Orion's Sword

[ReaPerMan]

I haven't taken a pic of M42 in ages and I wasn't intending too but as I was about to pack up at 0100 I decided to take a shot anyway. I set the gear up and left it running and went to bed. I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. It has a few problems but it was a test after adjusting my gear and a bit of fine tuning will fix most problems for future pics. I have a new GeOptik Flat panel for my flats and I'm still trying to get the correct exposure for each of the filters. It's a bit of trial and error at the moment. What was pleasing was how much dust the gear picked up in such a short integration.

Details

6 X 600 secs Lum 5 X 300 secs each RGB 12" F3.8 Newt on EQ8 mount, Atik 11000M camera. Stacked with CCDStack 2.0, Post processed with Pixinsight and Adobe photoshop CC.

Full size at http://www.astrobin.com/full/221121/0/

sample has HLVG applied full size does not... The never ending multiple version effect I'm afraid.

All the best

Paul :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

Its M42 time already! You are the first to post.

Nicely done. That turned out very well. A touch of tilt in the camera showing there in the bottom left (that is unlikely to be the same orientation on your camera more likely the top right looking at the camera from the back).

As you say SCNR on the full version would correct that bit of green in the background.

How do you like your Atik 11000?

Greg.

[ReaPerMan]

Thanks Greg,
At least it's not one of hundreds as of yet. As I said I didn't start with the intention to get a M42 pic so it's nice that it turned out OK. The tilt is something that I chase every time that I set the system up. Not a lot of adjustment with the GSO 3" focuser. In the next year I'm hoping to upgrade the system, so better things to come. The Atik (as is the rest of the system) was bought second hand from Tandem here on IIS. The Camera worked well up to January when it developed a fault that needed a trip to the UK for a new power board! $500 later and a full service and it's like a new one. It has a lovely wide field and as there are at least 3 line errors but good Darks and Bias remove them easily. What I don't love is the vignetting at the edges of the field. I had hoped that the 3" Wynne corrector would give it full coverage but alas good flats are an essential component of the imaging process.

all the best

Paul :thumbsup:

[Regulus]

This is now one of my favourites of this area. It has great 'drama', and you have some serious detail in there.
Really well done Paul.

Trev

[ReaPerMan]

Thank you Trev,

Another fine example of right place and time. I didn't deliberately frame it this way and I was very happy that it came out the way it did. I think it has a slightly 3D feel with the impression of distance between M42 and NGC1971.

Paul :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Atmos]

Wonderfully bright and vibrant!
The last three times I have tried imaging M42 I've had issues, tossed about 7 hours away already!
Had cloud come over twice 20 minutes after going back to bed and terrible tracking errors another night making every frame unusable. Glad it is working out for someone haha :)

[ReaPerMan]

Thank you Colin... I've thrown away 8-9 Hrs of data in the last month for similar reasons.

Cheers :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[RickS]

Nice colours and detail, Paul. Good to see an early one :)

[ReaPerMan]

Thanks Rick, This result makes me want to actually plan a shot and try to get more integration time on it.

All the best

Paul :thumbsup: