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View Full Version here: : M42 Orion Nebula last night


Startrek
14-03-2020, 02:14 PM
I haven’t imaged from Sydney for 3 months due to fires, flood, rain , cloudy nights etc ... etc.. so I thought I would capture M42 before it disappears until next summer
My old HEQ5 mount has been packed away for the future ( when I can no longer manage a bigger mount ) and I now have a new EQ6-R mount to carry my 6” f6 Bintel GSO newt , a vast improvement from the old HEQ5
M42 Orion captured in Sydney last night with a rising 80% waning moon
6” f6 GSO Bintel newt with dual speed focuser and heavy duty primary springs ( 4 years old )
EQ6-R Mount ( new)
Canon 600D stock with home made cooling fan ( sensor temperature reading 25 degrees C )
Baader Coma Corrector
JMI moto focuser
ISO 800
45 x 90sec dithered guided subs ( discarded only 3 stubs )
20 x darks
Goto and tracking EQMOD, Stellarium Scope and Stellarium
BYEOS for frame, focus and capture
PHD2 guiding ( 0.90 to 1.00 arc sec error )
Stacked in DSS
Processed in Startools

Thanks for looking , comments most welcome

etill
14-03-2020, 06:56 PM
Nice image. I was out the last few nights too, was nearly daylight outside.

Quopaz
14-03-2020, 09:20 PM
Looks good, nice pic. I can see it all right through my telescope, but I can't photograph it.

Ant0nio
16-03-2020, 12:55 AM
A nice grab of M42 & lovely correct colours as usual Martin. It'd be nice to see you add some more data to this before Orion sets in the West.:)
Cheers,
Tony

multiweb
16-03-2020, 08:49 AM
Very nice. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Startrek
16-03-2020, 03:06 PM
Thanks All
I started the capture a bit late so M42 was already descending in the north west below 50 degrees so at best I only had just over an hour of capture time until it descended below the next door neighbours roof line. Add dithering to each frame and you have even less time.
Happy with the result especially with a rising 80% waning moon and an hour of data
It was a joy to get out under a beautiful Sydney night sky after so many months stuck indoors
Thanks again
Cheers

raymo
16-03-2020, 07:12 PM
Hi Martin, you're turning out some nice stuff, but I can't help wondering why
the red stars in your images of globulars are mauve instead of orange/red.
Is it a filter or a processing thing?
raymo

mynameiscd
16-03-2020, 07:36 PM
Great M42 Martin, especially this late in the season.
Good framing, great colours, the core not too blown out and sharp stars from edge to edge.
You keep producing great images and show very good processing skills.
Cheers
Andy

Startrek
16-03-2020, 08:15 PM
Raymo
No filters used
Colours of stars mostly in globular clusters reflect personal choice in processing the image and may not be scientifically or astronomically accurate.It is an extremely difficult task to post process the colour of every star in a massive dense globular cluster like Omega at my image scale to the correct or near correct colour temperature on the astronomical spectrum
Thanks for the observation and comment anyway
Cheers
Martin

Startrek
16-03-2020, 08:20 PM
Andy
Thanks for your kind comments, appreciate it
Still have a long way to go in AP ( just touching the surface after 3 years )
Next step for me is progressing to a cooled OSC Camera ( using duo, tri or quad band filters in Sydney and no filters at my dark site down the coast ) within the next 6 months
Cheers
Martin