Second go at M42

[Jonny_H]

Hi all,

I managed to get 1hr 15 mins of lights in tonight before I lost the target behind a neighbours tree.

I attempted dithering for the first time and it seems to have resolved a lot of the noise I was getting in previous images.

Anyhow - I would welcome any feedback/pointers. Apologies in advance for the focus....or lack of!

15 x 300 sec lights, darks, flats and  bias. Stacked in APP and tinkered in PI.

Thanks,

Jon

[MartinB]

That has the makings of a great image but, as you say, the focus is off and there is no recovering that.  How are you focusing?

[Jonny_H]

2 minutes ago, MartinB said:

That has the makings of a great image but, as you say, the focus is off and there is no recovering that.  How are you focusing?

If I am being honest - completely manually and unaided at present.  I am thinking a Bahtinov mask might do me some favours!?

[Mr Spock]

The nebulosity is well captured and shows the illumination well; it has a lovely delicate colour - well done. But, as noted, it's out of focus. A Bahtinov mask should sort that for you.

The next step would be to manage the core. I'll leave that to the experts.

[Jonny_H]

33 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

The nebulosity is well captured and shows the illumination well; it has a lovely delicate colour - well done. But, as noted, it's out of focus. A Bahtinov mask should sort that for you.

The next step would be to manage the core. I'll leave that to the experts.

Yes i really am still a novice to AP.  I am still getting to grips with post processing and agreed the core needs to be tamed.