Joining the M42 club

[Imme (Jon)]

....seems it's that time of year.....M42's everywhere!

Here's my shot at it from Friday night. These are 2 minute subs and lots of them. Flats/darks/bias applied.....unfortunately I believe my camera gain was too low and I didn't pull enough detail in

I have some issues with processing and focal/camera plane alignment......but being fairly new to the hobby (aka addiction) I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

Ok people...belittle me....how can I improve the shot for next time?

[Mickoid (Michael)]

A lovely shot Jon, good resolution, so your focus and colmination are pretty much spot on. I'd just watch your black clipping when processing, as it's always tempting when you're starting out to think you need to create a black background but sometimes at the expense of losing faint detail. After all, the night sky is never really truly black, so you can afford to ease back a bit in the background. Other than that, the colour looks great and noise is certainly well under control. Well done, I would be very pleased with that result. You are learning quickly.

[Imme (Jon)]

Thanks Mickoid, appreciate the encouragement

I must admit I struggle with this black background thing........my brain keeps pushing those sliders and adjustments to make the background black as it can be! I'll have to have another play with it and force myself to pull back.

I've been having plenty of equipment issues setting this new rig up. I was getting a little dejected to be honest after spending the better part of a couple weeks just trying to get things to connect and work as they should so it was good to get a result. Looking forward to another clear night (tomorrow from the looks of it) to get some more time in the shed.

[bigjoe (JOSEPH)]

Looks a nice shot to me ..its all, as Alex says ,about having a go with what youve got , without fear of ignorant criticism .

bigjoe.

[Imme (Jon)]

Cheers Joe....I'll keep trying don't you worry!

[xelasnave]

Great effort better than anything I could manage a decade ago.
And certainly seek advice but be proud of your achievement.. Can any of your friends in the real world do something like that?
Again great effort.
Alex

[ChrisV (Chris)]

I hereby belittle you with praise. Nice job!!

[Fernando]

Hi Jon,

It is great. I also took my first picture of the sky a couple of weeks ago. It was so exciting!!! The first one was really ugly. But I was very happy I had made it, with the different software, cables all over the place, computer and the like.

I got great advice form people from IceinSpace (and other sites). It is great to improve the images!!! And have lots of fun, always.

Great pic, by the way. We do what we can, we see the night sky as we may...

Regards, Fernando