M42 1st Attempt-Advice Needed!

[JohnSadlerAstro]

Hi Everyone,

Tried to image M42 for the 1st time on the 10th, and I've just tried processing the results. I'm reasonably pleased, but I think that I may need to do a bit more work on it. Any suggestions/comments? please post! I remember that some people take two sets of images--one showing the entire nebula, and the other showing trapezium, which they then somehow put together into 1 image. Does anyone know how to do this? Would I be able to do it in GIMP, or would I need to buy Photoshop?

Canon EOS 1000d

200mm lens at f/5.6

38 X 51 second subs @ ISO 800 (the timer release always seems to add one second onto what I set, hence the stupid expo length!)

EQ2, tracking

Hair Dryer to keep the dew away (No, don't ask what voltage it is!!! https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/260190-really-excited/)

Stacked in DSS, processed in GIMP

 

Thanks for looking,

JOHN

 

[PeterCPC]

As to putting two sets of exposures together that's done using layers - not sure what GIMP can do.

I think that you would benefit from some longer exposures to get more nebulosity.

Peter

[MARS1960]

Well done John, much better than my first five attempts.