45 Minutes on M42

[Stuf1978]

The weather has been absolutely shocking here in the NE since christmas. So when I had a clear window of about 2 hours last week I took the opportunity to try and grab an hour on M42, in the end I ended up with 18 x 2.5 minutes subs. So here it is:

Stock Canon 80D and SW 72ED on HEQ5 Pro

No filters were used and the image was taken from my Bortle 8 garden.

 

Edited February 23, 2021 by Stuf1978

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very good indeed for such a short exposure

[dazza1639]

love the star colours 👍

[Sunshine]

Very nice image!

[Stuf1978]

22 minutes ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

Very good indeed for such a short exposure

 

17 minutes ago, dazza1639 said:

love the star colours 👍

 

4 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

Very nice image!

Thanks all, I was pleasantly surprised at what I got out of it for the short integration time

[mackiedlm]

Thats a cracker. Love the colours 

[Paul M]

That's a very nice image. I was surprised by the spec 😲

How much time did it require in processing, and mores the point what did you process it with?

[Stuf1978]

15 hours ago, mackiedlm said:

Thats a cracker. Love the colours 

Thanks 😃

15 hours ago, Paul M said:

That's a very nice image. I was surprised by the spec 😲

How much time did it require in processing, and mores the point what did you process it with?

Thank you. I did process it a couple of times as I wasn't happy with the first version but the basic process was the same. Stacked in DSS with darks, flats and bias frames. The stack was imported directly into Siril where I carried out photometric colour calibration, banding reduction and then autostetched it. It was then moved into photoshop where I ran gradient exterminator and ran the remove light pollution action from the AP action set. It was then just tweaks to levels, selective colour enhancements and noise reduction. I also performed a second process on the stack but only performed a slight stretch for the core of M42 and then blended the two. 

FWIW I chose to use my stock 80d over my modded 450D as the more modern sensor is way better at controlling noise. The issue I have with M42 is although I can image it for a solid 3 hours from my garden it is only just above a couple of streetlights which causes no end of problems. 

[AstroNtinos]

Perfect image! I love it!

[Stuf1978]

2 minutes ago, AstroNtinos said:

Perfect image! I love it!

Thanks

[dave_tucker]

Beautiful. I love it. As someone just starting out this gives me hope that I can achieve something similar with my unmodded Cannon 70d. Well, after a lot of practice!

[Stuf1978]

56 minutes ago, dave_tucker said:

Beautiful. I love it. As someone just starting out this gives me hope that I can achieve something similar with my unmodded Cannon 70d. Well, after a lot of practice!

Thank you. Just choose your targets wisely with an unmodded camera and I'm sure you'll succeed