Orion constellation

I FINALLY got to play with the modded 20D just last night. Still had problems with alignment, until I finally figured out a way that seems to work well for me, so far at least. I used the LED flashlight of my iPhone, and shone it through my polar scope. I was WAY off, which explained why my first alignment star was WAY off. Once I got that roughly fixed, alignment and calibration came much easier, and I was able to get 1:45 minute subs off the mount with my camera directly attached. Tons better than the 30-45 second subs I was getting previously. I went with a fully charged grip, but the cold sapped it pretty quickly, and so I ended up with 46 minutes worth of usable frames. It was taken with my nifty fifty, 400 ISO, f2.5. I think I am going to go up a little bit more with my aperture, as there is a lot of distortion. I'm also tempted to go a little bit more widefield with this one, say around 20-30 mm, but it means I'd have a heck of a time getting more than one night of photos, as well. I'm pleased with the results, all in all, although I'm sure there is still data to be mined within it. Unfortunately, I didn't add but 6 frames of darks. I'm willing to bet it would help immensely. In any case, the camera mod definitely took a lot of time off getting data. I have an image of Orion that I took several years ago with my 40D that has 2.5 hours worth of images ranging from 2-4 minute exposures using a mini GEM. There isn't nearly as much detail in that one.

Wow Elizabeth you got a bunch of great stuff in this. I especially like that Barnard's Loop is so clearly visible, very deep image for only 46 minutes. Congrats on your success, there's no stopping you now. Looking forward to many more.

I agree ! Congrats ! Always have those batteries charged up to max and have a couple extra on hand in case you need them .

Yes! Very nice! Can make out lots of the objects in there - Horsehead, Flame, Orion Nebula, Running Man, Barnard's Loop. I think I can even make out a faint Witch's Head.

More of what they said.

I'm amazed how well the HH can be seen at this size ! Would be great if you could enlarge it and section off for closeup images .

What I really love about these widefield images is that looking at my screen, that's about how big Orion is when I look at it in the night sky, yet you're showing us all that hidden data and nebulae. Don't you wish your own eyes could take in that amount of detail at night!!?

Nighthound wrote in post #11268800
Wow Elizabeth you got a bunch of great stuff in this. I especially like that Barnard's Loop is so clearly visible, very deep image for only 46 minutes. Congrats on your success, there's no stopping you now. Looking forward to many more.

Thanks so much for your support. I think I'm finally getting somewhere with my imaging, although there is PLENTY of room to grow. What is frustrating is that this is only the third time I've been out this year, mainly because of weather, the moon, and work. If I could get out every week, then I feel the learning curve wouldn't be quite so steep.

Celestron wrote in post #11269486
I agree ! Congrats ! Always have those batteries charged up to max and have a couple extra on hand in case you need them .

I actually had 5 fully charged batteries on hand. But I was going to have to reposition the mount as Orion was crossing overhead, it was late, and I was cold and tired, especially since I had to work that evening, and didn't even get out there until 11:30.

troypiggo wrote in post #11269567
Yes! Very nice! Can make out lots of the objects in there - Horsehead, Flame, Orion Nebula, Running Man, Barnard's Loop. I think I can even make out a faint Witch's Head.

You can make out a faint Witch's Head. I tried to enhance that, but couldn't get it to show up much better. Figure more hours would help THAT a lot.

SteveInNZ wrote in post #11269817
More of what they said.

Thanks!!

Adrena1in wrote in post #11271012
What I really love about these widefield images is that looking at my screen, that's about how big Orion is when I look at it in the night sky, yet you're showing us all that hidden data and nebulae. Don't you wish your own eyes could take in that amount of detail at night!!?

My mom asked me the same sort of thing. I told her, other than the Orion Nebula, the rest is invisible. She is amazed at how much there is.

Here's another rework of it. A little bit more data, I think.

So question? How can I take a sub and help out the overexposure of the Orion Nebula? I'm not sure how to use the Elements 8 program to get that to work.