M42 Orion Nebula

[Andrew INT]

I'm still on a pretty steep learning curve regarding astrophotography, but I guess thats half the challenge!

Using an 8" Newtonion (un-guided) made from a stack of 131 lights of 20s exp at 1600 ISO using a canon 350D (un-mod)

I normally take exposures of about 120s, but the moon was pretty bright at the time.

Any feedback very much welcomed!

Kind regards,

Andrew

[johnh]

This is a pretty good result for unmodded short mooned session as you have picked up quite a lot of red and faint running man is showing and colour balance seems good. You just need flats and more subs (2hrs total will be good to aim for) and consider short 5sec subs to get the Trapezium stars but you've done well as the Moon does wash out things with long exposure, when the Moon has gone you'll get the fainter gas so this looks like a healthy start Andrew.

John.

[ollypenrice]

Yes, very good in the moonlight.

Here is a link to a good article on how to layer mask. I bet that your short subs, only partly stretched, could be used as short exposures.

Compositing 2 Different Exposures via Layer Masks

Olly

[nightfisher]

lovely image

[adamsp123]

Nice one especially considering the moon was up.

[Beyond_Vision]

A great result considering the conditions

Regards

Kevin

[Coco]

Very nice capture... to get rid of the egg shaped stars try this routine:

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-tips-tricks-techniques/47061-6-reducing-star-trails.html

[Andrew INT]

Thanks for the comments and advice - I've made a few notes which I'll try on the next clear night (our baby is due on Christmas Eve, so I may be tied up with other things though...)

Thanks once again, Kind regards, Andrew