M42 - My first go at this target

[steviemac500]

I have never really got round to this, don't know why so here is my humble offering. It's nowhere near the standard some recent shots have been at but as i'm still learning PI, I'm very pleased with it. I haven't had clear skies to get the core data yet so i cheated a bit and used PS to heal the saturated core. 4 0mins each of RGB and 1 1/2 hours of L. There are still issues wih stars in one corner which i know about and hopefully will disappear when my moonlite focuser arrives. All comments welcomed, hope you like it.

[gnomus]

First off, it's great isn't it?  You have even managed to get a fair bit of the fainter stuff, despite relatively low integration times.

If you want some C&C ... the transitions betwen the brighter dust at the edges of M42 and the fainter stuff even further out seem a tad 'abrupt'.  I don't know why this is.  Could it be clipping?  I don't think so.  Is it possibly an artefact of using the Shadows/Highlights tool?   Who knows?  In any event I am being too picky probably.

As regards your stars, I think this is more likely to be a spacing issue than a focuser slop issue.  But I guess we'll find out soon enough when the Moonlite arrives.  Be careful with that Moonlite.  My Moravian is a heavy camera and my Moonlite is awfully prone to slipping.

 

[steviemac500]

 

5 minutes ago, gnomus said:

First off, it's great isn't it?  You have even managed to get a fair bit of the fainter stuff, despite relatively low integration times.

If you want some C&C ... the transitions betwen the brighter dust at the edges of M42 and the fainter stuff even further out seem a tad 'abrupt'.  I don't know why this is.  Could it be clipping?  I don't think so.  Is it possibly an artefact of using the Shadows/Highlights tool?   Who knows?  In any event I am being too picky probably.

As regards your stars, I think this is more likely to be a spacing issue than a focuser slop issue.  But I guess we'll find out soon enough when the Moonlite arrives.  Be careful with that Moonlite.  My Moravian is a heavy camera and my Moonlite is awfully prone to slipping.

 

 Thanks Gnomus. The stars are always elongated in one corner which i thought was tilt induced rather than spacing.... silly question - if i can achieve back focus does that not mean that the spacing is good? I'm surprised about slippage though, i thought the moonlite could hold a fair amount?

[gnomus]

16 minutes ago, steviemac500 said:

 

 Thanks Gnomus. The stars are always elongated in one corner which i thought was tilt induced rather than spacing.... silly question - if i can achieve back focus does that not mean that the spacing is good? I'm surprised about slippage though, i thought the moonlite could hold a fair amount?

No.  You have to make sure that the spacing between the rear element of your reducer/flattener and the camera sensor is just so.  The  instructions with the reducer/flattener should tell you what the spacing shoud be (I can't remember offhand).  You camera will also tell you what the spacing is between its sensor and the front of the camera.  You can then get this spacing into 'ballpark' territory by the use of various extension rings, if needed.  (You have to take filter thickness into account too.). However, even this ballpark spacing might not be quite right due to manufacturing tolerances and similar.  Many folks will have to add in little spacer rings to get it right.  It sounds complicated, but it isn't really and, of course, you only need to do it once.

As to load capacity on the Moonlite, maybe your one will be better than mine.  That Moravian is very heavy though.  Once you achieve focus, lock it in tightly with that knob.  

[steviemac500]

8 minutes ago, gnomus said:

No.  You have to make sure that the spacing between the rear element of your reducer/flattener and the camera sensor is just so.  The  instructions with the reducer/flattener should tell you what the spacing shoud be (I can't remember offhand).  You camera will also tell you what the spacing is between its sensor and the front of the camera.  You can then get this spacing into 'ballpark' territory by the use of various extension rings, if needed.  (You have to take filter thickness into account too.). However, even this ballpark spacing might not be quite right due to manufacturing tolerances and similar.  Many folks will have to add in little spacer rings to get it right.  It sounds complicated, but it isn't really and, of course, you only need to do it once.

As to load capacity on the Moonlite, maybe your one will be better than mine.  That Moravian is very heavy though.  Once you achieve focus, lock it in tightly with that knob.  

Thanks, i'll check tomorrow.

[gnomus]

No worries.  Others might be able to help out with advice?  The stars will tell you if you need more or less spacing.  The direction of trailing will change from radiaing out from the centre (as yours do) through 'good' and then to to a circular distortion where it looks like the stars are starting to form circles around your image.  With one type of distortion you have insufficient spacing - with another you have too much.  The trouble is I forget which is which.  I hope someone can pitch in.

For fine spacing, Google 'Delrin Rings (or maybe spacers).  FLO carry them - you can get a mixed size bag.

[steviemac500]

22 minutes ago, gnomus said:

No worries.  Others might be able to help out with advice?  The stars will tell you if you need more or less spacing.  The direction of trailing will change from radiaing out from the centre (as yours do) through 'good' and then to to a circular distortion where it looks like the stars are starting to form circles around your image.  With one type of distortion you have insufficient spacing - with another you have too much.  The trouble is I forget which is which.  I hope someone can pitch in.

For fine spacing, Google 'Delrin Rings (or maybe spacers).  FLO carry them - you can get a mixed size bag.

I have some already thankfully!

[Knighty2112]

Nice work. Well done! Keep 'em coming!