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Finally managed to have a proper go at Orion Widefield last weekend.

45x240s (3hours) with Canon 6D and 50mm f2.8 at ISO800.

No darks/bias/flats. Stacked in DSS and processed in PS.

 

I am pretty happy with the result but now it got me thinking, how do I go from this to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Molecular_Cloud_Complex#/media/File:Orion_Head_to_Toe.jpg

Is it a matter of longer acquisition, or is that CCD territory?

 

Orion-Widefield-2.jpg

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Lovely.

A lot of it is down to processing, the linked image is processed to suppress the stars and bring out the nebulae.  I suspect it is also a mosaic made up of several smaller images.

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I am a complete noob at this but if you use Photoshop you can download a plugin with a set of actions. The plugin is called Astronomy Tools: http://www.prodigitalsoftware.com/Astronomy_Tools_For_Full_Version.html

They have actions to bring out the nebulae and make it pop etc, watch some videos first on it. But as said above it is down to processing.

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40 minutes ago, D4N said:

Lovely.

A lot of it is down to processing, the linked image is processed to suppress the stars and bring out the nebulae.  I suspect it is also a mosaic made up of several smaller images.

 

I have been trying to do that, but after a certain point stars look like dust speckles and image looks very rough as opposed to the smooth image in that link.

 

 

33 minutes ago, Yamez said:

I am a complete noob at this but if you use Photoshop you can download a plugin with a set of actions. The plugin is called Astronomy Tools: http://www.prodigitalsoftware.com/Astronomy_Tools_For_Full_Version.html

They have actions to bring out the nebulae and make it pop etc, watch some videos first on it. But as said above it is down to processing.

yea that's what I tend to use. It works to a level, but I can't suppress enough without ruining image quality.

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10 minutes ago, wxsatuser said:

Longer subs, a dark sky site, any LP will be the killer, lots of processing skills, these cannot be learnt overnight.
Mod the 6D if it is'nt modded. although the 6D does Ha fairly well without modding

Location was exmoor, so as dark as it's going to get in this area.

Yea, I understand astro processing is a black art itself. And then you got so many different software with completely different processing techniques to make it more complicated :)

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11 minutes ago, etunar said:

Location was exmoor, so as dark as it's going to get in this area.

Yea, I understand astro processing is a black art itself. And then you got so many different software with completely different processing techniques to make it more complicated :)

If you were at a dark site, then longer subs should be possible, 240secs seems short, of course depends on your gear and guiding.

To get the most out of a dslr you will need to dither, this will kill the colour noise and reveal stuff you would'nt believe.

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7 hours ago, wxsatuser said:

If you were at a dark site, then longer subs should be possible, 240secs seems short, of course depends on your gear and guiding.

To get the most out of a dslr you will need to dither, this will kill the colour noise and reveal stuff you would'nt believe.

Not sure if I can dither automatically with the star adventurer tracker... Unless it's part of guiding software?

 

7 hours ago, D4N said:

I think to make it look like that you need to use a star mask so you don't process the stars, or narrowband so they are tiny in the first place ;)

I am reading a bit more about star masks to see if it's viable when I have tons of it in the image. But yea, narrowband may be the next step...

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23 hours ago, etunar said:

I am pretty happy with the result but now it got me thinking, how do I go from this to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Molecular_Cloud_Complex#/media/File:Orion_Head_to_Toe.jpg

Is it a matter of longer acquisition, or is that CCD territory?

Good image. As for the question:

Did you check out the photographer's website? Then decide to dedicate the rest of your life to this artform. Get good gear, have talent, some luck, and definitely a LOT of hard work.

Good luck.

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33 minutes ago, wimvb said:

Good image. As for the question:

Did you check out the photographer's website? Then decide to dedicate the rest of your life to this artform. Get good gear, have talent, some luck, and definitely a LOT of hard work.

Good luck.

I did look at his website. He doesn't list his equipment (as far as I can see), but clearly he has spent a lot of time in astrophotography considering his achievements and portfolio.

 

It's one of those things if I knew for sure it's beyond the capability of a dslr, I'd accept my fate :)

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That's an excellent image - thanks for sharing it.   The molecular clouds have come out beautifully, especially the Witch Head Nebula.  You don't say if your camera is modified - I assume not.  That said, the Canon 6D does give pretty good results on emission nebulae, even unmodified.  However, I would be tempted to saturate the colour a bit more.

I'm also familiar with Rogelio's stunning image and I'm quite in awe of it.  It can be found on https://www.astrobin.com/162866/ where he states that it is a 49 pane mosaic with 220 hours of total exposure time.  Here in the UK that would be a multi year project, maybe even a decade (or two)!    So I think that answers the question you posed - you need 70x more exposure time!!  His work is definitely something to aspire to but is definitely not beyond a DSLR like the Canon 6D.

Mark

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Unfortunately it doesn't halve the number of years to gain experience and knowledge. Nor does it clear and darken our skies. He has access to really dark and clear skies, being relatively close to the deserts of Nevada.

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21 hours ago, sharkmelley said:

That's an excellent image - thanks for sharing it.   The molecular clouds have come out beautifully, especially the Witch Head Nebula.  You don't say if your camera is modified - I assume not.  That said, the Canon 6D does give pretty good results on emission nebulae, even unmodified.  However, I would be tempted to saturate the colour a bit more.

I'm also familiar with Rogelio's stunning image and I'm quite in awe of it.  It can be found on https://www.astrobin.com/162866/ where he states that it is a 49 pane mosaic with 220 hours of total exposure time.  Here in the UK that would be a multi year project, maybe even a decade (or two)!    So I think that answers the question you posed - you need 70x more exposure time!!  His work is definitely something to aspire to but is definitely not beyond a DSLR like the Canon 6D.

Mark

thanks for that info, and bloody hell is all i can say :) 3 down 217 hours to go :) Well it's not just the exposure though, since it's a mosaic you are going to capture much more detail with the longer focal length unless it was a really low mp camera (which i doubt it). 

One question with these mosaics.. I assume they would be very difficult without guiding? How do you go back to exact same area of the sky at such a long focal length on different nights? I did a huge milky way pano at 50mm and that was difficult enough to make sure I captured everything correctly. With guiding you can easily go back to a previous spot, or am I understanding guiding wrong?

 

 

13 hours ago, wimvb said:

Unfortunately it doesn't halve the number of years to gain experience and knowledge. Nor does it clear and darken our skies. He has access to really dark and clear skies, being relatively close to the deserts of Nevada.

you are definitely right about experience and knowledge part. It's a long process to master it. I get to go back to cyprus for a week or two every summer so at least I get few nights of clear skies guaranteed every year. :)

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22 hours ago, sharkmelley said:

That's an excellent image - thanks for sharing it.   The molecular clouds have come out beautifully, especially the Witch Head Nebula.  You don't say if your camera is modified - I assume not.  That said, the Canon 6D does give pretty good results on emission nebulae, even unmodified.  However, I would be tempted to saturate the colour a bit more.

I'm also familiar with Rogelio's stunning image and I'm quite in awe of it.  It can be found on https://www.astrobin.com/162866/ where he states that it is a 49 pane mosaic with 220 hours of total exposure time.  Here in the UK that would be a multi year project, maybe even a decade (or two)!    So I think that answers the question you posed - you need 70x more exposure time!!  His work is definitely something to aspire to but is definitely not beyond a DSLR like the Canon 6D.

Mark

Thanks btw, i was a bit shocked by the gear/exposure length of that photo I forgot say thank you. Yea 6D is not modded. I do landscape photography as well so I didn't want to mod it. But I think next logical step for me would be to have a modded camera and try to capture Ha wavelengths to improve details - at least that seems like the next logical step for me?

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The best way to reshoot over several nights and have accurate pointing accuracy, is to do plate solving. It requires the mount to be computer controlled, as well as the right software. In essence, you take an image of the sky. Then use the stars in that image to figure out where you are pointing, and reposition the scope to the area you want to do your imaging. For mosaics, you would also use some sort of mosaic planning software to keep track of all the panels. Of course, once you're this dedicated, you will first research the area and try to add something new to the target. Something that makes the result stand out from other images. And that's where the talent comes in. Or as another photographer has called it, visualisation. Having the end product in mind, before you take the first exposure.

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7 hours ago, wimvb said:

The best way to reshoot over several nights and have accurate pointing accuracy, is to do plate solving. It requires the mount to be computer controlled, as well as the right software. In essence, you take an image of the sky. Then use the stars in that image to figure out where you are pointing, and reposition the scope to the area you want to do your imaging. For mosaics, you would also use some sort of mosaic planning software to keep track of all the panels. Of course, once you're this dedicated, you will first research the area and try to add something new to the target. Something that makes the result stand out from other images. And that's where the talent comes in. Or as another photographer has called it, visualisation. Having the end product in mind, before you take the first exposure.

Thanks Wim. This all sounds way beyond my capability at this stage (both skills and gear) but it's definitely good to learn for future.

 

4 hours ago, Calypsob said:

nicely done! which lens was this? 

It's the original sigma 50mm f1.4 lens (not the new art version).

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