buried in the picture, I just wish now that a) I'd spent more time taking the images and my Photoshop skills were a lot better. Then I wouldn't need the help to pull out all the detail (as can be seen from the 3rd image).

Still, knowing that the detail is in there, I now have some benchmarks to aim for

Thanks again...... oh, just had a look at the weather report for the weekend and .................

[zhgutas]

Very good first attempt! Agree with centroid though I'd be pleased to get this on my 5th

marius