Let's Showcase M42

[Nighthound]

It's getting to be that time of year when Orion will be in prime position to photograph all its treasures. Please post your image of The Great Orion Nebula as you get them.

Orion is still an early morning target here in eastern North America right now but soon we'll be able to start shooting in the late evening. I like to start around 10 pm and shoot until it has almost set. I'd like to get 5 hours on something in Orion this winter if we can get a few clear nights. Bring on the cold weather!

I'll kick it of with this 4 frame mosaic taken a few years back with my 10" LX200. The 4 frames were taken as verticals and compiled manually in Photoshop. Each section is 90 minutes of exposure taken with a Canon 20D(unmodified). The brightest section (Trapezium) was restored by shooting short exposures to patch in using Photoshop. The star spikes were caused by using nylon fishing leader as cross hairs at the front of the telescope tube.

[EricL]

Ok, I vote to change the name of this particular forum to "Nighthound". Steve, you never cease to amaze me!! Keep up the great work. I'd love to see you and your gear in action capturing these images some time!!

[Adrena1in]

Funnily enough, when the dog barked and woke me at 1am this morning I looked out the window and saw Orion, and thought about popping outside with my new 50mm f/1.8 lens. But didn't. But next time I will...and I'll take my scopes too.

[Celestron]

Great shot Steve ! Perhaps maybe i might get a chance to try for M42 this year sometimes .

[Jim G]

Stunning photo. Next year I'm so looking into getting myself something which is capable of doing this...

[Sky of the Plains]

great image here steve.

I dont have a tracking scope though, just a big dob. I might barrow a friends and piggyback sometime this winter.

[Johnny9s]

I love that shot Steve. It would look great in the POTN volume 3.

If the skies ever clear that is my next target.

John

[chris.bailey]

I think kicking off with a phot like that has put anyone else posting. This is from last year and was pretty much the first astro photo I managed to get. Was imaguing then on an Alt Az mount so lots of short subs was the name of the game.



Will shortly be gracing our skies here in the UK again at a reasonable hour so is very much on the list.

[Celestron]

Chris : thats a great shot also ! I have one taken with film a few yrs back that looks just like this including color . Only different i added spikes to it .

[Dusty]

Hi guys,

Very nice images Steve and Chris.
Here's my contribution, taken this time last year.
Looking forward to having another go this season and improve on this.

Cheers.

[Celestron]

WOW Dusty !! Thats an excellent shot with dead on focus and colors !

[Nighthound]

Thanks everyone for the kind comments on my shot.

Chris, your image is great. The color and detail is very nice. I sure hope me posting first didn't put anyone off, there are many, many images of M42 out there that put mine to shame. It's all relative to where we are at a given time in the hobby. The important thing is that we have fun and help each other get the most from our gear and in the process improve our images. I enjoy going back through my images from years ago, it gives me a better appreciation for my progress. I'm sure I'll look back at this one later and feel the same appreciation, at least I hope so. If the challenge and learning part were to end I'd loose interest in a hurry.

Very nice one indeed Dusty. I'm looking forward to shooting some wider field stuff in that area with the FS-60 and 20D.

[Johnny9s]

Here is my reworked version of M42.



John

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by Celestron

WOW Dusty !! Thats an excellent shot with dead on focus and colors !

Originally Posted by Nighthound

Very nice one indeed Dusty. I'm looking forward to shooting some wider field stuff in that area with the FS-60 and 20D.

Thanks guys for your very nice comments, glad you liked it.
I'm looking forward to see your results Steve with the FS-60.
M42 has been imaged so much but I still don't tire of looking at the images, it's a wonderful area.
I'm hoping to have another go this season.

Originally Posted by Johnny9s

Here is my reworked version of M42.
John

John that's come up nicely, my only suggestion would be to use curves and adjust the black, white and mid points to balance the colour out a bit more.
Pick a neutral grey point on the image and make it your midpoint.
This will enhance and bring out a bit more nebulosity and will also balance the colours just a tad.
Well done on the capture, it's a very nice wide field.

[timeasterday]

Excellent shots everyone! Here is my version showing both M42 & M43. I used shots taken with a H-alpha filter for the luminance channel and the RGB was taken using a IDAS-LPS filter. Scope used was a WO ZS80FD with my Rebel XT.




Here is just the H-alpha luminance channel: