M42 in Ha

[Lee]

Back to the eastern skies last night, where the guiding is good.... for me anyway...
Orion was sitting in a sucker-hole, so I very slowly, with no sudden moves, slewed the scope towards it, expecting it to close immediately! It stayed open for the next hour or more, so I grabbed some red photons!

Imaged with the DSI Pro II and Skywatcher 100mm f/5 scope, with 13nm Astronomik H-alpha filter, 10x2minute exposures and 10x15s exposures, guided with PHD and DMK/ED80. Outback cooler running a CCD temp at 21deg C (no more fog!).

A 5 minute exposure showed more detail, especially in the M42-M43 crossover region - I think combining 30s and 5 minute or longer would do a better job.... but that thing called work gets in the way......

[Phil]

great stuff love HA well done.
Phil

[Dietmar]

hi Lee,

that is a gorgeous result!
guys, look at the detail of the central nebula parts!
great job!

[jase]

Hooked on the Ha drug.;)
A comment through. Did you do any layering with this image? Looks a little strange how the core is bright and detailed, then a pronounced drop off in nebulosity before the fainter wisps further out. The transition doesn't appear smooth between bright and dim areas as one would expect. Still a pleasing image.:)

[Lee]

Layered - 15 sec for core, then differently stretched versions of the 2 minute for the rest.... Thanks for the advice Jase - will have a re-work tonight.

[Ric]

Very nice Lee, I am fascinated by the structure of the nebulosity above the core area, it's like a eagles beak.

I haven't seen that amount of depth and structure before in RGB images. Ha really brings it out wonderfully.

I must try this through the 12" in Ha as well when I get a chance.

Cheers

[h0ughy]

well done Lee, great stuff

[bluescope]

Nice image Lee !

:thumbsup:

[Garyh]

Very smooth Lee, yeah just feather in the brighter core into the deeper shots....a very nice result! :thumbsup:
I can see that eagles beak too!

[leon]

There is just something about HA images, very nice lee.

Leon

[Alchemy]

heaps of detail in that core, must be nice being able to image under a bright moon :)

[Tamtarn]

Your images just keep getting better with every session Lee. :thumbsup:

[Lee]

Thanks everyone! Imaging under the moon, albeit more slowly than RGB is definitely a HUGE plus.... I also like the increased contrast you get - look out for O-III after xmas! :D

[leon]

Lee is this all about what you explained to me last night about using a Narrow band Filter.

So you can actually get that result under the full Moon, I have always shunned away from imaging with the Moon around.

leon

[Lee]

This was shot between 9 and 10 last night - Orion was 35 degrees from the moon and at 20 degrees altitude in Newcastles light pollution.... I'm not sure how close you can get to a big moon though - the moon is reflecting some Ha from the sun. It certainly cuts out light pollution though.

[Terry B]

I like the Ha
Nice

[Outbackmanyep]

Its a beauty Lee! :thumbsup:
Keep up the good work!!

Cheers!