M42 and the Running Man - my best so far

[iceman]

Ok I know everyone gets bored of M42 images, but it's a challenging target that demands that you think about how you capture and how you process. The vast dynamic range and the sheer size and complexity of the nebulosity draws you back in, and it's a great object to make your own personal yardstick - to compare against previous sessions to see how much you've improved.

This is my best DSO image since I started imaging DSO's exactly 2 months ago.

This image of M42 and NGC1977 was captured on Tuesday night at our semi-dark sky site at Mangrove Mountain Pony Club, on the Central Coast of NSW.

Equipment: Saxon ED80 on EQ6
Camera: Canon 350D (unmodded) with WO 0.8x type II reducer/flattener.
Guiding: Guided wiith a DMK21AF04 through a 80mm f/5 refractor, using PHD.

The image consists of 10x 30s, 10x 60s and 6x 300s exposures, all at ISO800.
No darks were taken on the night, but darks were subtracted using darks from a previous session. No flats.
Processing in ImagesPlus and Photoshop.

I wanted to take more @ 300s, but it was 2am and time to go home :)

I'm very happy with how it has turned out, but there's still a lot of room for improvement, especially when I inspect the full-size version @ 100% resolution.
- I need better darks
- I need to start taking flats
- The registration isn't great in the corners
- and my deep-space processing skill still need to advance.

But this is my new yardstick - i'll come back and image it again in a few months when I've improved my techniques in capture and processing.

Thanks for looking.

[davewaldo]

Thats an AWESOME image Mike! Your progressing with DSO imaging at lightspeed ;)

Well done!

[davewaldo]

I might also add that this is one of the most natural M42s I've seen. Often to display the vast dynamic range the image ends up with very gray highlight areas and quite a low contrast look... not in your image!

You should be very please with this shot.

any chance of a higher res image?

[laika]

Mike,
WOW, I am just starting to get bits together to try this DSO stuff and if I can achieve results remotly close to this after 2 months I will be one happy chappy.
Great result and lovely photo to look at, the longer you look the more fine detail stands out.
Regards.
Brenton.

[Tamtarn]

Really great image Mike. Can see why you're happy with this one. The multiple long exposures have really brought out the detail :thumbsup:

[mbaddah]

This is a freakin amazing shot, well done!

Out of curiosity why the variant exposure shots? Was it to save time?

[bluescope]

The brownish dust clouds at the extremeties of the nebulae are great Mike. Great image !

:thumbsup:

[beren]

:thumbsup: Congrats Mike, great looking image, making it look easy :D

[DougAdams]

That is a stunner.

[davidpretorius]

this is really nice.

nude up young man and strut around the block!

[Outbackmanyep]

Bloody Fantastic! :thumbsup:

I have a LOOOOOOONG way to go!

:cheers:

[mill]

Different exposures bring out different detail.
Longer exposure more nebula.
The shorter exposures the trap, that will be burned out with a long exposure.

[Geoff45]

Great shot Mike. It's a lot more satisfying than webcam planetary shots isn't it.
Geoff

[mill]

Ps: that is an stunner image Mike.

[Deeno]

Can't help but be really impressed.
Fascinating to see the equipment in action

[h0ughy]

On your way Mike (cough cough as if he really needs encouragement:whistle::help: but I must not tell him the image is a corker). You need to improve your imaging sessions with flats and the like Mr Salway 7.5/10:D:P

[davidpretorius]

go get him houghy!!!
woo hoo!
be the meanie judge just like in idol!

[h0ughy]

It is a bloody fantastic image but if we told him that he would get big head swells and we would never hear the end of it:D:P - Oh look and the nice planet imager take on the deep sky boys and flog them!!.......na cant do that:rofl: we cant let him get too far ahead (well he left me behind ages ago):whistle:

[Ric]

A fantastic image Mike, well done.

Cheers

[wysiwyg]

Nice one Mike,:eyepop:

I think I am really underestimating the potential of my ED80.
Love the colours, very well resolved and it does not have the plasticy look to it.:thumbsup:

[hickny]

I have saved your image as M42 is my favourite DSO (see avatar) 192k image looks great on my 22" monitor. You are very hard on yourself if you need to improve on this image. Well Done.

[jase]

Nothing to complain about there Mike. A fine effort. Well done.

[joshman]

probably the best pic i've seen of m42, that's for sure!!!

an effort to be well proud of!

[tornado33]

Well done. This after 2 months, what will we be seeing after another 2 months :)
Scott

[GTB_an_Owl]

and this from our "SEMI dark" site

just wait till we get him a "DARK" one :whistle: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

geoff

[iceman]

Thanks all for your very nice comments.


Thanks Dave. You can download a full-res jpeg from here:
1.1meg full-res jpeg (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/uploads/20071114-m42-fullres.jpg)
It has been saved at 10 (out of 12) jpeg quality, so there might be some compression artifacts but it shouldn't be too noticeable. There's many other flaws in the full-res version :)


Thanks Brenton - it takes some time to get all the bits to make your job easier, but once it's all up and running it is definitely satisfying to see it guiding itself and taking exposures automatically..


Thanks Barb/Dave. I would've liked to have done more longer exposures, and perhaps some 10-min exposures too, but there's always next time.


Thanks for your comment. As Mill said, the long exposures reveal the faint detail and the nebulosity, but at the expense of the bright objects which get clipped (go pure white). For example, the trapezium (core) ends up totally washed out with no detail.
So we take shorter exposures, which have little nebulosity but preserve detail in the bright areas. Using software like photoshop, the exposures are combined to reveal both the bright detail in the trap, and the faint detail in the outer nebulosity.


Thanks Dave - I even showed my wife last night so it felt worthy of a strut.


Wash your mouth out young man ;)
I wouldn't say that exactly, but it definitely is rewarding when it all comes together and you get an image you can be proud of. However that's no different to planetary imaging as well. When the seeing is good and you get an awesome planetary image, the feeling is the same.
Deep-space imaging definitely takes a lot more time and has some different technical challenges, but a lot of the skills and techniques are shared between the disciplines.


Thanks Deeno, it was great to be able to share and chat with you guys while it was doing its thing.


Thanks Dave, still a lot of room for improvement - I must start taking flats! I need another camera so I can leave it on the scope and be able to use master-flats. I just don't have the time or patience to take flats each time out ;)


Thanks Mark, I'd be interested to learn more about your adjustments (that you posted and then removed). Feel free to use the full-res version as a start. I don't mind people playing with my images. It helps me learn, and hopefully helps other people learn too.


Thanks! I'm honoured!


Many thanks Jase. I'm finally starting to capture data that I can do something with. Half the battle is won.


Thanks Josh, but there's many better images of M42 than mine on this forum. I appreciate your comments.


Thanks Scott - what you have been achieving has given me great inspiration, so I thank you for that!


Cheers Geoff. I can't wait to get out to Ilford next year.. I'm still restricted by my power needs though - something I definitely have to sort out before I go to a site with no 240v access.

Thanks again everyone, I'm very humbled by your nice comments and hope that I can continue to share my journey with you. I'm contemplating writing an article describing the transgression into deep-space imaging, but I still have a lot to learn and need to start taking flats!: )

[GTB_an_Owl]

[Cheers Geoff. I can't wait to get out to Ilford next year.. I'm still restricted by my power needs though - something I definitely have to sort out before I go to a site with no 240v access.]


Well Mike , you probably only have 5 sessions (months ) to go before Ilford

but don't let that scare you :scared3:

you better start talking to RB about the "hotbox"

geoff

[Dr Nick]

Stunning! You have captured soo much detail in that image! It is incredibly sharp and defined! Congratulations! ;)

[xstream]

Well done Mike.

Congratulations! I see it also made today's Universe Today.