My turn!! ... M42 & the Hunter's sword.

[marc4darkskies]

When I was a kid, I stared at this patch of sky for hours, marvelling at the delicate whisps of nebula through the eyepiece of a Unitron 3" refractor and then a Celestron 8. I tried to image it a number of times but I didn't have the tools to guide well enough to get anything like a decent result ...

... but now I do! :D

So, after a 40 year wait, here is my rendition of this amazing patch of sky. My objective, as always, is to show the object as boldly as possible while trying to keep it as real as possible. I like the result, but can't rule out a sidonio at some point. Don't worry though, there are already two sidonios built into this image already - I tinkered for quite while. :nerd:

Naturally, I've blended in a shorter LRGB image to bring out the detail around the trapezium. Nope, no hubble detail there, but not bad for 2.21 arcsec/pixel.

Small:
http://www.pbase.com/gailmarc/image/121582105/large

Large (use <Cntrl -> to zoom out & <Cntrl +> to zoom in):
http://www.pbase.com/gailmarc/image/121582105/original

Hope you like it.

Cheers, Marcus

[Tom Davis]

Right on! Great image!!

Tom

[SkyViking]

Awesome, you have really brought out the details while kept the impression that the Trapezium area is indeed much brighter. I like it!

[Paddy]

Stunning image!

[h0ughy]

i am in awe

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks a lot Tom. I used yours, Rob Gendlers and Mike Sidonio's images as references when processing. It's interesting to note that each rendition has something different (and good) to offer.



Thanks Rolf. Yes, it's important to keep some of the original brightness relativity and I think I've done that. I was worried that I didn't leave it glowing bright enough, but making it glow any brighter would start to obscure some of the detail.



Thanks Patrick, glad you liked it!

[marc4darkskies]

Hey thanks Dave. Looking forward to seeing some images from the Doghouse!!! (which is looking great by the way)

[Garyh]

Ah yes Awesome result Mark!
First thing I noticed when it started downloading was the star colors were really beautiful! Compostion is very nice and all that faint dust!
Just Beautiful!

[toryglen-boy]

well done mate, thats a fantastic image

:)

[DavidU]

Absolutely beautiful mate !

[Octane]

Marc,

That is just stunning.

Above all else, I really love your stars. I know that's one area you try to perfect and it really shows.

Well done, sir.

H

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks a lot Gary - The fainter dust clouds were a challenge - to bring out the colour and detail in them while managing the noise.



Cheers Duncan!



Thanks Dave



Thanks Humayun. I spent more time on the stars than usual partly to mitigate the internal reflections coming from all the bright stars and of course to maintain the colours while stretching the faint clouds. Hey, maybe I should remove the neb and just show the stars .... hmmmm :P;):lol:

[Paul Haese]

Nice work Marcus.

Perhaps doing some Ha to bring more of that out would benefit the image.

Overall I reckon it is a lovely shot. Stars are nice and round.

[bluescope]

Very, very nice image Marcus ... great work !

:thumbsup:

[telecasterguru]

Wonderful image.

Frank

[multiweb]

Wow! You've certainly captured a lot of neb on that shot. Superb composition and colors. :thumbsup:

[troypiggo]

^^^ What they all said. Stunning, superb, awesome, amazing. Well done on all counts. One of the greats.

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks Paul. I didn't add Ha in the first instance because, for this FOV, much of the extended neb is dust & reflection. If the clouds ever go away though I may gather some Ha and see.



Thanks a lot Steve



Cheers Frank.



Thanks Marc. Yep, pretty happy with the depth I managed with only 5 min subs!



Cheers Troy, glad you liked it. I'm pretty pleased with it - and after staring at it in a darkened room over and over, I'm struggling to see how to improve it. :shrug: Give me some time though & I'll figure something out.:D

[richardo]

Well done Marcus!!
This is certainly a wall hanger.
The faint wisps and detail within are lovely to gaze into on your original size image.
Huge detailed fOV...

Really looking forward to see what else this setup can do.

Rich

[gregbradley]

I like this one the best of the recent M42s. You got a nice natural look going there with lots of detail as well.

The TOA really gets a lot of detail doesn't it?

Greg.

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks Rich. I hang every one of my images on the wall - starting to run out of wall space though ... not! :D



Thanks a lot Greg! Striking that balance between the "natural" look and revealing detail and dynamic range took me quite a while. It was actually quite a tough image to process given the very bright, very dim, dust, reflection and emission nebs all in the one frame. There's a lot going on in this image!

[strongmanmike]

Ah yes, been waiting for this one Marcus ;)

Looks great, the field is a nice size to help show some more of the outer dusty nebula, it's a fantastic area to image, isn't it?

A great job :thumbsup: and I'm glad my image was of assistance too :P

I wish I could shorten and speed up my AP properly, particularly for when the 16803 arrives :D.

Mike

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks Mike. The Tak super reducer is a nice chunk of glass. A 16803 would sit nicely at the back end of my setup, but that's not likely to happen any time soon :sadeyes:. I can't complain though, being able to choose between 3 FLs is quite useful!

Yep, Orion and Tarantula were my favorite places when I was a youngster. And who would have thought 40 years ago that we could take pics like these with a backyard setup! It's no exaggeration for me to say that imaging this one object fulfills a lifelong dream!

Cheers, Marcus

[iceman]

That's brilliant Marcus. Sometimes you just never tire of seeing images of that part of the sky - especially when it looks this good!

[spearo]

Great image well done
frank

[Peter Ward]

I find M42 to be a really tough object to do justice to..and have yet to grab a half decent image of it.

With its massive dynamic range and colour variation no wonder it's an object so often imaged (and so often botched up)

In you case...justice has been done, and then some :thumbsup::thumbsup: Well done.

[lacad01]

Can't add any more to what's been said, fantastic result :thumbsup:

[Martin Pugh]

I would have to agree with Greg's comments.

very well done indeed Marcus, its a great image.

cheers
Martin

[TrevorW]

Very very nice and nice toys too !!!

[Jeffkop]

:2thumbs::2thumbs::2thumbs:
:thanx:

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks Mike - appreciate that!



Cheers Frank



Thanks a lot Peter. I'm very glad you think I've done it justice - I can tell you it took quite a bit of processing to get the balance right.



Cheers Adam!



Hey thanks a lot Martin - high praise indeed. Much appreciated.



Thanks Trevor!



:thanx:!!

[TheDecepticon]

Wow, that is super!:eyepop: How do you get such great colours, the blues and purples?:question: