What The... M42 with DMK???

[Matty P]

I am no DSO guy but seeing that I had all my imaging equipment already set up. I decided why not give a try! :thumbsup:

After imaging Saturn I slewed the scope to the M42. I changed the exposure settings and there it was on the lappy screen. The M42 Orion Nebula! It is a total different experience to planetary imaging, definitely no comparison.

After shooting the M42 I decided to look for the Horsehead Nebula and Witch Head Nebula which were near by. I could a small amount of nebulosity in both. I was a bit hard finding them because of the Full Moon.

I had not realised the potential of this camera until last night. :)


P.S. Having no idea of how to process DSOs I just ran it through Registax. :D

What do you think? Not bad for a bit of mucking around. :whistle:

[ballaratdragons]

Great going, Matty.

Always worth trying the unusual.

Try M42 again, but next time take the barlow out and you'll be pleasantly suprised :)

[edwardsdj]

Not bad for mucking around at all Matty :)

It's awesome that you've captured the trapezium and so much nebulosity.

[Matty P]

Thanks Ken,

I actually didn't use a Barlow at all. Just my long focal length.



Thanks Doug,

I am surprised that I captured that much nebulosity myself. I really wanted to capture either the Horsehead or Witchhead Nebula but the Full Moon really stuffed things up.

[Dennis]

Hi Matty

Nice work with the DMK; it's a terrific camera eh!

Here is an image of the Trapezium region (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=25156)I took with my DMK21AF04 on the last clear night I had in Brisbane - 23rd October 2007! Using a Mewlon 180 F12 with TeleVue x2.5 PowerMate under very good seeing conditions.

I started getting blobby stars at an exposure of 1/3 second. What exposure did you use for your images, it looks like you went much deeper?

Cheers

Dennis

[Matty P]

Dennis,

I used a 2sec exposure up to a 4sec exposure to get as much nebulosity as I could.

Any suggestions on how I can process these images?

[theodog]

Ahhhh -no turning back now:lol:.

[Dennis]

Hi Matty

I think that you have grabbed some nice nebulosity for exposures as short as between 2 and 4 seconds, but I think you will need much longer exposures to show more detail in the nebulosity, but then you may also find you burn out the brighter stars.

I basically did what you did, punched the AVI’s through Registax to align and stack the best frames. I have been meaning to have a go at this region again, using exposures of 30 seconds with my DBK (colour model) to see what I can pick up, but the weather hasn’t been very cooperative.

I remember grabbing a 60 sec shot with my Canon 40D (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=26063)using the reducer/flattener on the Mewlon 180 back in November 2007.

Cheers

Dennis

[Matty P]

Dennis,

I found that when I increased the exposure time the brighter stars were burnt out.

Will a UV/IR filter help?

I hope the skies clear up for you.

[Ric]

Good start Matty, welcome to the dark side.:fight:

Cheers:)

[Matty P]

:lol: :eyepop: :P

NEVER!!! :whistle:

[Dennis]

Hi Matty

I have always kept a Baader UV/IR block filter on my DMK and DBK to avoid IR bloating as these chips are sensitive to the IR region of the spectrum.

Cheers

Dennis

PS – Thanks, your wish came true; last night the skies cleared…..right up to just before the start of the occultation of Regulus by the Moon. :lol:

[Matty P]

Your welcome Dennis. :)

Great to see that you finally got out under the stars. :thumbsup: