My best M42 so far!

[MartinFransson]

Ever ongoing project... the Orion Nebula   

This is a LRGB combination with about 2 hrs of Ha-data blended in with the luminance.

Still needs a lot of work but I think I´m getting there! I could have pulled even more of that dusty stuff out but I wanted to keep a fairly natural look to the processing. And there ARE limitations to what can be done with an uncooled DSLR.   

Canon EOS 1100D (astromod)
Canon EF 300/4L IS

HEQ5 Pro

Orion Autoguider

About 5 hours + 2 hours of Ha:
Colour: 28*120s + 39*180s + 27*300s and then a round of 6-10 second exposures for the core.
Ha: 23*600s+1*900s

[gorann]

I think that is an outstanding result with a telephoto lens! Have you seen any better?

[MartinFransson]

I think that is an outstanding result with a telephoto lens! Have you seen any better?

Thank you! I've been looking a lot for images to see what is the best that can be done with a DSLR and I've seen stuff far better than this but I can't remember if M42 was among those shots.

I'm a bit limited by the fact that it only rises to about 26-27 degrees above the horizon where I live and it's in the direction where I have a bit of LP.

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[gorann]

Jag vet!

(means I know, and I know that we according rules have to write in English, but I also do my AP in Sweden with Orion never high up)

Here is my best so far,  with a ES 127 ED - a budget triplet apo on an EOS 60Da, with no Ha added (and the atmosphere was a noticeably hazy so I hope for better).

[MartinFransson]

Looks good! [emoji4]

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[laudropb]

Very nice image.

[prokyon]

Very nice! You can see a lot of the faint stuff arround. And colours are nice too!

[Davey-T]

Nice M42, presumably this is cropped from the centre of the image ?

Dave

[MartinFransson]

Nice M42, presumably this is cropped from the centre of the image ?

Dave

Thanks Dave. I'm not sure what you mean about the cropping. My image is only slightly cropped due to stacking artifacts. It is stacked from different sessions. It was resized before I uploaded it though.

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[ollypenrice]

Clearly a good one!

Have a look at your Ha layer, particularly around the Running Man. It won't show much of the 'running man' figure because this feature is reflection nebulosity invisible in Ha. If you illuminate your image in Ha (by using it as luminance) this will hold down the running man quite severely. For me this is an example of why Ha should not be used as luminosity.

I feel it should be used to enhance red.

Olly

[MartinFransson]

Clearly a good one!

Have a look at your Ha layer, particularly around the Running Man. It won't show much of the 'running man' figure because this feature is reflection nebulosity invisible in Ha. If you illuminate your image in Ha (by using it as luminance) this will hold down the running man quite severely. For me this is an example of why Ha should not be used as luminosity.

I feel it should be used to enhance red.

Olly

Thanks Olly!

Actually I cheated a bit and used the layer brush to tone down the luminosity enhancement for both M42 and the running man since these areas were bright enough without it and were held down as you say. The Ha mainly enhances the surrounding dusty areas.

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[MikeODay]

Wonderful image Martin. Great colours and I love the dust clouds.

[Davey-T]

Thanks Dave. I'm not sure what you mean about the cropping. My image is only slightly cropped due to stacking artifacts. It is stacked from different sessions. It was resized before I uploaded it though.

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Only asked because this is what I get with 300mm, seems a lot bigger FOV than yours ?

Dave

[MartinFransson]

I think it's about the same but mine is rotated 90 degrees compared to yours. Also your image only shows the brightest part, making it look smaller.

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[lensman57]

This is very good. Lots of dust showing around as well is a bonus.

A.G

[Bonze]

Quite amazing the amount of dust in the outer regions you have managed there.

[MartinFransson]

Thank you! Yes, the dust was what I was after [emoji4]

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[wimvb]

Nice ones, Martin and Göran!

My Orion view is obscured by trees, so even if we were freed from these ... clouds, I'd have a hard time imaging it.

Tonight I glimpsed a star through 95% cloud cover. Hope to see some clear skies soon.

God Jul

(Happy holidays, everyone)

[aeut]

Awesome image