Quickie M42 in mono

[Omaroo]

Just a quick M42 I took the other night at the MAS dark sky site at Belanglo State Forest. The point of the exercise was to try and get my PEC sorted on the G11 (with Humayun's great help) using PHD. It was starting to really work, with an almost flat line in Dec and only the odd deviation of a couple of pixels in RA. Nearly there - I reckon that the mount is going to be really great when fully sorted over the next couple of sessions. I'm suffering more from star bloat than tracking inaccuracies as the ST-8 isn't an ABG-fitted model. Still OK I guess...

1 x 30-sec @-16.9C
1 x 120-sec@-16.0C
1 x 240-sec@-16.9C

A) Mean-stacked in CS3 as a Photoshop Smart Object. Slight curves applied.

B) Mean-stacked in CS3 as a Photoshop Smart Object. Shadows/highlights and curves boosted in midtones. Noise started to impinge, so gaussian blur applied to dark zones.

[multiweb]

Cool shot Chris. Came out real nice. Yeah Humayun is the "G11 doctor". :thumbsup: Learnt a lot from him that night too.

[Hagar]

Looks good Chris, I better find out what you and H are up to with the G11. I could do with flattening things out a bit.

[jjjnettie]

I reckon you could coax a little more data out of it Chris.
Again, one never tires of M42.
Glad you guys had a good time.

[toryglen-boy]

thats a lovely image Chris, thanks for sharin'

:)

[Omaroo]

Thanks Marc, Doug, Jeanette & Duncan. It's been a while since I've actually imaged anything at all - so I'm glad I'm starting to again. Lots of fun :)

[dpastern]

Nice shots Chris - I'm rather envious! Do you plan to merge in some shorter subs for the core?

Dave

[Omaroo]

Thank you Dave. :thumbsup:

Yes, next time I have it all set up again, I'll do some ultra-quick 5, 7.5, 15 and 30 second subs that I'll merge in standard Photoshop HDR. Tis will bring out the Trapezium wonderfully. I'll then mask that in to this set.

[dpastern]

Awesome, now don't forget to post it so we can see it. Looks like that G11 is going to be a lil ripper. You've captured some nice veiling in the nebula and contrast is just right (to my eyes and monitor). I'm not really familiar with the ST8, but looks like its delivering the goods.

Dave

[DavidU]

That's coming up nicely Chris.Nice and smooth.

[Omaroo]

Thanks David

The monos don't seem to trigger as many "wow" posts as colour, but I prefer them.

[dpastern]

I like monos to be honest. I think that they add "character".

Dave

[Jeffkop]

Its a BIG "WOW" from me then Chris. Great image and can only get better with the improvements planned for it. First mono M42 Ive seen.

[jase]

Looks like you're getting a feel for the capabilities of the ST8 Chris. I enjoy contrasty monochrome images and this is no exception. Having used NABG cameras on various scopes, I can testify that it isn't easy to keep the stars from having a "crunchy" appearance. Short exposures can do justice, but for wide field instruments, its just darn difficult. NABG's excel at longer FL/slower instruments. I do like what you've put together here. Keep at it, as I feel certain you'll be rewarded with hitting some off the beaten track dim targets with this setup - hint, large scale supernova remnants.

[Omaroo]

Thanks Dave and Geoff. Much-appreciated kind words :)

Jase - thank you too. Yes, I've had square stars with the Sky90, which delivers 3.68 arcsec/px. The FS-102 (used here) is marginally better at 2.27.

I'd absolutely love to try some Vela SNR work, and after playing with Gregs VSNR for the Compendium I'm itching to give it a go. :thumbsup:

Thanks again for the comment Jase - it's very encouraging of you. :)

[strongmanmike]

Hey nice job Chris, B&W is all you need to have an image in your hands :thumbsup:

Mike

[Octane]

Chris,

Splendid. :)

Looking forward to what you can put together with shorter and longer exposures. We have plenty of time for this old chestnut. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[Omaroo]

Cheers Mike :thumbsup:

Thanks Humayun! I feel that after your input the other night, I'll have the G-11 humming pretty well next time out. I have have the FS60-C ready to roll on the P2-Z, and will employ the same technique on that for some really wide field. Can't wait for a cloudless couple of weeks in Cooma over Christmas. You coming down? :)